しゃべりタイ｜Khom & Thai Khom – Ancient Sanskrit Script (Advanced Grammar lesson)
Today, I want to talk to you about a fascinating writing system, that has played a crucial role, in Thai religious and cultural history. The Khmer script, known as Khorm in Thai, is an ancient writing system, that arrived in Southeast Asia around the seventh century. This script descended from the Brahmi script, of ancient India, specifically through the Pallava script, of South India. What makes this particularly interesting. is that the Khmer script. is actually the ancestor of the modern Thai script we use today.
In Thailand, and Laos, this Khmer derived writing. was traditionally reserved. for sacred and scholarly texts. Thai scholars have long considered this Khorm script. to be a holy writing system, used primarily for Buddhist Pali texts. and religious works. The script has evolved significantly over the centuries. During the Sukoetai period, Khorm letters were characterized by their rounded, curved strokes. However, by the time of the Rattanakosin era, these same letters had become more angular, featuring straight lines, instead of curves.
Consonants, and Orthography.
Historically, this script contained thirty five consonants, each having two forms, a full form and a subscript form. These thirty five letters, are traditionally arranged in groups, called vargas.
Every consonant, can appear as an initial letter. When we have consonant clusters, the first consonant is written in its full form, while the second appears as a subscript beneath it. Final consonants are usually written as subscripts under the main consonant, unless that space is already occupied by a vowel or cluster, in which case the final consonant appears in its full form.
Vowel System.
The vowel system in Khom Thai is particularly unique, because it divides vowels into two categories, floating vowels and sinking vowels. Floating vowels are independent letters, used at the beginning of a syllable. There are eight floating vowel forms. representing the sounds a, aa, i, ii, u, uu, e, and o. These correspond roughly to Thai vowels but are written as separate symbols above the line when they begin a word.
Sinking vowels, on the other hand, attach to consonants or follow them, similar to modern Thai. These are written either as diacritics around the consonant, or, as combinations of letters and subscripts. For example, the sound ia is often written by adding the subscript form of the letter yo yak to base vowels. The sound oo-a can be written in multiple ways, using different combinations of vowels and subscripts.
Many complex Khmer vowels have multiple spelling methods, but they generally parallel Thai compound vowels with extra consonants or subscripts. Khom Thai readers learn these conventions by drawing analogies with Thai orthography, with special rules for handling subscripts.
Diacritics and Final Consonants.
Khmer derived scripts use diacritic marks in ways similar to Thai. One notable diacritic is similar to the Thai mai han akat, which indicates an inherent aa sound. In Khom Thai, this mark can appear above an initial or final consonant, or sometimes it’s replaced by writing a double final consonant.
Final consonants follow specific rules. They’re typically written as subscripts under the main letter, unless a vowel diacritic already occupies that position. If the subscript position is taken, the final consonant appears in its full form. These rules parallel those in modern Thai. If no other subscript is needed, write the final in subscript form, otherwise, use the full form.
Tone marks exist in Khom Thai but are used inconsistently. While they resemble Thai tone marks, their usage was never fully standardized, and they’re sometimes omitted entirely or borrowed directly from Thai usage patterns.
Khom versus Thai Khorm Scripts.
It is important to distinguish between Khom, referring to the Khmer script of Cambodia, and Thai Khom, which is the specific adaptation used in Thailand. Thai Khorm incorporated Thai conventions, and developed its own spelling patterns. For example, Thai Khom, often adds the letter or aarng, to represent short initial sounds, following Thai spelling rules.
The scripts differ in their letter inventories. Cambodian Khmer today, uses thirty three letters, having dropped two obsolete ones, while Thai Khorm, traditionally kept all thirty five. Conversely, Thai Khorm, lacks some later Thai innovations, and uses substitutions
In the vowel system, Thai Khorm parallels Thai by writing vowels in familiar ways, often inserting o as a placeholder, whereas Khmer orthography, follows its own native rules for initial vowels. Thai Khorm, can be understood as a Thailandized variant of the Khmer script, that became more aligned with Thai phonetics, and spelling practices.