Browsing results for Thai

(1987) Various languages – Value-judgment terms

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 15, 2021.

Hill, Deborah (1987). A cross-linguistic study of value-judgement terms. MA thesis, Australian National University.

The purpose of this thesis is to try to establish the extent to which the words good, bad, true and right can be considered lexical universals. These words have been chosen because they are value-judgment terms that, individually, have been discussed at length by philosophers. It seems to be assumed by philosophers and semanticists that these words reflect concepts shared by speakers of all languages. By testing whether these words are candidates for lexical universals we can then see the extent to which this assumption is true.

On the basis of information from native speakers from 15 diverse languages, we can say that good and bad reflect language independent concepts (GOOD and BAD). However, in many languages, including English, the range of meaning of bad is narrower than the range of meaning of good. By looking at five of these fifteen languages we can see that the words right and true reflect concepts that are not language
independent. Thus, by taking a cross-linguistic approach, we can shed some light on the work done by language philosophers in the area of value-judgment terms.

The following languages are examined in this thesis: Arabic, Arrernte, Chinese (Mandarin), English, Ewe, Fijian, Finnish, Indonesian, Kannada, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish.


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(1994) Thai – NSM primes

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 20, 2018.

Diller, Anthony (1994). Thai. In Cliff Goddard, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Semantic and lexical universals: Theory and empirical findings (pp. 149-170). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.25.10dil

This chapter argues that, in assessing how specific NSM primitives could best be represented in Thai and how formulations could be constructed using these items, it is useful to keep a few general features of the language in mind. In fact, just what ‘the language’ might mean for Thai is perhaps the most critical feature. Different speech registers or what Sapir refers to as ‘subforms of language’ are especially salient in the Thai communicative context. NSM formulations in Thai would be a subform. It is assumed that the Thai version of a semantic metalanguage is best constructed as an intimate, informal linguistic subform, as though we were overhearing, say, a mother talking to her daughter.


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2007) English, Thai – Terms of address

Published on July 18, 2017. Last updated on August 20, 2018.

Moonan, Robert John (2007). A cultural script analysis of an English-Thai bilingual speaker’s nominative usage of mommy in English yes/no question formation. PhD thesis, University of South Carolina.

Each culture has its own specific linguistic norms, values, and practices. To avoid any ethnocentric bias in the attempt to capture these linguistic norms, values, practices, Cultural Script Theory proposes the use of Natural Semantic Metalanguage in describing the linguistic practices of a specific culture. Natural Semantic Metalanguage consists of semantic primitives, words whose meaning cannot be reduced any further. These semantic primitives, of which there are currently over sixty, provide the tools to illustrate the grammatical structures and to capture the pragmatic meaning within the world’s languages.

This dissertation uses the theoretical and methodological frameworks of Cultural Script Theory to analyse the speech practices of a Thai-American woman, whom I refer to as Lucy, who is English-Thai bilingual and bicultural. Specifically, I examine Lucy’s choice of referring expressions in her construction of yes/no questions in two sets of data. The first set of data is a conversation between Lucy and her mother, a native speaker of Thai. The second set of data is a conversation between Lucy and her mother-in-law, a native speaker of English. The analysis consists of three steps. First, I provide semantic explications of the Thai terms of address แม่ mâe ‘mother’ and แม่ mâe ‘an older woman’. Additionally, I provide semantic explications of the English terms of address mother, ma’am, mrs. last name, miss first name, and first name and the English speech act verbs ask and inquire. Second, I construct Thai cultural scripts for แม่ mâe ‘mother’ and แม่ mâe ‘an older woman’ and Anglo-American cultural scripts for the use of the aforementioned English terms of address. Lastly, I use those explications and cultural scripts to help provide a discourse analysis of the two sets of data.

In this dissertation I hypothesize that the distinctive linguistic behavior of Lucy is explained by her use of two different cultural scripts, one based on Anglo-American cultural speaking practices and the other based on Thai cultural speaking practices.


Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner

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(2010) Thai – Apologies

Published on July 18, 2017. Last updated on September 8, 2018.

เมฆถาวรวัฒนา, ทัศนีย์ [Mekthawornwathana, Thasanee] (2010). บทวัฒนธรรมของการขอโทษในภาษาไทย [The cultural script of apologizing in Thai]. มนุษยศาสตร์สังคมศาสตร์ (มหาวิทยาลัยขอนแก่น) [Humanities and social sciences (Khon Kaen University)], 27(2), 28-50. PDF (open access)

Written in Thai.

This paper develops a Thai version of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage and proposes a cultural script for apologies in Thai using NSM and the Cultural Script model.

It was found that Thai people “apologize” in 8 situations: after doing bad things to others, when bothering someone, asking for permission, giving an idea, satirizing, blaming, refusing and ordering. It was also found that the closest Thai equivalent to the English word apologize was more associated with ‘face’ and ‘politeness’ than ‘causing offense’. This leads Thai people to apologize in various situations even though there is no offense. This use of apologizing reflects the fact that Thai society cares for participants’ ‘face’ and feelings more than Japanese and Western cultures.

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(2010) Thai – Cultural key words: MAIPENRAI, KRENGCHAI, KHOTOT

Published on July 18, 2017. Last updated on September 13, 2018.

เมฆถาวรวัฒนา, ทัศนีย์ [Mekthawornwathana, Thasanee] (2010). การวิเคราะห์ความหมายแบบครอบคลุมของคำสำคัญทางวัฒนธรรม “ไม่เป็นไร” “เกรงใจ” และ “ขอโทษ” ในภาษาไทยตามแนวทฤษฎีอภิภาษาเชิงอรรถศาสตร์ธรรมชาติ  [A Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach to the study of the comprehensive meanings of the cultural key words maipenrai, krengchai, and khotot in Thai]. PhD thesis, Chulalongkorn University.

Written in Thai.

This study aims to investigate the denotative, pragmatic, and social meanings of three key words in Thai: ไม่เป็นไร maipenrai, เกรงใจ krengchai andขอโทษ khotot; to formulate these meanings in terms of cultural scripts, to compare and contrast the cultural scripts of the three key words, and to show the characteristics of Thai culture reflected in the cultural scripts.

The results reveal that ไม่เป็นไร maipenrai has three denotative meanings, viz. ‘not affected’, ‘acceptable’ and ‘do not worry’. It has four pragmatic meanings, ‘consoling’, ‘refusing’, ‘forgiving’ and ‘responding to thank you’. It has two social meanings, ‘varying according to the relationship between speakers and participants’ and ‘varying according to the formality of the situation’. The results show that speakers use ไม่เป็นไร maipenrai more when talking to participants who are close to them than when talking to participants whom they are not familiar with, and when talking in informal rather than formal situations.

เกรงใจ krengchai has three denotative meanings, ‘respect’, ‘afraid that other people would feel unsatisfied’ and ‘afraid that what happened might bother others’. The word เกรงใจ krengchai has three pragmatic meanings, ‘accepting’, ‘refusing’ and ‘thanking’. It has two social meanings, ‘varying according to the relationship between speakers and participants’ and ‘varying according to the formality of the situation’. The results show that speakers use เกรงใจ krengchai more when talking to participants whom they are not familiar with than when talking to participants who are close to them, and when talking in formal rather than informal situations.

ขอโทษ khotot has two denotative meanings, ‘I’m sorry for what I have done’ and ‘excuse me’. It has four pragmatic meanings, ‘apologizing, ‘introductory device’, ‘attention-getter’, and ‘leave-taking device’. It has two social meanings, ‘varying according to the relationship between speakers and participants’ and ‘varying according to the formality of the situation’. The results show that speakers use ขอโทษ khotot when talking to participants whom they are not familiar with or who are close to them, and when talking in formal and informal situations, but with different variants.

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(2013) Japanese, Thai – Cultural key words / Ethnopsychology and personhood

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 20, 2019.

Svetanant, Chavalin (2013). Exploring personhood constructs through language: Contrastive semantic of “heart” in Japanese and Thai. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Communication, 7(3), 23-32.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18848/2324-7320/cgp/v07i03/53576

Abstract:

This paper aims to explore personhood constructs of the Thai community and compare them to those of the Japanese community, with special reference to heart-related terms. It carries out a linguistic inquiry into the historical side of the lexicon and compares the conceptualization of ‘heart’ in Thai and Japanese to clarify the cognitive and conceptual similarities and differences in the underlying semantic structures. The framework for semantic analysis employed in this paper is the NSM approach.

A large number of heart/mind-related words in Thai and Japanese show features that are shared across the two communities, as well as subtle cognitive and conceptual differences; for example, ใจ chai (Thai) and 気 ki (Japanese) are relatively more dynamic and sensitive to mental/psychological changes when compared to 心 kokoro (Japanese). Linguistically speaking, they keep moving around, changing shape, size, colour, and temperature. However, while the entities of ใจ chai and 心 kokoro are cognitively more substantial as emotional containers of human beings, 気 ki is treated more like the intangible energy wrapping around 心 kokoro and contains no intellectual element.

The evidence from this study suggests that a semantic explication of personhood lexicalizations is a practical approach to clarify the obscure entities and contribute to the understanding of the conceptuality of personhood constructs across languages and cultures.

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Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2019) Thai – Ethnopsychology and personhood

Published on February 20, 2019. Last updated on January 26, 2020.

Svetanant, Chavalin (2019). Tracing the Thai ‘heart’: The semantics of a Thai ethnopsychological construct. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Heart- and soul-like constructs across languages, cultures, and epochs (pp. 82-115). New York: Routledge.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315180670-4

Abstract:

This chapter sheds light on the semantic journey of chai ใจ, a key cultural concept in Thai culture. Chai is a person’s innermost secret part, linked to the body, with a dynamic capacity to move around and change its shape, size, colour, and even temperature, depending on the circumstances.

The chapter surveys the lexical meaning and multiple ways in which chai is used in contemporary Thai, then takes a historical turn to examine the semantic development of the word from its earliest attested uses to the present day, relying on data from a wide range of classical and contemporary sources. The analysis reveals that the primary conceptuality of the personhood construct embedded in the word chai ใจ has remained relatively stable since its first appearance in the 13th century, when it was used to refer to a person’s disposition, representing a ‘locus’ where psychological activity occurs. The literary data in the later periods demonstrates massive growth in cognitive and cultural salience with its occurrence in a steadily increasing number of metaphorical expressions and idioms. The chapter concludes with the explication of the modern folk concept of chai ใจ, using English and Thai NSM to avoid cultural bias.

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Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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