Siamese Version

Siamese Version.

Siamese is the language spoken in the kingdom of Siam, which embraces a large portion of the peninsula of India beyond the Ganges. Formerly the language of the Siamese was called Sayama phasa, the "Sa-yam language;" but since the reign of P'hra Ruang, who set his country free from the yoke of Cambodia, they call themselves T'hai, "free," and their language phasa T'hay or Tai, "the language of the freemen." As early as the year 1810 the design of providing Siam with a version of the four Gospels was entertained by the Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society, but it was not till the year 1846 that the translation and publication of the entire New Test. in Siamese were completed. A second edition was published in 1850. (B.P.)