เชียงใหม่

See also: เชยีงใหม

Thai

Alternative forms

• (archaic): เชยีงใหม (chiiang-mài)

Etymology

Of unknown origin. There are several suggestions regarding the etymology:

1. Chiiang-mài is a wordplay on a Pali name of the city, นพีสี (ná-pii-sǐi). Ná-pii-sǐi is from Pali nava (“nine”) + isi (“ascetic; hermit; priest; etc.”), literally "nine hermits", referring to the nine hermits in the local folklore. But nava also means "new". Hence came chiiang-mài, from เชียง (chiiang, “ascetic; hermit; priest; etc”) +‎ ใหม่ (mài, “new”), literally "new hermits".
2. Chiiang-mài is from เชียง (chiiang, “fort; fortification; fortress; etc”) +‎ ใหม่ (mài, “new”); literally "new fort".

Pronunciation

Orthographic		เชียงใหม่ e d͡ʑ ī y ŋ au h m ˋ
Phonemic		เชียง-ไหฺม่ e d͡ʑ ī y ŋ – ai h ̥ m ˋ
Romanization	Paiboon	chiiang-mài
	Royal Institute	chiang-mai
(standard) IPA(key)		/t͡ɕʰia̯ŋ˧.maj˨˩/(R)
Audio

Proper noun

เชียงใหม่ • (chiiang-mài)

1. (จังหวัด~) Chiang Mai, a province in northern Thailand.
2. (เมือง~) Chiang Mai, the capital of the Chiang Mai province and the largest city in northern Thailand.