SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The thesis is an attempt to describe the tonal systems and their distribution in indi idual local dialects within the province of Nakhon Ratchasima (NR) and to compare them with that of the Standard dialect and those of certain other northeastern dialects of Thailand. An attempt is also made to relate the present tonal system to the assumed original Proto-Tai tones. The introductory chapter presents general information about the regional and local dialects of Thailand, and the geographical and linguistic background of the NR province. The scope and methodology of the thesis are also included. The second chapter gives a brief account of the Standard Thai (ST) and Lao-Isan phonological systems. The third chapter contains phonetic transcriptions of the data collected from nineteen local dialects in the NR province. The fourth chapter discusses the correlations and restrictions of the tonal data presented in Chapter 3 with respect to syllable structure, and suggests a phonological interpretation. Finally, the last chapter, Chapter 5, is concerned to relate the tones of the modern local dialects to the tones postulated for Proto-Tai by historical, linguists. Appendix 1 illustrates tonograms of six words representing the six pitch patterns of Khong local dialect. Appendix 2 gives the complete Gedney test list of 64 words for determining tones in languages and dialects which belong to the Tai family.