ช้าง

See also: ช่าง

Thai

elephant.

the orchid (Lindl.) Ridl.

Pronunciation

Orthographic/Phonemic		ช้าง d͡ʑ ˆ ā ŋ
Romanization	Paiboon	cháang
	Royal Institute	chang
(standard) IPA(key)		/t͡ɕʰaːŋ˦˥/(R)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Tai *ɟaːŋᶜ (“elephant”), from Middle Chinese 象 (MC zjangX, “elephant”). Cognate with Northern Thai ᨩ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ, Isan ซ่าง, Lao ຊ້າງ (sāng), Lü ᦋᦱᧂᧉ (tsaang²), Tai Dam ꪋ꫁ꪱꪉ, Shan ၸၢင်ႉ (tsâ̰ang), Tai Nüa ᥓᥣᥒᥳ (tsȧang), Ahom 𑜋𑜂𑜫 (chaṅ), Zhuang ciengh, Saek ซาง.

Noun

ช้าง • (cháang)

1. elephant.
2. (Thailand chess) bishop.

Usage notes

• Elephants are classified as follows:

Classifier	For
โขลง (klǒong)	Herds of elephants
ช้าง (cháang)	Government-registered elephants
เชือก (chʉ̂ʉak)	Domesticated elephants
ตัว (dtuua)	Wild elephants

• Male elephants are called พลาย (plaai); and female, พัง (pang).

Adjective

ช้าง • (cháang) (abstract noun ความช้าง)

1. (slang) great (in importance, size, amount, number, degree, etc).

Classifier

ช้าง • (cháang)

1. Classifier for elephants registered by the government.

Etymology 2

Noun

ช้าง • (cháang)

1. (botany) foxtail orchid: the plant (Lindl.) Ridl. of the family Orchidaceae.