John:
 
 I don't think dah/dha and dao would be readily confused phoetically. Dha is pronounced like a short "ah" with a "d" in front of it, whereas dao is pronounced is pronounced like the "bough" of a tree, except with a "d" instead of a "b". Dao is of Chinese origin as far as I know, whereas Dha is Burmese -- two dissimilar languages with some overlap. Both mean sword in their respective languages.
 
 Perhaps Philip T. or Scott R. could help further on the Chinese form.
 
 The Thai version Daab/Dahb/Darb is pronounced like "garb" but with a "d" instead of a "g".
 
 Ian.
 
 
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					Originally Posted by RhysMichael
					
				 
				Mark or Andrew, what is the phoenetic for dha. Could it be that it could sound like dao to someone who was raised speaking English. I was just thinking how this could be like the whole Tulwar/Talwar ; Pedang/Peudeung things 
			
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