เมือง

Thai

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *mɯəŋᴬ (“township”). Cognate with Northern Thai ᨾᩮᩬᩥᨦ, Lao ເມືອງ (mư̄ang), Lü ᦵᦙᦲᧂ (moeng), Tai Dam ꪹꪣꪉ, Shan မိူင်း (móeng), Tai Nüa ᥛᥫᥒᥰ (möeng), Ahom 𑜉𑜢𑜤𑜂𑜫 (müṅ), Zhuang mwngh. Compare loanwords in neighbouring languages: Khmer មឿង (mɨəng), Northern Khmer มฺืง, Vietnamese Mường, Chinese 勐 (měng).

Pronunciation

Orthographic/Phonemic		เมือง e m ụ̄ ɒ ŋ
Romanization	Paiboon	mʉʉang
	Royal Institute	mueang
(standard) IPA(key)		/mɯa̯ŋ˧/(R)

Noun

เมือง • (mʉʉang) (classifier เมือง or แห่ง)

1. (archaic) city-state.
2. (archaic) fortified polity.
3. any polity, as district, town, city, state, nation, etc.
4. region, sphere, or domain within which someone or something occurs, prevails, or dominates.
5. urban area.
6. civilised polity; modernised polity.

Proper noun

เมือง • (mʉʉang)

1. (informal, formerly derogatory) Northern Thailand.

Usage notes

• First attested in a report dated 2427 BE (1884/85 CE) submitted to the Siamese government by Prince Bijitprijakara following the annexation of Lan Na, which now forms Northern Thailand.
• Originally used by the Siamese officials to derogatorily refer to the annexed Lan Na and its local people.

References

• เนื้ออ่อน ขรัวทองเขียว. (2016). เปิดแผนยึดล้านนา. Bangkok: มติชน. →ISBN. page 151.