Khom (Thai: ขอม, pronounced [kʰɔ̌ːm]) is a Thai- and Lao-language term referring to the people and civilization of the ancient Khmer Empire. Its use is recorded as early as the 12th century, though its exact meaning—whether it refers to a specific empire, a certain historical period, or the Khmer people in general—has been unclear throughout history.[1] The term has been used extensively in 20th-century Thai historiography, partly as a way to disassociate the historical Angkorian civilization—of which many archaeological sites are spread throughout present-day Thailand—from the present-day Khmer people who form the majority population of Cambodia, whom many Thais still believe to be an inferior race unrelated to the people of the ancient empire. This discourse was popularized by 20th-century Thai nationalist thinker Luang Wichitwathakan who asserted that contemporary Khmers are unrelated to the ethnic group responsible for the Angkorian civilization, coining the term "khom" for this purpose. By repurposing the term "khom" derived from the ancient Thai term "Khmer Krom" meaning "lowland Khmer", Wichitwathakan attempted to create a new ethnicity to accentuate a distinct separation between Angkor and Cambodia, despite the ethnic continuity between Angkor's builders and present-day Khmer being well-established.[2][3]
This is a commonly leveraged theme for anti-Khmer sentiment and historical negationism in Thai nationalist discourse.[4]
Etymology
editIn Thai, the term khom has its roots in the Dvaravati Old Mon and Nyah Kur term *krɔɔm[5] meaning "under, below, beneath [prep.]; the under part of (sth.) (especially house) [noun]."[5] The vowel sequence also derived as a variant form: *krɔɔm → *kǝrɔɔm, *kǝnrɔɔm[5] in the Austroasiatic languages then later diversified to other language families as follows:[5]
- Austroasiatic languages
- Hmong–Mien languages
- Kra–Dai languages
- Proto-Kra–Dai and Hlai: *kom, kom ← *krom (Mon) ← *krɔɔm.[7]
- Proto-Tai: gom ← *krom (Mon) ← *krɔɔm.[7]
- Northern Thai and Lao: khom ← *krom (Mon) ← *krɔɔm.[5][8] (Note: the term khom, sometimes used to refer to the Khmer period in Siam,[5] not so much for the Khmer of Camboja proper,[9] as for the Mon-Khmer people of Lower Siam—lower Chao Phraya River Basin proper[10] from about 1000 CE to the latter half of the 13th century CE, which was subject to the Angkor empire.)[9]
- Tibeto-Burman languages
See also
edit- Khom Thai script, a variant of the Khmer script used in Thailand
References
edit- ^ Denes, Alexandra (2022). "A Siamese Prince Journeys to Angkor". Journal of the Siam Society. 110 (1): 58.
- ^ Ünaldi, Serhat (2008). Reconstructing Angkor: Images of the Past and Their Impact on Thai-Cambodian Relations (PDF). Südostasien Working Papers. Vol. 33. Berlin: Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften. pp. 16–17.
- ^ Fry, Gerald W (2012-09-23). "Complex relations between Thais,Khmers". The Nation. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
First, many Thais think that Khom and Khmer are different peoples – with the Khom being the people who built the great Angkor empire and magnificent architecture and who are now extinct. They see the Khmer as a different people who now control Cambodia and who committed the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. In fact, the Khom and Khmer are the same people.
- ^ Vail, Peter (June 2007). "Thailand's Khmer as 'invisible minority': Language, ethnicity and cultural politics in north-eastern Thailand". Asian Ethnicity. 8 (2): 111–130. doi:10.1080/14631360701406247. ISSN 1463-1369.Kasetsiri, Charnvit (16 March 2003). "Thailand and Cambodia: A Love-Hate Relationship". Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia. No. 3. cited in ibid.
- ^ a b c d e f g Diffloth, Gérard. (1984). The Dvaravati Old Mon Language and Nyah Kur. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Printing House. pp. 219–220. ISBN 978-974-5-63783-2 Note: Entry no. V192., and V.192a.
- p. 343 :— "The Thai term ขอม /khɔ̌ɔm/, "Khom", sometimes used to refer to the Khmer period in Thailand, is apparently a Lao pronunciation of the Old Mon word *krɔɔm < krom >, meaning "Cambodian". The word is found in an Old Mon inscription, with that meaning (DOMI: p. 62), and in other Mon-Khmer languages, meaning "below, under, South". (Cf. V192)."
- ^ Jenner, Philip N. (2009). A Dictionary of pre-Angkorian Khmer. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-085-8-83595-5
- ^ a b c Benedict, Paul K. (1990). Japanese/Austro-Tai. Ann Arbor, MI: Karoma Publishers. p. 210. ISBN 089720-078-0
- ^ Unseth, Peter. "The Sociolinguistics of Script Shoice: An Introduction," International Journal of the Sociology of Language 192(2008): 25. doi:10.1515/IJSL.2008.030 "Notes 2. The term Khom is from the Lao word khom, from the Mon krom 'south(erners)', ..."
- ^ a b c Bennison, J.J. (1933). Census of India, 1931 Volume XI: BURMA PART I.—REPORT. Rangoon: Office of the Supdt., Government Printing and Stationery. p. 300.
- ^ Phaideekham, Santi. (2019). "เขมร คำที่ไทยใช้เรียกเขมรมาตั้งแต่เมื่อใด?," Laelang kham Khamen-Thai [Behind the words Khmer-Thai] แลหลังคำเขมร-ไทย (in Thai). Bangkok: Matichon. pp. 61–87. ISBN 978-974-0-21687-2
- ^ The Text Publication Fund of the Burma Research Society. (1923). The Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma. (Translated by Pe Maung Tin and G.H. Luce). LONDON: Oxford University Press. p 106. "south-eastward the country of the Gywans, also called Ayoja;".
- Cœdès, George. "Documents sur l'Histoire Politique et Religieuse du Laos Occidental," Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient 25(1925): 24. doi:10.3406/befeo.1925.3044 ISSN 1760-737X. "Le Hmannan Yazawin (trad. Maung Tin et Luce, pp. 99 et 106) place les Gywam au Sud-Est des Birmans et dit que leur contrée est aussie appelée Arawsa ou Ayoja, c'est-à-dire Ayudhya = le Siam."