Thai spelling reform of 1942

Updated on Feb 05, 2024

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An attempted spelling reform of the Thai language was promoted by the government of Prime Minister Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram in 1942. The prime minister's office announcement on improving the Thai alphabet is dated 29 May 1942, and was published in the Royal Gazette on 1 June 1942."

Redundancy of the Thai writing system

The redundancy of the Thai writing system is retained, especially similar to Lao Language. the policy changes in simplified Thai:

All of วรรค ฎ (i.e., ฎ ฏ ฐ ฑ ฒ ณ), the section of the alphabet corresponding to the Indic retroflex consonants, is gone, being replaced by their corresponding consonants in วรรค ด (ด ต ถ ท ธ น).

ใ is uniformly replaced with ไ.

ญ is replaced with ย in initial position (e.g., ใหญ่ > ไหย่), but retained in final position without its 'base' (ฐาน), as seen on the title page in the word สามัญ.

Of the three high /s/ consonants, ศ ษ ส, only ส is retained (e.g., ศึกษา > สึกสา).

Initial /s/ cluster ทร is replaced by ซ (e.g., กระทรวง > กะซวง).

The leading อ in the four words อยาก อย่า อย่าง อยู่ is replaced by ห.

Many consonants that don't add to the pronunciation are eliminated (e.g., จริง > จิง, ศาสตร์ > สาตร).

Some clusters are reduced (e.g., กระทรวง > กะซวง).

References

Thai spelling reform of 1942 Wikipedia

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