Book: Lao - Pali - Sanskrit Etymology Lexicon
The Laotian language integrates a significant number of words and terms borrowed from Pali and Sanskrit, and it uses them in day to day life as much in the written form as in the spoken forms.
Until 1975, the official transcription of Lao words or terms was carried out according to phonetic rules' enacted by the royal decree of January 10, 1949 and thus forming the rules of written Lao. However, this form of transcription, which took place according to a purely phonetic method and not according to the origin of the words, contributed to the emergence of a certain number of confusions because of the existence of many homonyms. However to understand the meaning of a word, it is necessary to analyze the context to which the sentence belongs.
On the basis of this report, the author began research on the origin of the words Pali and Sanskrit whisle questioning at the same time the way in which these were transcribed into Lao alphabet. Thus the idea of a lexicon of Lao terms presented in a completely original way was the fruition of his research.
In order to carry out this lexicon, it was necessary to reintroduce the use of fourteen additional consonants (created initially in 1933 by Maha Sila Viravongs) and used very rarely in Pali grammar textbooks, but whose usage is lost today.
The new edition of January 2011 is greatly enlarged and improved. Size: 160 x 240 mm. 304 pages.
Presentation of the lexicon:
The explanation of Lao words and terms is presented in the following way:
1. The entry of the word: a Lao word that results from the Lao writing rules determined by the royal decree n°10 of January 27, 1949.
2. A Lao word which results from the transcription of Pali and/or Sanskrit. (indicated in square brackets in bold type)
3. Pali and/or Sanskrit words, transcribed in Roman characters with their diacritics, such as it were adopted by the committee of the "Orientalists" at the time of the Geneva Conference in September 1894.
4. Translation of the words into English and French words. Sometimes, a translation was also given in Latin, Greek and German (Sanskrit is a part of the family of Indo-European language).
Lastly, it is important to highlight that Laos was subject to India's great influence of , as well as linguistic, philosophical and religious influences, which explains why many proper names indicating the important places of Veneration, Saints, and the mythology of India are also mentioned in this work.
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