แจ่ง chaeng
Hartmann Linge · CC BY-SA 4.0แจ่ง
The word for the four corners of the moat. A songthaew driver navigates the square by its chaeng, not by street names, and so does this site.
Kam Mueang, the road words
The northern speech has its own words for the alley, the bridge, the corner and the market, and the city still uses them. Script, sound, standard equivalent, root.
ᨩ᩠ᨿᨦᩉ᩠ᨾᩲ᩵ — Chiang Mai in Tai Tham, the Lanna script
| Script | RTGS | Sound | Standard Thai | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| แจ่ง | chaeng | /tɕɛ̀ŋ/ | มุม · ป้อมมุมกำแพง | a corner; the bastion at a corner of the city wall |
| เจียงใหม่ | chiang mai | /tɕiaŋ.màj/ | เชียงใหม่ | Chiang Mai, as the city says its own name |
| ฮ่อม | hom | /hɔ̂ːm/ | ซอย · ตรอก | a narrow lane between houses |
| กำแพง | kamphaeng | /kam.pʰɛːŋ/ | กำแพง | wall; city wall |
| กาด | kat | /kàːt/ | ตลาด | market |
| คู | khu | /kʰuː/ | คูเมือง | moat; ditch |
| ขัว | khua | /kʰǔa/ | สะพาน | bridge |
| ลอด | lot | /lɔ̂ːt/ | ทางลอด · อุโมงค์ | to pass under; an underpass |
| ประตู | pratu | /pa.tǔː/ | ประตู | gate; city gate |
| รถแดง | rot daeng | /rót.dɛːŋ/ | รถสองแถว | the red truck; Chiang Mai's shared taxi |
| ซอย | soi | /sɔːj/ | ซอย | a side street off a main road, numbered along it |
| ทาง | thang | /tʰaːŋ/ | ทาง | way, path, direction; in compounds, a road of a certain kind |
| ถนน | thanon | /tʰa.nǒn/ | ถนน | road, street |
| เวียง | wiang | /wiaŋ/ | เมือง (ที่มีกำแพง) | a walled town; the old city inside the moat |
| แยก | yaek | /jɛ̂ːk/ | ทางแยก | a junction; to branch |
Say it
Manop · CC BY 3.0Khuen rot daeng
Get in a red truck. Directions in this city run from chaeng to chaeng and yaek to yaek, and the names outlive the buildings.
รถแดงเจียงใหม่ chiang mai
Thaimissions2006 at English Wikipedia · Public domainเจียงใหม่
The name, in the northern voice. The unaspirated initial is the first thing a listener notices, and the first thing this site's Thai pages do.
ฮ่อม hom
Adbar · CC BY-SA 3.0ฮ่อม
The Lanna word for an alley. Where a Bangkok address says soi, the old city said hom, and a few lanes still carry it in their names. This site uses…
กำแพง kamphaeng
Hartmann Linge · CC BY-SA 4.0กำแพง
The wall. In Chiang Mai there are two, and only the earthen one gets a qualifier.
กาด kat
Manop · CC BY-SA 3.0กาด
The word for a market, and the reason the biggest one in the city and a shopping mall both have kat in their names. Roads here are named after…
คู khu
Hartmann Linge · CC BY-SA 4.0คู
The moat, and by extension the roads on its banks. 'Rop khu' is the loop. The 1931 and 1945 city sheets both label it คูเวียง, khu wiang, the ditch…
ขัว khua
Erebusso. · CC BY-SA 3.0ขัว
The Lanna word for a bridge, and the one the Iron Bridge is known by. A driver hears saphan on the signs and khua from the passengers. It is in a…
ลอด lot
CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · CC BY-SA 4.0ลอด
The underpass. Chiang Mai chose to go under its junctions rather than over them, seven times on the middle ring alone, and the word is on every green…
ประตู pratu
Rinto Jiang · Public domainประตู
Shared with standard Thai, but in this city 'pratu' is a place name first: five gates, and everyone knows which one you mean.
รถแดง rot daeng
Patiparn.Nice2002bkk · CC BY-SA 4.0รถแดง
The red pickup with two benches that is the city's bus, taxi and school run. It has no route, only a direction and a fare, which is why it is on a…
ซอย soi
This is Arthur Morganar (RDR2-THR) · CC0 1.0ซอย
The Bangkok word and the postal one. Every lane on the map that has a number has it because of this system; the ones that have a name instead are…
ทาง thang
CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · CC BY-SA 4.0ทาง
The general word for a way, which the highway department uses for everything it builds: thang luang for a national highway, thang lot for an…
ถนน thanon
Christophe95 · CC BY-SA 4.0ถนน
The standard word, used in both registers. A thanon is built; a thang is only gone along.
เวียง wiang
Rinto Jiang · Public domainเวียง
The word for the walled city, and the word this site uses for the square inside the moat. The rest of Chiang Mai is mueang; the square is wiang. The…
แยก yaek
Chainwit. · CC BY-SA 4.0แยก
The junction. Chiang Mai directions run from yaek to yaek, and the names outlive the buildings.