About the Maha Sila Viravongs 1960 Lao Dictioanary

Maha Sila Viravongs' Dictionary of the Lao Language (Watcananukom Phaasaa Laaw), first published by the Ministry of Education in 1960, stands as the singular achievement of Lao lexicography.

Far more than a simple compendium of definitions, Sila 1960 is filled with etymologies and citations, and includes some 11,500 heads, and nearly 24,000 subentries.

The value of Sila 1960 continues to grow following the 1975 policy of spelling simplification.  This dictionary provides both a necessary reference for earlier literature (including Sila's own History of Laos), as well as the first scholarly refernece to the dvelopment of the Lao language. About this site This site contains:

-  A complete digitized copy of the Lao text.

-  A dictionary interface to the Lao headwords and text.

-  A corpus interface to the full text of the work.

-  A DjVu scan of the 1960 edition (based on a copy provided to us by Douangdeuane Bounyavong, Director of the Maha Sila Viravongs Library).