Mueang#Buri mueang

{{More citations needed section|date=May 2024}}

Place names in Southwestern Tai languages

In Khmer, "moeang" (មឿង) is a word borrowed from the Thai language meaning "small city" or "small town."Headley, Robert K. [http://www.sealang.net/khmer/dictionary.htm "SEAlang Library Khmer"], SEAlang Library, 05/14/2018 Usually used as a place name for villages.

• Moeang Char
• Moeang Prachen

The placename "mueang" is written in Chinese characters as {{lang-zh|c=勐, 孟|p=měng|labels=no}}, which is equivalent to {{langx|tdd|ᥛᥫᥒᥰ}} and {{langx|khb|ᦵᦙᦲᧂ}}, both of which are spoken in China.

Laos is colloquially known as Muang Lao, but for Lao people, the word conveys more than mere administrative district. The usage is of special historic interest for the Lao; in particular for their traditional socio-political and administrative organisation, and the formation of their early (power) states,{{cite conference|url=http://laomanuscripts.net/downloads/literaryheritageoflaos31_raendchen_en.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104074758/http://laomanuscripts.net/downloads/literaryheritageoflaos31_raendchen_en.pdf|archive-date=2013-11-04|title=The socio-political and administrative organisation of müang in the light of Lao historical manuscripts|first=Jana|last=Raendchen|date=October 10, 2005|conference=The Literary Heritage of Laos Conference, 2005|conference-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104074845/http://laomanuscripts.net/en/resources/papers#1|book-title=The Literary Heritage of Laos: Preservation, Dissemination and Research Perspectives, Vientiane: National Library of Laos|publisher=Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts|location=Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz|access-date=September 12, 2013|quote=The use of the word müang is of special historic interest for the Lao; in particular for their traditional socio-political and administrative organisation, and the formation of their early (power) states.|pages=401–420}} described by later scholars as Mandala (Southeast Asian political model). Provinces of Laos are now subdivided into what are commonly translated as districts of Laos, with some retaining Muang as part of the name:

• Muang Sing
• Muang Xay
• Former Muang
• Muang Phuan (modern Phonsavan, capital city of Xiangkhouang Province)
• Muang Sua

{{further|Saopha|Shan States}}

File:ႁူင်းယႃ ဝဵင်းမိူင်းၼၢႆး - panoramio.jpg]]

• Mong Mao
• Mong Hsat
• Mong Hpayak
• Mong Ton
• Mong Nai
• Mong Ping
• Mohnyin (former Mongyang State)
• Mogaung (former Mongkawng)
• Momauk
• Mogok
• Momeik

• Mong Dun Shun Kham or Ahom kingdom{{Cite book|last=Gohain|first=Birendra kr|title=Origin of the Tai and Chao Lung Hsukapha: A Historical Perspective|date=1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k01uAAAAMAAJ}} – The Mueang (currently the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in North-East India), established by a Tai Prince Sukaphaa in 1228 with 9000 Tai People migrated from Mong Mao called as Ahom by local people, transformed itself into a huge kingdom by the 17th century that withstood the might of the Mughal Empire.

{{Further|Amphoe|Boriwen|Monthon|Muban|Sukhaphiban|Tambon|Thesaban}}

File:หอนาฬิกาเชียงราย Chiang Rai Clock Tower.jpg Clock Tower]]

Thailand is colloquially known as Mueang Thai. After the Thesaphiban reforms of Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, city-states under Siam were organized into monthon ({{lang|th|มณฑล}}, Thai translation of mandala), which was changed to changwat ({{lang|th|จังหวัด}}) in 1916.{{cite journal|journal=Royal Gazette|volume=33|issue=ก|page=51|script-title=th:ประกาศกระทรวงมหาดไทย เรื่อง ทรงพระกรุณาโปรดเกล้า ฯ ให้เปลี่ยนคำว่าเมืองเรียกว่าจังหวัด|url=http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2459/A/51.PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409014441/http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2459/A/51.PDF|archive-date=April 9, 2008|date=28 May 1916|language=th}}

Mueang still can be found as the term for the capital districts of the provinces (amphoe mueang), as well as for a municipal status equivalent to town (thesaban mueang). In standard Thai, the term for the country of Thailand is ประเทศไทย, rtgs: Prathet Thai.

Mueang still forms part of the placenames of a few places, notably Don Mueang District, home to Don Mueang International Airport; and in the Royal Thai General System of Transcription Mueang Phatthaya ({{lang|th|เมืองพัทยา}}) for the self-governing municipality of Pattaya.

Nakhon ({{lang|th|นคร}}) as meaning "city" has been modified to thesaban nakhon ({{lang|th|เทศบาลนคร}}), usually translated as "city municipality". It still forms part of the name of some places.

• Krung Thep Maha Nakhon
• Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya
• Nakhon Lampang
• Nakhon Nayok
• Nakhon Ratchasima
• Nakhon Si Thammarat
• Nakhon Thai
• Renu Nakhon

Sung Noen District is noted for having been the site of two ancient cities: Mueang Sema and Khorakhapura. Pali púra became Sanskrit puri, hence Thai {{lang|th|บุรี, บูรี}},{{cite web|url=http://www.thai-language.com/default.aspx?search=%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%B9%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B5|title=บูรี|author=Glenn S.|date=5 Aug 2013|format=Dictionary|work=Royal Institute Dictionary – 1982|publisher=Thai-language.com|access-date=2013-08-03|quote=บุรี; บูรี /บุ-รี; บู-รี/ Pali: ปุร [นาม] เมือง}} (buri) all connoting the same as Thai mueang: city with defensive wall.{{cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=soas&query=9825&matchtype=exact&display=utf8|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130805042703/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=soas&query=9825&matchtype=exact&display=utf8|archive-date=August 5, 2013|title=A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages|access-date=5 Aug 2013|last=Turner|first=Sir Ralph Lilley|author-link=Ralph Lilley Turner|year=1985|orig-date=London: Oxford University Press, 1962-1966.|work=Includes three supplements, published 1969-1985.|publisher=Digital South Asia Library, a project of the Center for Research Libraries and the University of Chicago|page=469|quote=8278 púra noun. fortress, town, gynaeceum}} "Khorakhapura" was nicknamed "Nakhon Raj," which as a portmanteau with Sema, became Nakhon Ratchasima.{{cite web|url=http://www.asiaexplorers.com/thailand/nakhon-ratchasima.htm|title=Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat), Thailand|access-date=5 Aug 2013|date=5 Aug 2013|format=Text available under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 (Unported)|work=More about Nakhon Ratchasima|publisher=AsiaExplorers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909014002/http://www.asiaexplorers.com/thailand/nakhon-ratchasima.htm|archive-date=2013-09-09|url-status=live|quote=Nakhon Ratchasima was originally two separate cities namely Khorakhapura (also called Nakhon Raj) and Sema.... The present city of Nakhon Ratchasima, whose name is a portmanteau of Nakhon Raj and Sema, was established by King Narai (1656-88) as the eastern frontier of his kingdom centered on Ayutthaya.}} Though dropped from the name of this mueang, Sanskrit buri persists in the names of others.

• Buriram
• Chonburi
• Sing Buri
• Suphan Buri
• Thonburi

{{further|Sip Song Chau Tai}}

File:Lai Châu Town Square Monument (2014).jpg town square]]

• Muong Cha
• Muong La
• Mường Lay
• Muong Lat
• Muong Khuong
• Muong Nhe
• Muong Te
• Muong Thanh

:NB: Luo et al. employ /ü/ which may erroneously scan as /ii/.

Müang Fai is a term reconstructed from Proto-Tai, the common ancestor of all Tai languages. In the Guangxi-Guizhou of Southern China region, the term described what was then a unique type of irrigation engineering for wet-rice cultivation. Müang meaning 'irrigation channel, ditch, canal' and Fai, 'dike, weir, dam.' together referred to gravitational irrigation systems for directing water from streams and rivers.

{{cite journal|last1=Luo|first1=Wei|last2=Hartmann|first2=John|last3=Li|first3=Jinfang|last4=Sysamouth|first4=Vinya|date=December 2000|title=GIS Mapping and Analysis of Tai Linguistic and Settlement Patterns in Southern China|journal=Geographic Information Sciences|volume=6|issue=2|pages=129–136|location=DeKalb|publisher=Northern Illinois University|doi=10.1080/10824000009480541|bibcode=2000AnGIS...6..129L|s2cid=24199802|access-date=May 28, 2013|url=http://www.niu.edu/landform/papers/JGIS_Tai_Origin.pdf|quote=Abstract. By integrating linguistic information and physical geographic features in a GIS environment, this paper maps the spatial variation of terms connected with wet-rice farming of Tai minority groups in southern China and shows that the primary candidate of origin for proto-Tai is in the region of Guangxi-Guizhou, not Yunnan or the middle Yangtze River region as others have proposed....}}

The Proto-Tai language is not directly attested by any surviving texts, but has been reconstructed using the comparative method. This term has Proto-Tai-tone A1. All A1 words are rising tone in modern Thai and Lao, following rules determined for tone origin. Accordingly, the term is:

:in modern {{langx|th|เหมืองฝาย}}[http://sealang.net/thai/dictionary.htm เหมืองฝาย];

:in modern {{langx|lo|ເຫມື່ອງຝາຍ}}.http://sealang.net/lao/dictionary.htm ເຫມືອງຝາຽ (NB: SEAlang Library's Lao entry omits tonal marking – a typographical error.)

Different linguistic tones give different meanings; scholarship has not established a link between this term and any of the terms which differ in tone.

Mueang conveys many meanings, all having to do with administrative, social, political and religious orientation on wet-rice cultivation. The origin of the word mueang yet remains obscure. In October 2007, The National Library of Laos, in collaboration with the Berlin State Library and the University of Passau, started a project to produce the Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts. Papers presented at the Literary Heritage of Laos Conference, held in Vientiane in 2005, have also been made available. Many of the mss. illuminate the administrative, social, political, and religious demands put on communities in the same watershed area that insured a high degree of cooperation to create and maintain irrigation systems (müang-faai) – which probably was the primary reason for founding mueang.{{cite conference|url=http://laomanuscripts.net/downloads/literaryheritageoflaos31_raendchen_en.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104074758/http://laomanuscripts.net/downloads/literaryheritageoflaos31_raendchen_en.pdf|archive-date=2013-11-04|title=The socio-political and administrative organisation of müang in the light of Lao historical manuscripts|first=Jana|last=Raendchen|date=October 10, 2005|conference=The Literary Heritage of Laos Conference, 2005|conference-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104074845/http://laomanuscripts.net/en/resources/papers#1|book-title=The Literary Heritage of Laos: Preservation, Dissemination and Research Perspectives, Vientiane: National Library of Laos|publisher=Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts|location=Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz|access-date=September 12, 2013|quote=However, being wet-rice growing societies, Tai baan could not have sustained themselves in isolation, but were dependent to a high degree on water irrigation that demands cooperation of several baan communities being situated in one and the same watershed area. The organisation of cooperation of a number of baan in irrigation works, historically, probably was the primary reason for founding müang, that is a group of several baan managing one common irrigation system (müang-faai), and generally worshipping the same territorial guardian spirit (phii müang) and ancestral spirits.|page=416}}

File:Wat Ming Mueang, Chiang Rai - 2017-06-27 (001).jpg, traditionally used for written kham mueang]]

Kham Mueang ({{langx|th|คำเมือง}}) is the modern spoken form of the old Northern Thai language that was the language of the kingdom of Lan Na (Million Fields). Central Thai may call northern Thai people and their language Thai Yuan. They call their language Kham Mueang in which Kham means language or word; mueang; town, hence the meaning of "town language," specifically in contrast to those of the many hill tribe peoples in the surrounding mountainous areas.{{cite book|author=Natnapang Burutphakdee|others=Asst. Prof. Dr. Kirk R. Person, adviser|title=Khon Muang Neu Kap Phasa Muang|trans-title=Attitudes of Northern Thai Youth towards Kammuang and the Lanna Script|url=http://ic.payap.ac.th/graduate/linguistics/theses/Natnapang_Thesis.pdf|access-date=June 8, 2013|type=M.A. Thesis|series=Presented at 4th National Symposium on Graduate Research, Chiang Mai, Thailand, August 10–11, 2004|date=October 2004|publisher=Payap University|location=Chiang Mai|at=P. 7, digital image 30|quote=The reason why they called this language 'Kammuang' is because they used this language in the towns where they lived together, which were surrounded by mountainous areas where there were many hill tribe people.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505040726/http://ic.payap.ac.th/graduate/linguistics/theses/Natnapang_Thesis.pdf|archive-date=May 5, 2015}}

• Acequia, Spanish term for irrigation system organized like the Müang Fai irrigation system
• Chiang (place name)
• Internal colonialism
• Tusi
• Wiang

{{reflist}}

• {{Wiktionary-inline|mueang}}

Category:Former countries in Southeast Asia

Category:Former countries in Thai history

Category:Former countries in Chinese history

Category:Subdivisions of Laos

Category:Subdivisions of Myanmar

Category:Subdivisions of Thailand

Category:Thai words and phrases

Category:Types of administrative division

Category:Former countries in Indian history