Extracted from Wikipedia: Dhammayuttika Nikaya, influenced young Khmer monks in the early 20th century.[1] The new movement also cultivated Khmer-language identity and culture, giving rise to the notion of Cambodian nationalism.
Som Dech Nath was the head of a reformist movement in the Khmer
Buddhist Sangha which developed a rationalist-scholastic model of
Buddhism, rooted in linguistic studies of the Pali Canon. This new
movement, known as
Nath pushed for a series of innovations in the Khmer Sangha beginning
in the early twentieth century: the use of print for sacred texts
(rather than traditional methods of hand-inscribing palm-leaf
manuscripts); a higher degree of expertise in Pali and Sanskrit studies
among monks; a vision of orthodoxy based on teaching of Vinaya texts for
both monks and lay-people; and modernization of teaching methods for
Buddhist studies.
He also oversaw the translation of the entire Buddhist Pali canon
into Khmer language; and the creation of the first modern Khmer language
dictionary.[2]
The French set up its protectorate over Cambodia and intended to
replace the Khmer language with its own through the so-called
"pseudo-French intellectuals." This intention rallied many Cambodian
scholars to the course of conserving the Khmer language; one such
scholar was Nath. A son of farmers who later became a monk, Nath dedicated his life to upholding Buddhism and the conservation of Khmer language in the country that was highly influenced by French colonialism.
He had an extensive knowledge of the Khmer language. He was probably
the most famous and most knowledgeable monk Cambodia had ever had. A
master in Buddha’s
teaching, he was very well known around the Buddhism circle as well as
very adept at languages. Throughout his life he encouraged the use of
"Khmerization" in both public education and religions. What Nath meant
by "Khmerization" was he wanted to derive new Khmer words from its
ancestral roots, the Pali and Sanskrit
languages. For example, when the train arrived first in Cambodia, there
was no Khmer word for the train. Nath thus derived the word for train
from Sanskrit and Pali word of Ayomoyo which means something that is made of metal. Together with the word Yana which means vehicle, came the Khmer word for train which we know today as Ayaksmeyana, pronounced Ayak-smey-yean.
However, Nath’s Khmerization was not overall accepted by all Khmers. Scholars such as Keng Vannsak
who were pro-French did not find the kind of Khmer words derived from
Pali and Sanskrit to be convenient. They revolutionized another kind of
derivation which they want to adopt normalized French word into Khmer
vocabulary. The only major change was to use Khmer alphabet to write the
word rather than using the Roman alphabets used by the French. But
despite opposition, Nath’s Khmerization succeeded. He was a member of
the original committee granted royal order to compile a Khmer dictionary
in 1915 and was credited as the founder of the dictionary as he pushed
for and finally succeeded in printing the first edition of the current
Khmer dictionary in 1938. In 1967, he was elevated to the rank of doctor.
Nath's other contribution to Cambodia include the current national anthem, Nokor Reach, for which he composed both music and lyrics.[3]
Nokor Reach was written to correspond to the motto of the nation,
"Nation, Religion, King" as well as demonstrate the grandeur and the
mighty past of the Khmer nation.
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