Mekong - Names

Names

In English the river is called "the Mekong River", derived from "Mae Nam Khong", a term of both Thai and Lao origin. In the Lao-Thai toponymy, all great rivers are considered "mother rivers" signalled by the prefix "mae", meaning "mother", and "nam" for water. In the Mekong's case, Mae Nam Khong means Khong, The Mother of Water. "Khong" is derived from the Sanskrit "ganga", meaning the Ganges. Many Northern Thai and Laos locals refer to it as the "River Khong". Such is the case with the Mae Nam Ping in Chiang Mai which is known as the "Ping River". The Tonle Sap in Cambodia is a similar example – where Tonle translates as "Great lake or river", making the Tonle Sap River an unnecessary repetition of what is in fact the "Sap River".

Since the river flows through a number of countries, it has many different names in local languages:

  • Burmese: မဲခေါင်မြစ်,
  • Chinese: Riverhead: 加果空桑贡玛曲, 扎那曲 and 扎曲 Zā Qū, upper reaches: 澜沧江, 瀾滄江 Láncāng Jiāng ("Turbulent River", "Láncāng" is the same as 'Lan Xang' in Chinese), middle and lower reaches: 湄公河 Méigōng hé.
  • Khmer: មេគង្គ Mékôngk, ទន្លេមេគង្គ Tônlé Mékôngk, ទន្លេធំ Tônlé Thum ("Great River").
  • Lao: ແມ່ນ້ຳຂອງ, ນ້ຳຂອງ .
  • Thai: แม่น้ำโขง, .
  • Tibetan: རྫ་ཆུ་, Wylie: rDza chu, ZYPY: Za qu
  • Vietnamese: Sông Mê Kông, Sông Lớn ("Great River", ), Sông Cửu Long ("Nine Dragons River", ).

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