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<DIV><FONT face='Arial' color=#000000 size=2>To: <A
href="mailto:tlc@lists.ucr.edu">tlc@lists.ucr.edu</A><BR>Re: [Tlc] Indigenous
Tai lexicography</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Dear List Members;</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>I'm doing research on indigenous
Southeast Asian lexicography (and also any meta-discourse like text reflecting
on the usage of words in texts). </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Looking for any scholarly work that
has been done on indigenous Thai or Tai lexicography published in either a
western language or Thai. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>I wonder whether there were
pre-western indigenous Tai language word lists with dictionary-like features,
whether there are any manuscripts that contain such texts in central or northern
Thai, and whether they have made their way into published book form.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>In Burmese there is the "that-bon
kyan" or spelling book genre, that simply lists all possible words in a
particular sort order (see Okell, 1968). (The emergence of this genre led
eventually to increased uniformity of spelling in indigenous texts, and also
probably to a decrease in ambiguity.) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>And in Pali there are pre-western
indigenous dictionaries, essentially word lists with dictionary-like features
like: 1. grouping words by synonym, and 2. by meaning in a thesaurus-like way.
For example, all words for "river" grouped together, and all words for natural
phenomena like "river," "mountain," etc grouped together. Cone (1996) discusses
these dictionaries and (Elizarenkova and Toporov, 1976) has a couple of pages
organising words in this fashion. </FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>
<DIV><BR>Pali Nissaya</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Another indigenous textual genre performs a function similar to a
dictionary, namely Pali nissaya translations, pali interleaved with translation
to indigenous language. (See Okell, 1967, and Pruitt, 1994)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I believe that some of the people on this list have done research in this
area for Tai languages. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Also interested if any nissaya translations exist in published book form in
Thai, perhaps in cremation volumes? Nissaya translations were published several
times in book form in Burma during the colonial era. (See bibliography in
Stewart and Dunn, 1940)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In Skilling's two bibliographies of Pali literature in Thailand, there are
two sections devoted to "Nama-sapda" manuscripts which seem to be nissaya
translations (see Skilling and Santi Pakdeekham, 2004).</DIV>
<DIV>Also interested in work on Tai etymology done by Thai scholars. I noticed
that mention was made of works on Thai etymology recently by Thai language
scholar Dr Anan Laoloetworakun at Chulalongkorn.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Sorry, for perhaps providing too much detail in this posting.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Part of the purpose of this post is to stimulate discussion if anyone is
interested. The early history and origins of the written Burmese language and
texts, is a research interest, and comparison with neighboring textual
traditions seems like one way to gain insight. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Sincerely, <BR></DIV>
<DIV>Jon Fernquest<BR>Bangkok Post, Educational Services<BR><A
href="http://readbangkokpost.com/">http://readbangkokpost.com/</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>References</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Cone, Margaret (1996) "The I.B. Horner Memorial Lecture 1995: Lexicography,
Pali and Pali Lexicography," Journal of the Pali Text Society, Vol. XXII,
Journal 1996.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Elizarenkova, T.Y. and V.N. Toporov (1976) The Pali language, Nauka
Pub. House, Moscow. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Okell, John (1967) "Nissaya Burmese," Journal of the Burma Research
Society, vol. 50.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Okell, John (1968) "Alphabetical order in Burmese," Journal of the Burma
Research Society, vol. 51.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Pruitt, William (1994) Etude linguistique de nissaya birmans :
traduction commentee de textes bouddhiques, Paris : Presses de l'Ecole francaise
d'Extreme-Orient.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Skilling, Peter and Santi Pakdeekham (2004) Pali and vernacular literature
transmitted in Central and Northern Siam, Bangkok : Fragile Palm Leaves
Foundation.</DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Stewart, J.A. and C. W. Dunn (1940-) A Burmese-English dictionary,
published under the auspices of the University of Rangoon, School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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