Toponymy of Temples in the District of Mueang Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Sawan Province: Characteristics of Language Used in the Origin of Naming

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to study the characteristics of language used in the origin of naming used for temple naming convention in the district of Mueang Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Sawan province by examining and analyzing data from 90 temple names within the district of Mueang Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Sawan province in the book titled Ton Chao Phraya “Watwanukrom” of the Office of Art and Culture Nakhon Sawan Rajabhat University (cited from the year 2562 BC). The results revealed that the studying the appearing language structure, can help determine the origin of the language used for temple naming convention accurately. By the origins of the language used in the temple naming convention, there will be 8 characteristics: temple names originated in the Thai language, temple names originated in the Thai language and other languages, temple names originated in the Khmer language and other languages, temple names originated in the Sanskrit language and other languages, temple names originated in the Pali language and other languages, temple names originated in the Pali-Sanskrit language and other languages, temple names originating in the Pali language, and temple names originated in the Pali-Sanskrit language. In addition, there are 9 origins of the language used in naming the temples, including naming after the toponym, naming after the background or legend associated with the temples, naming after the words that are synonymous with fortune, naming after the geography, naming after the name of the builder, the donator, the renovator, or the administrator, naming after the valuable artifact within the temple, naming after the name given by the monarch, naming after beliefs and traditional ceremony, and unspecified origin.