Etymology

Of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old Khmer siama ‎(“Siam”), whose origin is not known. Compare Modern Khmer សៀម ‎(siĕm), ស្យាម ‎(syam).

Officially used as the name of the country from the reign of Mongkut (1851‑68) until 24 June 1939, when the country was renamed ประเทศไทย ‎(bprà-têet-tai, “Thailand”).

Pronunciation

Orthographic	สยาม s y ā m
Phonemic	สะ-หฺยาม s a – h ̥ y ā m	[bound form] สะ-หฺยาม-มะ- s a – h ̥ y ā m – m a –
Paiboon	sà-yǎam	sà-yǎam-má-
(Bangkok) IPA(key)	/sä(ʔ)˨˩.jäːm˩˩˦/	/sä(ʔ)˨˩.jäːm˩˩˦.mä(ʔ)˦˥./
Homophones edit	ศยาม
Audio