ลักษณะเฉพาะของภาษาบาลี ในพระราชนิพนธ์พระบาทสมเด็จพระจอมเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว / พระมหาสายรุ้ง แดงงาม = Characteristics of pali in King Mongkut's literary works / Sairung Daengngam
King Mongkut’s literary works can be classified into seven categories namely: records, historical documents, name certificates for his children, inscriptions, letters and Buddhist prayers. The study shows that he possessed an excellent command of Pali, which was evident from the variety of his choice in vocabulary, sentence and style. His literary works consist of both prose and poetry. His compositions in prose can be classified into two categories. The first belongs to works such as records and historical documents. The Pali language in this prose is simple without distinctive poetic features since the accurate content was intended here, and not the beauty of the language. It also reveals his ability in coining Pali proper nouns from Thai and Pali-Sanskrit proper nouns. These ‘new’ Pali proper names can be categorized into four classes: First, the mixture of Thai with Pali, second, the transcription of Thai into Pali word, third, the translation of Thai and Sanskrit words in Thai into Pali proper, and fourth, the transcription of foreign words into Pali form. The syntax of this type of prose is not complicated. The second type of prose can be found in ‘ecclesiastic correspondents’ which are full of long compounds, complicated syntactical arrangement as well as a preference in using passive voice. His poetic works can also classified into two categories: first, the Buddhist Prayers and second, other poetic works. The language of the first category is well ornate both meanings and sound. Technical terms are usually explained by means of simile for the sake of clear understanding. Sentences are flowery and with choicest vocabulary. Other compositions in verse, being records and historical documents, are similar in language and style to the prose used in the same type of content. Other distinctive features are the repetition of words, which were used in both his prose and poetry and the use of “cause and effect” sentences in the style of the Pali relative clauses (ya and ta).
