ทราย

From Proto-Southwestern Tai *zaːjᴬ⁴ (“sand”), from Proto-Tai *zwɯəjᴬ (“sand”), from Old Chinese 沙 (OC *sraːl, *sraːls, “sand”). Cognate with Northern Thai ᨪᩣ᩠ᨿ, Lao ຊາຍ (sāi), Lü ᦌᦻ (saay), Khün ᨪᩣ᩠ᨿ, Shan သၢႆး (sáai), Tai Nüa ᥔᥣᥭᥰ (säay), Ahom 𑜏𑜩 (say) or 𑜏𑜩𑜤 (sayu), Zhuang saiz, Nong Zhuang saiz. Compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(s/z)a-j (“earth, sand, soil”).

This word was written ซาย (saai) in documents prior to the 18^th century, but shifted to the current spelling (with a cluster ทร initial) during the 18–19^th centuries, possibly under the popular misconception that this word was of Khmer origin, and that the s- initial had developed from an earlier *dr-, whereas Khmer ទ្រាយ (triəy) means a kind of deer.

ทราย • (saai)

1. sand.