Lanna Cloth and Clothing Words in Kham Mueang

Pha (ผ้า, Kham Mueang reading pha) means cloth in Kham Mueang, just as in central Thai, but many everyday clothing words are different. Northerners call trousers tiao, the checked all-purpose cloth (central Thai pha khao ma) pha tong, and a blanket pha tuap. And they use one verb, nung, for putting on almost anything, from a sin skirt to a shirt.

This article gathers Lanna cloth and clothing words from the Moradok Lanna dictionary: the basic verbs, shirts, trousers, wraps and skirts, headcloths and things you carry, cloth at home, cloth at the temple and in rituals, weaving, dyeing, and jewellery. For the full story of the Lanna skirt, see Sin Tin Chok.

Nung, hom, khua bai: the basic words

The first word to learn is nung (นุ่ง, Kham Mueang reading nung). The dictionary explains that northerners use nung ("to wear a wrap") for wearing anything: nung pha tong (wear a checked cloth), nung sin (wear a sin skirt), nung tiao (put on trousers) and nung suea (put on a shirt). All your clothes together are khua bai or khueang nung khua bai.

Suea: from suea kom to suea mo hom

Suea (เสิ้อฯอ, Kham Mueang reading suea) is anything worn on the upper body. Northerners name each kind of top by its shape. The airy camisole that older women love is the suea kom or suea ba hoi, and the dark-blue shirt dyed with hom is the famous suea mo hom.

Tiao: trousers in Kham Mueang

Every kind of trousers is tiao (ต่ยฯว, Kham Mueang reading tiao) plus a word for the style. The loose, drop-crotch farm trousers that end at mid-calf are tiao sado, and Western long trousers are tiao lang.

Wraps and skirts: sin, pha toi, pha salong and pha tong

A Lanna woman's skirt is the sin (สิ้นฯ, Kham Mueang reading sin). The dictionary names many kinds of sin, all explained in Sin Tin Chok; here are only the ones not covered there.

Men wore the pha toi, a wrap tied as chong kraben trousers, or the pha salong, a sarong. The cloth men used every day was the pha tong (ผ้าต่อฯง), the checked cotton pha khao ma, worn as a wrap, a bathing cloth, a headcloth or a shawl.

Headcloths, hats, bags and sandals

Farmers in Lanna wrapped a cloth around the head against the sun, called pha pan hua (ผ้าพันฯห฿วฯ) or pha khian hua; tied under the chin, it is pha kalom. A hat is kup (กุบ, Kham Mueang reading kup).

Cloth at home: pha tuap, pha sali and pha man

A blanket is pha tuap (ผ้าทวฯบ, Kham Mueang reading pha tuap), a bed sheet is pha sali or pha lop, and a curtain is pha man or pha kang.

Cloth at the temple and in rituals

A monk's set of robes is pha kai (ผ้าไค, Kham Mueang reading pha kai): the three robes, namely pha sabong (the lower robe), pha langka (the upper robe) and pha pat (the outer robe worn over the shoulder). Robes are offered at major merit-making events, such as the kathin robes given from the end of Buddhist Lent until the full moon of Duean Yi, described in Yi Peng Words.

Cotton thread matters in northern rituals too. Fai mai mue (ฝ้ายฯไหมฯมื) is the thread tied around the wrists of a bride and groom or to call back the khwan (soul), and tying it is mat mue (มัดฯมื), which the dictionary explains as inviting the khwan into a person; read more in Hong Khwan. There is also fai mongkhon (ฝ้ายฯม฿งฯค฿ลฯฯ), thread for auspicious rites such as the sai sin, and fai chung (ฝ้ายฯจูง), nine loops of raw cotton by which monks lead a coffin to the cremation ground. The cloth tung (ทุง) banners are covered in Tung Lanna.

From cotton boll to cloth: weaving words

Lanna cloth begins with fai (ฝ้ายฯ, Kham Mueang reading fai), which means both raw cotton and cotton thread. Local cotton with naturally light-brown fibre is fai tun or fai khon; the dictionary notes that fai tun is rare and harder to spin than white cotton because its fibres are short and less fluffy.

Before weaving, cotton goes through many steps, and Kham Mueang has a word for each one.

Silk cloth is pha hae (ผ้าแร). The word mai (ไหมฯ) has two meanings: the silkworm and its silk, and sewing thread. Sewing thread is mai yip (ไหมฯหิยฯบ), factory thread wound on a spool is mai lo (ไหมฯลอฯ), and to sew is yip (อยฯปฯ). Gold and silver thread for weaving or embroidery is din (ดิ้), and a big needle, like one for sewing rice sacks, is lem (เหลฯม).

Dyeing: hom, khak, lac and turmeric

Woven cloth is then yom (ย้อฯม), dyed with natural colours. The most famous northern dye is hom. Pha mo hom (ผ้าหํมฯอฯห้อฯม) is, in the dictionary's words, a local cloth made by dyeing plain white cotton with hom leaves into a deep blue: light, easy to care for, and worth passing on to the next generation. For the colour names, see Colours in Kham Mueang.

Khueang yong: jewellery

Jewellery is khueang yong (เระฯคิอฯงห้ยฯอฯง, Kham Mueang reading khueang yong), and dressing up with it is taeng yong (แต่งฯอยฯอฯง). A handy word is wong, a ring or loop: hence wong hu (earring), wong mue (bracelet) and wong tin (anklet).

Summary

• Northerners use nung for wearing almost anything (nung sin, nung tiao, nung suea) and call clothes in general khua bai.
• Trousers are tiao, the checked cloth is pha tong, a blanket is pha tuap, a hat is kup and sandals are koep.
• Suea kom or suea ba hoi is the scoop-neck camisole; suea mo hom and tiao sado are the classic northern work clothes.
• Cloth-making has a word for every step: it (gin), bow, pan fai (spin) on the phian, to huk (weave) and yom (dye) with hom.
• Jewellery is khueang yong; a bracelet is wong mue and an anklet wong tin or paeng.

Look up more cloth words in the Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai), read the full story of the Lanna skirt in Sin Tin Chok, and the colours of cloth in Colours in Kham Mueang.

Sources

• Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai): ผ้า · นุ่ง · เตี่ยว · ผ้าต่อง · ผ้าหม้อห้อม · ฝ้ายตุ่น
• All photos are from Wikimedia Commons as credited under each picture. Some were taken in Bangkok museums, Laos or hill-tribe villages; they illustrate the words and are not presented as Lanna objects.