The emergence and development of abstract nominalization

in Standard Thai

Amara Prasithrathsint

Sat. 9:00-10:40 C

In current Standard Thai, there are three main patterns of abstract nominalization: 1) the pattern with /khwaam-/, which could be compared to the -ness nominalizing suffix in English; e.g., /khwaam-suk1/ 'happiness', /khwaam-dii/ 'goodness'; 2) the pattern with /kaan-/, which is comparable to the gerund in English; e.g., /kaan-sadaeng/ 'acting', /kaan-bin/ 'flying'; 3) the pattern with /thii2/, which is similar to the factive nominal or sentential complement (with that) in English; e.g., /thii2 khaw4 sOOp1 phaan1 pen ryang2 maj2 naa2 chya2/ 'That he passed the exam is an incredible matter.'

This study focuses on variation in the use of each of the three nominalizing patterns in Standard Thai from the time of the oldest stone inscription (1283 A.D.) to the present decade (seven centuries' time span). The findings show that the three patterns emerged into the language at different points of time. The first pattern (/khwaam-/) is the oldest. It emerged around the end of the 13th century. The second oldest pattern, which emerged about four centuries later, was the /kaan-/ nominalization. The latest pattern--the sentential complement--emerged in the 19th century, around the time Thailand started to open her door to the West bringing Thai in contact with English.

The quantitative data also show that the use of abstract nominalization increased remarkably over time, and that the frequencies of their occurrence radically increased, forming remarkable peaks, during the modernization of Thailand under King Rama V. This implies change in the Thai "ways of talking", which reflects change of the Thai society: from traditional to modern society.