SWATOW LOAN WORDS IN SIAMESE BY SOR EGEROD University of Copenhagen Modern Siamese contains a number of words borrowed from the Swatow dialect (also known as Chao Chou or Tie Chiu), the predominant dialect among the Chinese minority in Thai- land. The list contained in this article comprises 181 items assembled from the files of the University of California Thai Dictionary Project, from existing dictionaries, and from my personal notes.! ‘The Swatow loan words should not be confused with the older vocabulary items which are related to Chinese or have been borrowed from Chinese at a very early date. There are two main groups of such words: Cyclic terms which have been treated by Li Fang-kuei in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 8 (1945) 333—342 and by myself in Oriens 10.2 (1957) 296—299; and the remaining contact words which have been treated by Kurt Wulff in Det Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Historisk-filo- 1 I wish to express my gratitude to the East Asia Studies Branch of the Insti- tute of International Studies, University of California, and to Professor Mary R. Haas, Director of the Thai Dictionary Project, for letting me utilize the files of the Thai Dictionary Project; and to the Institute of International Studies for ‘a 1956 research grant in Chinese dialectology. I am further indebted to the John ‘Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for a research grant in Thai dialectology for the year 1956—57, during the tenure of which some of the material for the present study was collected. For previous mention of the Swatow loan words in Siamese see Gustave Schlegel, Troung Pao, Ser-2, 2 (1901) p. 79 M1. (Schlegel thought the origin of the loan words to be Amoy), and E.J.A. Henderson, Transactions of the Philologicat Society (1951) 184—135 and 142—143, The present study provides the missing characters for some of Miss Henderson’s comparisons. The Slamese word /t6ol8p/ ‘please’, for which Miss Henderson suggests a Chinese etymology (p. 135) is of Malay origin. 10 Acta Orientalia, XXII138 SOREN EGEROD logiske Meddelelser 20.3 (1934) and others. The Swatow loans are much more recent and are recognizable by their form, which is close to the Swatow phonological pattern, as well as by their content, reflecting the role played by the Chinese in Thailand: commerce, labor organization, relaxation, imported goods, eats, drinks, smokes, social and religious events, and expressive ad- jectives are some of the main categories. There are, however, s where it is difficult to tell with certainty from the modern data alone to which source a word with Chinese affinities gocs back. Siamese /kim/ ‘gold’ is an older contact word, but it fits the pattern for Swatow loans, and in the compound /kimt¥y/ ‘a kind of porcelain’ from Swatow /kimb)j/ ‘golden hall’ /kim/ does have a Swatow origin. To a lesser degree Siamese has also borrowed from other Chinese dialects than Swatow. The Siamese pronunciation of Chinese names often does not agree with the Swatow pattern. Thus the name of the famous Chinese restaurant in Bangkok {hdojthianlaw/ reflects the Cantonese /hijthinlaw/, but charac- teristically enough Cantonese as mispronounced by a Swatow speaker, as shown by the second syllable, cf. Swatow /thien/. Siamese /ciankhajchég/ ‘Chiang K’ai-shek’ with its curious mix- ture of Mandarin and Cantonese was borrowed via English. Some words included in this paper, especially such as do not render the tones in accordance with the more common patterns, may actually have come to Siamese from other Chinese dialects than Swatow. A few words from the vocabulary of traditional Chinese story telling are included in the Siamese dictionaries, e. g. /?5oy/ ‘king’, /eimkén/ ‘to bring tribute’. These two words do not exactly re- flect modern recorded Swatow forms, for the first one cf. Amoy [Pn]. To this group probably also belong no. 167 of the list below /tonchin/ ‘loyal subject’, and no. 63 /kagchin/ ‘disloyal minister’. A very few words common to Tai and Fukienese, but not found in other Chinese dialects, are probably Tai loans in Fukienese, e.g. ‘leg’ Siamese /khaa/, Swatow /khi/, Lungtu /khéa/, Amoy and Fuchow /kh4/. No. 98 below ‘enough’ Swatow /li/, Siamese flda/ may belong in this category.SWATOW LOAN WORDS IN SIAMESE 189 The phonological systems of Siamese! and Swatow* are quite similar, and the loan words are consequently easily assimilated. Below is given the list of Swatow loan words in our material, followed by a discussion of the sound laws involved in the loaning process under the three headings Consonants, Vowels, and Tones. 1. St acd) Py HH ‘older sister’ > Sm* /Paacée/. See also no. 27. 2. St Pahiav's ff SE ‘older brother, respectful address to man older than onesely’ > Sm /?aahia/ ‘older brother, re- spectful address to adult Chinese; adult Chinese’. See also no. 46. 3. St Pakdw/ SA HH ‘aunt, father's sister? > Sm Paakoo/. See also no. 87. 4. St Pimiev/ fap iE ‘younger sister’ > Sm Paamidaj/. See also no. 108. 5. St ati/ [Af HS ‘younger brother’ > Sm /Paatii/. See also no. 158. 6. St /Ap2/ [HF 4H ‘uncle, father’s older brother’ > Sm Paapé/. See also no. 112. 7. St Paphien/ Wf} Fy ‘opium’ > Sm Paaphtan/. 1 For a summary of Siamese phonology see Mary R. Haas, The Thai system of writing, A. C. L. S., 1956. The Haas transcription of Siamese is used throughout this paper. + A brief exposition of Swatow phonology is found in Soren Fgerod, The Lungtt Dialect, 1956. Of earlier material published on Swatow notice especially A. M. Fielde, Dictionary of the Swatom Dialect, 1883, and Bernhard Karlgren, Etudes sur la phonologie chinoise, chapter 18, 1926. ‘The Swatow transcription used in The Lungta Dialect has been modified for the present purpose on the following points: /q/ has been changed to (/, /-p/ to Pb}, Ht) to dj, and /-k/ to /-g/. As in The Lungtu Dialect the basic tone of a Swa- tow syllable is written on the main syllabic element of the syllable, the sandhi tone is written after the syllable, for instance in the syllable /ba?"/, /-/ is the basic tone, /*/ is the sandhi tone. ‘My Swatow informants include speakers from Swatow, Bangkok, and Malaya. + Swatow, thus abbreviated in the following. + Siamese, thus abbreviated in the following. © St iv/ designates final nasalization. 10°140 SOREN EGEROD 8. St ab] GF ‘box’ > Sm Pab/. This word is likely to be an older contact word. 9. St Pan‘low/ BE YH -earthen stove’ > Sm PAnléo/. 10. St Panvai/ AL SF ‘secret society’ > Sm Anji 1 St pil FE see no. 152. 11. St Pi) A ‘sweetmeats’ > Sm il. 12. St Piam*ctin/ BA FPS ‘salt boat, lighter’ > Sm /iametn/. * st Piv/ RF see no. 67. * St Piv/ [B] sce no. 3: 13. St Piw/ fH ‘actor’ > Sm /yiw/ ‘Chinese theatre play’. = St Piw/ YH see no. 136. 14. St Poliay/ Ay GF ‘black and cold, black ice coffee’ > Suu Poolian/. 15. St Pu/ AL ‘to have’ > Sm Piu/ ‘rich’, 16. St /bar’chow/ [7] fit ‘a pork dish’ > Sm /bi°chdo/. 17. St /ba%miv/ ] $9 ‘pork noodles’ > Sm /bA?mii/. 18. St /bowtin/ EE Ff ‘peony’ > Sm /bootan/. 19. St /bte/ FR ‘tail, end’ > Sm /bttaj/ ‘end, last’. * St [eas YE see no. 129. 20. St fedb'chaj/ HE FE ‘mixed vegetables’ > Sm /cdbchaaj/. 21. St [cdb*bie/ #E @ ‘(soup) with many ingredients’ > $m Jedbhitaj/. 22. St /eab*kin/ HE “T. ‘mixed work, unskilled worker’ > Sm Jeabkay/. 23, St jedb'vivki/ $+ = 4X ‘(game played with) twelve bam- boo cards’ > Sm /cabjfikii/. * St jeaj/ MK sce no. 118. 24. St fean/ BF ‘dumpling’ > Sm /cdan/. 25. St fcaw/ ‘to go off; a tie in gambling’ > Sm /cdw/. 26. St /cd/ PE ‘fast, Chinese lent’ > Sm feee/ or /cee/. St fee Hf] ‘older sister’ > Sm /eée/. See also no. 1. . St feeg! AX ‘uncle, father’s younger brother’ > Sm /cég/ ‘derogatory term for Chinese’. An asterisk indicates a cross reference.SWATOW LOAN WORDS IN SIAMESE 141 |. St /e’n/ AF ‘harpsichord’ > Sm /cén/. . St foén/ JEL ‘swollen; bankrupt’ > Sm /céq/ ‘bankrupt’. St fei Fr see no. 171. St {cif 1] see no. 61. St [cia®/ BE sce no. 118. . Stfotacé/ $F BE ‘to tast, eat vegetarian food’ > Sm fefa%cee/ or jeia%ces). 2. St fciam*iv/ G2 fA] ‘short rice noodles’ > Sm /ctam*%i/. . St fcien/ Pil ‘to pan-fry’ > Sm jcian/. St fciev/ #E see no. 150. St feiw/ PY sec no. 157. St fetw/ W4 ‘liquor’ > Sm jeiw/. St [cdf 4B ‘to sit” > Sm fedo/. . St /oG*stiav) JE [Lf ‘rich man’ > Sm /edwstia/ ‘rich Chinese’, first syllable altered under influence of Siamese /edw/ ‘lord, master’. Also found as Sm /céesiia/, for which form I have no explanation. . St cdg! BRR ‘congee’ > Sm fedog/. St fea/ F see no. 95. St fotin/ FRY sce no. 12. St /e$/ JF see no. 96. St [chajf 4 see no. 20, no. 75, and no. 86. . St fehawkie/ BE FR ‘jelly’ > Sm /chawkiaj/. . St /chéy/ jf ‘clear, to clear debts’ > Sm jchéen/ ‘to clear debts’. St /chi/ WH see no. 57. . St /ehtav/ jij ‘to ask, to invite’ > Sm /ehia/. St /chin/ Fi see no. 63 and no. 167. St jchow/ BE see no. 16. « St /chimpiav/ ¥¥ 4} ‘spring cakes’ > Sm /chunpia’/. St /na°/ & see no. 114. St /haj/ Ff see no. 139. . St fbaj-lam/ YF FF ‘Hainan’ > Sm /hijlim/. . St fhin/ FF ‘warehouse’ > Sm /hAan/.