Spelling and Pronunciation
in Southeast Asia

There are so many different spoken and written languages in Southeast Asia that few general rules can be given. It's always best to imitate an educated native-language speaker. I've given a few hints in the text for some of the less-obvious words. The following miscellaneous notes may also be helpful.

1. In the Khmer heartland (Cambodia and parts of Thailand and Laos):

  1. a as in father (if long, or accented)
  2. a as in hut (if short, or unaccented)
  3. ay as in eye
  4. h is not pronounced after most consonants
  5. w is pronounced like English "v"

2. Examples:

  1. "Angkor Wat" (Khmer) is pronounced "AHNG-ker VAHT" (rules 1,5)
  2. "krap" (Thai, meaning "please") is pronounced "CROP" (rule 1)
  3. "Thai" is pronounced "TIE" (rule 4)
  4. "Baray" (Khmer) is pronounced "buh-RYE" (rules 2,3)

3. Religious terms in Pali are sometimes descended from a related Sanskrit word. In these cases, a Sanskrit "r" is replaced by a doubled consonant, especially in Burma, because in general East Asian languages do not like the "R" sound. For example,

  1. dharma -> dhamma (doctrine)
  2. sutra -> sutta (sermon)
  3. chakra -> cakka (wheel)

4. In Myanmar, pronounce KY as J (per Jacobs)[2], and WR as either Y (per Jacobs[2]) or R (per Cooler[1]):

  1. Kyanzittha = JAHN-ah-tah (Jacobs)
  2. Anawratha = ahn-OY-ah-tah (Jacobs), or ahn-AHR-ah-tah (Cooler)

5. There is an alteration between B and P in several Asian countries. For example, Pagan (capital of Myanmar) is currently (2022) pronounced and spelled Bagan, not Pagan. Similarly, Beijing (newer) vs. Peking (older).

1 Richard Cooler, The Art and Culture Of Burma
2Justin M. Jacobs, The Great Courses