Thai lunar calendar

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The Thai lunar calendar or Patitin Chantarakati (Thai: ปฏิทินจันทรคติ) was replaced by the Thai solar calendar Patitin Suriyakati (ปฏิทินสุริยคติ) in AD 1888 2431 BE for most purposes, but the Chantarakati still determines most Buddhist feast or holy days, as well as a day for the famous Loy Krathong festival. These move with respect to the solar calendar, so Thai calendars continue to show Chantarakati dates, as well as Chinese calendar lunar dates. Thai birth certificates also include Chantarakati dates, and the appropriate Animal from the twelve Animals. In practice, many Thais reckon their ages from this sequence of Animals, though legally, age is determined by the solar calendar.

Contents

[edit] Patitin Chantarakati

Literally Against-the-Sun Moon-Ways, but properly the Chantarakati Calendar, this is Thailand's version of the lunisolar Buddhist calendar used in the southeast Asian countries of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar (formerly Burma). Based on the original third-century Surya Siddhanta Hindu calendar, these combine lunar and solar calendars for a nominal year of 12 months. A leap day or 30-day leap month is intercalated at regular intervals; Thai, Lao, and Cambodian versions do not add the leap day to years with the leap month.

[edit] Years

Years may have three lengths—354, 355 or 384 days. (See also Lunar Year).

  • 354-day-long years contain only normal months, i.e., Prokatimas Thai: ปรกติมาสฅ (ปกกะติมาด), with odd-numbered months of 29 days; and even-numbered months of 30 days. A year of 354 days having only normal months is also called Prokatimas.
  • 355 day-long years intercalate an extra day, i.e., Athikawara Thai: อธิกวาร (อะทิกะวาน) to the normally 29-day-long Month 7. A year of 355 days having the intercalated day is also called Athikawara.
  • 384 day-long years intercalate an extra month, i.e., Athikamas Thai: อธิกมาส (อะทิกะมาด), that repeats the normal, 30-day-long Month 8. A year of of 384 days having the intercalated month is also called Athikamas.

[edit] Months

Other Buddhist-calendar months have names in Sanskrit or old Burmese, but Thai lunar months number commonly from 1 to 12, where Caitra (Southern month 5) or Vaisakha (Southern month 6) begin the year. In a normal lunar year there are 354 days, so another 11 are needed in the next cycle of lunar months to make up 365 days. Consequently if one year began on Caitra 8, the next year would normally have to begin on Caitra 19. An extra day or an extra month in the lunar year, or a Leap in the solar year, will of course modify what the sequence will be. The system is prevented from passing ever onwards through the lunar months by the years with an extra month: there are then 384 lunar days, so the solar year will expire first and the next new year start will fall earlier in the lunar calendar.


Du-an 1 and 2 are read in alternate numbers:
Du-an 1 is Du-an Aai (Thai: เดือนอ้าย), where Aai means first born (son), or Moon 1, according to the On-line Royal Institute Dictionary (ORID - 1999).
Du-an 2 is Du-an Yi (Thai: เดือนยี่), from archaic ญี่ meaning 2 (ORID - 1999)'
Du-an 3 - 12 เดือน ๑ — ๑๒ Month 1-12 follow the modern way to read numbers.
  • Leap month Athikamas, Du-an 8 repeats as เดือน ๘/๘ — variously read as
    • Du-an Bad dap Bad — Month 8 slash 8,
    • Du-an Bad Song Khang — Month 8 Side Two, or
    • Du-an Bad Song Hon — Month 8 Time Two in the Isan language.

Note: the numeration of the months has historically three modes, best seen with the athikamas, 2nd Ashadha, since the doubling of the digit makes the reference unambiguous. In the South 2nd Ashadha is 88, in the North predominantly 1010, but in all Lanna provinces it could be 99, a designation shared with Sipsongpanna and employed in some Lao records (e.g. Buddha statue inscriptions). Plain "month 8", on the other hand, could potentially equate with Ashadha, or Jyestha, or Vaisakha depending on the region involved. There is usually enough other information in a record to determine which of the three modes applies.

[edit] Month divisions

Athikamas Leap Month began in July, ended 15 August 2004/2547BE

Months divide into two periods designated by the names of their characteristic "moons":

Khang Kuen 
ข้างขึ้น Waxing Moon ; the period from new moon to full moon
15 days, always
Khang Raem 
ข้างแรม Waning Moon ; the period from full moon to new moon
15 days in even-numbered months
14 days in odd-numbered months except when Athikawara adds the leap day to Month 7. Note: when not compounded with other words or syllables:
khang 
ข้าง [at, on, or to the] side
kuen 
ขึ้น to rise or mount
raem 
แรม to tire or retire.

[edit] Days

Days number sequentially from 1 to 14 or 15:

Kuen 1 Kham Du-an 1 
ขึ้น ๑ ค่ำ เดือน ๑ Waxing [Moon, Day] 1 Evening, Month 1 ; on to
Raem 15 Kham Du-an 12 
แรม ๑๕ ค่ำ เดือน ๑๒ Waning [Moon, Day] 15 Evening, Month 12.
Kham 
ค่ำ Evening nowadays is generally taken as the evening of the common day that begins and ends at midnight, rather than of a day that begins and ends at dusk. Past practice may have been different. But see Wan Wy Phra Chan, below.

[edit] Lunar-day names

  • Wan Phra วันพระ Day(s) Holy [to Buddhists] ; also called
    • Wan Thamma Sawana วันธรรมสวนะ (วันทำมะสะวะนะ) religious holy day(s) ; Buddhist sabbath(s) ; regularly fall on:
      • Kuen 8 ขึ้น ๘ first-quarter moon
      • Kuen 15 ขึ้น ๑๕ full moon ; also called
        • Wan Phen วันเพ็ญ day [of] full [moon].
          • WAN DUAN PHEN (Thai: วันเดือนเพ็ญ), the actual day of the full moon and KHUEN 15 KHAM do not always fall on the same day.
      • Raem 8 แรม ๘ third-quarter moon ; and
      • Raem 14 (15) แรม ๑๔ (๑๕) last day of the lunar month ; also called
        • Wan Dab วันดับ day [moon is] quenched, [or goes] out.
          Wan Khow Phansah
          Wan Khow Phansah
  • Wan Khow Phansah วันเข้าพรรษา
    • Note: 2 August 2004 was Compensatory Day Off [th:ชดเชย] for Wan Khow Phansah that fell on a Sunday
  • Wan Wy Phra Chan วันไหว้พระจันทร์
Day [of] Respect [for] Holy Moon
actual day the Harvest moon becomes full
Kuen 14 (15) Kham Du-an 11 ขึ้น ๑๔ (๑๕) ค่ำ เดือน ๑๐
Waxing 14(15) Evening, Month 11.

[edit] Vocabulary

Thai orthography spells most native words phonetically, though there is no definitive system for transcription into Roman letters. Here, native Thai words are immediately followed by a vocabulary entry in this pattern:

Phonetic Thai (Thai phonetic respelling, if different) [Comment] definition ; variant definitions.

Example:

Tai ไทย (ไท) [Archaic] free, frank ; Thai race, language, alphabet ; citizen of Thailand.

Sanskrit loan words follow different rules [the way English rules vary for Greek and Latin ('ph-' in 'phonetic' being pronounced /f/, for example.)] Entered below in order of first appearance, these vocabulary entries are in this pattern:

Sanskrit สันสกฤต (สันสะกริด /san-sa-krit/)  

Literally means "self-made" or "self-done", or "cultured" in a modern usage(which implies the language of cultured); Sanskrit alphabet, language, writing ; [presumed] compound of

  • san สัน (-/son/) derived from the word, "saṃ" meaning "self, together, with"
  • skrit สกฤต (สะกริต /sa-krit/) derived from the word "(s)kar" meaning "do or make".
Chantarakati จันทรคติ (จันทะระคะติ) 
Lunar Calendar ; compound of
  • Chantara- จันทร- (จันทะระ /chontara/) : Chon จันทร์ (จัน) moon, lunar +
  • Kati คติ (คะติ) : ways, principles ; moral [of a tale].
Patitin ปฏิทิน (ปะติทิน) 
Calendar ; compound of
  • Pati- ปฏิ- (ปะติ-) : anti-, re- +
  • -tin (-ทิน) : [from tinnagorn ทินกร (ทินะกอน) - poetical for] the sun, Sol
    • [possibly in the sense of 'tint' + - gorn -กร – -er, -or : paint-er].
Patitin Chantarakati ปฏิทินจันทรคติ (ปะติทินจันทะระคะติ) 
"Resolarized Moon-Ways", Lunisolar Calendar
Suriyakati สุริยคติ (สุริยะคะติ) 
Solar Ways, Solar Calendar ; compound of
  • Suriya สุริย or สุริยะ : Athit อาทิตย์, the sun, Sol +
  • Kati คติ (คะติ) : ways, principles ; moral [of a tale].
Prokatimas ปรกติมาส (ปฺรกกะติมาด /pro-ko-ti-maht/) 
normal month ; compound of
  • Prokati ปรกติ (ปฺรกกะติ) : pokiti ปกติ (ปะกะติ) ordinary, usual, normal +
  • Mas มาส (มาด /maht/) : du-an (เดือน) month.
Athikamas อธิกมาส (อะทิกะมาด /a-ti-ka-maht/) 
month added in leap-month lunar years
Athikawara อธิกวาร (อะทิกะวาน /a-ti-ka-wahn/) 
day added in leap-day lunar years ; compound of
  • Athika (Sanskrit: adhika) : additional +
  • -wara วาร (วาน /wahn/) : wan วัน day.
[Athikasuratin อธิกสุรทิน (อะทิกะสุระทิน)] 
[day added to February in a solar leap year.]

[edit] References

  • A current Thai calendar
  • Sethaputra, So. New Model English - Thai Dictionary, ISBN 974-08-3253-9
  • ThaiSoftware Dictionary V 3.0, ThaiSoftware Enterprise Co., Ltd.
  • J.C. Eade. The calendrical systems of mainland south-east Asia. ISBN 90-04-10437-2

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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