Farang
Falang (Thai: ฝรั่ง [faràŋ]) is a generic Thai word for someone of European ancestry, no matter where they may come from. The Royal Institute Dictionary 1999, the official dictionary of Thai words, defines the word as "a person of white race".[1]
Edmund Roberts, US envoy in 1833, defined the term as "Frank (or European)."[2] People of African ancestry may be called in Thai: ฝรั่งดำ falang dam ('black falang') to distinguish them from white people. This began during the Vietnam War, when the United States military maintained bases in Thailand.
Etymology and related words
It is generally believed [by whom?] that the word falang originated with the Persian word falang (فرنگ) or falangī (فرنگی), meaning "Frank, European". This in turn comes from the Old French word franc, meaning "Frank", a West Germanic tribe that became the biggest political power in Western Europe during the early Middle Ages, and from which France derives its name. Because the Frankish Empire ruled Western Europe for centuries, the word "Frank" became deeply associated with Latins who professed the Roman Catholic faith by Eastern Europeans and Middle Easterners. Frangistan (Persian: فرنگستان) was a term used by Muslims and Persians in particular, during the Middle Ages and later historical periods, to refer to Western or Latin Europe.
According to Rashid al-din Fazl Allâh, falang comes from the Arabic word afranj.[3] in Ethiopia faranji means white/European people In either case the original word was pronounced paranki (പറങ്കി) in Malayalam, parangiar in Tamil, and entered Khmer as barang and Malay as ferenggi.
Varangians
One possibility is that falang derives from the phonetically closer word, Varangian. Around the same time as the Frankish hegemony over most of Western Europe, the Varangians (Old Norse: Væringjar; Greek: Βάραγγοι, Βαριάγοι, Varangoi, Variagoi), were Viking warriors who established the Kingdom of Rus, as well as forming an elite unit of the Byzantine Army, roamed down and throughout the near east, interacting and trading with the Islamic world. [4]
Other uses
Falang is also the Thai word for the guava fruit, introduced by Portuguese traders over 400 years ago, which of course can lead to jokes when foreigners are seen eating a guava in Thailand. Falang khi nok (Thai: ฝรั่งขี้นก) is a particular variety of guava, feijoa. Scruffy Westerners, especially backpackers, may also be called Faang khi nok. This means "bird-shit falang", as khi means waste and nok means (wild) bird; but, while khi nok may mean guano, it is also a species of fish, Diagramma pictum, a species of grunts Haemulidae.[5]
Varieties of food/produce which were introduced by Europeans are often called falang varieties. Hence, potatoes are man falang (Thai: มันฝรั่ง), whereas man (Thai: มัน) alone can be any tuber; culantro is called phak chi falang (Thai: ผักชีฝรั่ง, literally falang cilantro/coriander); and chewing gum is mak falang (Thai: หมากฝรั่ง). Mak (Thai: หมาก) is Thai for betel, which many rural Thais chew for the euphoria it gives.
In the Isan Lao dialect, the guava is called mak sida (Thai: หมากสีดา), mak being a prefix for fruit names. Thus Bak sida (Thai: บักสีดา), bak being a prefix when calling males, refers jokingly to a Westerner, by analogy to the Thai language where falang can mean both guava and Westerner.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "พจนานุกรม ฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถาน พ.ศ. 2542" (in Thai). Royal Institute of Thailand. 2007. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
ฝรั่ง ๑ [ฝะหฺรั่ง] น. ชนชาติผิวขาว; คําประกอบชื่อสิ่งของบางอย่างที่มาจากต่างประเทศซึ่งมีลักษณะคล้ายของไทย เช่น ขนมฝรั่ง ละมุดฝรั่ง มันฝรั่ง ตะขบฝรั่ง ผักบุ้งฝรั่ง แตรฝรั่ง.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ Roberts, Edmund. "Chapter XIX 1833 Officers of Government". Embassy to the Eastern courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat : in the U. S. sloop-of-war Peacock ... during the years 1832-3-4 (Digital ed.). Harper & brothers. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
Connected with this department is that of the Falang-khromma-tha," Frank (or European) commercial board
- ^ Karl Jahn (ed.) Histoire Universelle de Rasid al-Din Fadl Allah Abul=Khair: I. Histoire des Francs (Texte Persan avec traduction et annotations), Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1951. (Source: M. Ashtiany)
- ^ Nathan Lazarus Benmohel, Epea Pteroenta - Conveying Revelations of the Past, Dublin University Press, 1860, p. 18.
- ^ ThaiSoftware Dictionary Version 5.5 by ThaiSoftware Enterprise Co., Lrd. www.thaisoftware.co.th www.thaisoft.com
- ^ "Isaan Dialect". SiamSmile. Dec 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
SEE-DA สีดา BAK-SEE-DA บักสีดา or MAHK-SEE-DA หมากสีดา. Guava fruit; Foreigner (white, Western.) BAK is ISAAN for mister; SEE-DA สีดา, BAK-SEE-DA and MAHK-SEE-DA are Isaan for the Guava fruit.
External links
- Falang in the Concise Oxford Dictionary
- German language bi-monthly magazine, published by: Der FALANG, 576/25 Moo 5, Photisarn Rd. Chonburi 20150, Pattaya, Thailand
- The Thai word "Farang", its variations in other languages, and its Arabic origin
- Corness, Dr. Iain (2009). Farang. Dunboyne: Maverick House Publishers. ISBN 978-1-905379-42-2.
- Marcinkowski, Dr Christoph (2005). From Isfahan to Ayutthaya: Contacts between Iran and Siam in the 17th Century. With a foreword by Professor Ehsan Yarshater, Columbia University, New York. Singapore: Pustaka Nasional. ISBN 9971-77-491-7.