Honorifics are a class of words or grammatical morphemes that encode a wide variety of social relationships between interlocutors or between interlocutors and referents.[1] Honorific phenomena in Thai include honorific registers, honorific pronominals, and honorific particles.
Thai honorifics date back to the Sukhothai Kingdom, a period which lasted from 1238 to 1420 CE[2] During the Sukhothai period, honorifics appeared in the form of kinship terms.[3] The Sukhothai period also saw the introduction of many Khmer and Pali loanwords to Thai. Later, in the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351 to 1767 CE), a new form of honorific speech evolved. While kinship terms continued to be used, a royal vocabulary known as "raja-sap" (Thai: ราชาศัพท์; RTGS: Rachasap) emerged.[4] The Raja-sap, an honorific register, was created as a way for commoners and aristocrats alike to talk to and about the king of Thailand. Soon after its creation, the use of royal vocabulary was extended to address all members of the royal family as well as aristocrats. At the same time, a clerical vocabulary used to talk to or about monks arose, very similar to the raja-sap. With the development of royal and clerical vocabularies, means for honorific speech increased significantly. The Bangkok period, from 1782 to the present, saw even greater expansion of the raja-sap as it became the formal, or polite, way to address all peoples or topics. Specifically, lexical items from honorific registers replaced native Thai pronouns, resulting in an entirely new set of pronominal forms. Kinship terms continued to be used as honorifics, and a new type of honorific emerged as well, polite particles.
Honorific registers
The roots of Thai honorific registers lie in Khmer and Khmero-Indic (Pali or Sanskrit words borrowed first into Khmer, then from Khmer into Thai) loanwords.[2] Khmer and Khmero-Indic words were originally borrowed into Thai by an educated, Thai upper class, specifically kings and monks, in order to discuss Buddhism. When the need for honorific registers arose, the Thai people turned again to Khmer. Borrowing heavily from Khmer, the Thai constructed a royal vocabulary, a large lexicon of Khmer and Khmero-Indic words, appropriate for addressing the monarchy. At the same time, a clerical vocabulary emerged, much smaller but similar in function and origin to the royal vocabulary. The clerical vocabulary, also composed mainly of borrowings from Khmer, enabled the common people to communicate with and about monks. Lexical items from standard Thai, royal vocabulary, and clerical vocabulary are shown side by side in the table below:
English gloss
Standard Thai
Clerical vocabulary
Royal vocabulary
'hand'
mɯː (มือ)
mɯː (มือ)
pʰrá-hàt (พระหัตถ์)
'house'
bâːn (บ้าน)
kù-tì (กุฎิ)
wāŋ (วัง)
'mother'
mɛ̂ː (แม่)
jōːm-mɛ̂ː (โยมแม่)
pʰrá-tɕʰōn-ná-nīː (พระชนนี)
'to give'
hâj (ให้)
tʰà-wǎːj (ถวาย)
tʰà-wǎːj (ถวาย)
'to speak'
pʰûːt (พูด)
pʰûːt (พูด)
tràt (ตรัส)
'to sleep'
nɔːn (นอน)
tɕām-wàt (จำวัด)
bān-tʰōm (บรรทม)
Honorific pronominals
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns are the most numerous and complex of pronominal forms in Thai. Personal pronouns may make the following semantic distinctions:[5]
Primary distinctions are distinctions of gender that are inherent to pronouns: male, female
Secondary distinctions are distinctions of gender that depend on the presence or absence of other semantic features like status, intimacy, or non-restraint: male orientation, female orientation, neutral orientation
Age: absolute, relative
Speaker-addressee-referent relationship
Primary distinctions
Status-the status of the speaker relative to an addressee or referent. Status may be determined by relative age (elders have higher status), rank (king>royalty>monks>government and military>professionals>white collar>blue collar), or non-intimacy (strangers are treated as at least equals)
Intimacy - the kind and degree of close, day-by-day association
Kinship terms are used pronominally to elevate or demonstrate solidarity with an addressee.[2] To address a listener as kin is, in effect, to confer the listener with the same status as the aforementioned kin. Generally, kinship terms contain both literal and displaced meanings.[5] Kinship terms are considered literal in cases of blood kin, affinal kin, and teknonymy. They are considered displaced when used with kinlike individuals: intimate friends of kin or kin of intimate friends. When using kinship terms, age is critical.[2] Speakers must estimate the age of an addressee to determine his or her generation and choose an appropriate kinship term. Kinship terms commonly used as honorific pronominals are summarized in the table below.[6]
Speakers may demonstrate additional respect by adding the polite title khun (คุณ) before any kinship term. Kinship terms are commonly followed by personal names or nicknames.
Status terms
Status terms denote referents in terms of occupation or status.[2] While some status terms are used as first, second, or third person pronouns, others are restricted to second and third person only. Many pronominal status terms are preceded by titles. Status terms may also be used as titles before given names.[3] A few status terms frequently used as pronominals are presented in the table below:[6]
Thai
English gloss
อาจารย์ ʔāːtɕāːn
'teacher/professor'
ครู kʰrūː
'teacher'
หมอ mɔ̌ː
'doctor'
พยาบาล pʰájābāːn
'nurse'
กระเป๋า kràpǎw
'bus fare collector' (pocketbook)
สามล้อ sǎːmlɔ́ː
'pedicab driver' (tricycle)
แท็กซี่ tʰɛ́ksîː
'taxi driver' (taxicab)
ตุ๊ก ตุ๊ก túk túk
'motorized pedicab driver'
ท่านทูต tʰân tʰûːt
'Mister/Madame Ambassador'
ท่านอธิบดี tʰân àtʰíbɔdīː
'Mister/Madame Director General'
ท่านอธิการ tʰân àtʰíkāːn
'Mister/Madame Rector' (of university)
ท่านรัฐมนตรี tʰân ráttʰamōntrīː
'Mister/Madame Minister' (of state)
ท่านนายกรัฐมนตรี tʰân nāːjók ráttʰamōntrīː
'Mister/Madame Prime Minister'
Names
In Thai, a person's full name consists of a given name followed by a surname or family name.[5] In addition, most individuals have a nickname. As pronominals, given names are used most frequently in second person form. Given names are often preceded by the courtesy title khun when addressing friends or acquaintances. Given names are sometimes truncated to convey mild informality. Nicknames, like given names, are used most often in second person. They generally do not take titles. Nicknames are a friendly, affectionate way to show intimacy between interlocuters.
Honorific particles
Honorific particles are added to the end of an utterance or clause to show respect to the addressee.[7] Honorific particles may exhibit the following semantic distinctions:
Sex: male, female, neutral
Status: superior, equal, inferior
Social mood: a continuum ranging from formal at one end to extremely intimate at the other
Polite particles are not used in conjunction with honorific registers or in written language.[2] Commonly used polite particles[6] are summarized in the table below.
Thai
Sex
Status of addressee
Social mood
Illocutionary force
ครับ khráp
male
equal/superior
formal
affirmative/imperative/interrogative
ค่ะ khà
female
equal/superior
formal
affirmative/imperative
คะ khá
female
equal/superior
formal
interrogative
Honorific titles
Thanphuying and khunying
Thanphuying (ท่านผู้หญิง) and khunying (คุณหญิง) were originally titles for wives of nobles of chaophraya and phraya rank, respectively. Today they are used as titles for married female recipients of the Order of Chula Chom Klao. Those of the rank Dame Grand Commander and above use the title thanphuying, while others use khunying. Unmarried recipients use the title khun, which is the same word as § Khun (courtesy title) below.
Khun (courtesy title)
Khun (คุณ), a courtesy title pronounced with a middle tone, should not be confused with the noble title of khun (ขุน, pronounced in a rising tone). Today, this word is used informally to courteously address nearly anyone.[8]
References
^Foley, William. Anthropological Linguistics: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.
^ abcdefKhanittanan, Wilaiwan. "An aspect of the origins and development of linguistic politeness in Thai". Broadening the horizon of linguistic politeness. Ed. Robin T. Lakoff and Sachiko Ide. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing, 2005. 315-335.
^ abTerwiel, Barend Jan (1983). "Ahom and the Study of Early Thai Society" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society. Siamese Heritage Trust. 71.0 (digital): image 4–5. Retrieved March 7, 2013. Table 1 : Terms indicating rank, title or class from early Siamese sources.
^"Royal Words". Internet resource for the Thai language. thai-language.com. October 9, 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
^ abcCooke, Joseph R. "Pronominal Reference in Thai, Burmese, and Vietnamese." University of California Publications in Linguistics 52 (1968): 1-68.
^ abcSmyth, David. Thai: An Essential Grammar. London: Routledge, 2002.
^Kummer, Manfred. "Politeness in Thai". Politeness in Language: Studies in its History, Theory, and Practice. Ed. Richard J. Watts, Sachiko Ide, and Konrad Ehlich. Berlin: Moutun de Gruyter, 1992. 325-336.
^. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
January 07, 2023
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Honorifics are a class of words or grammatical morphemes that encode a wide variety of social relationships between interlocutors or between interlocutors and referents 1 Honorific phenomena in Thai include honorific registers honorific pronominals and honorific particles Contents 1 Historical development 2 Honorific registers 3 Honorific pronominals 3 1 Personal pronouns 3 2 Kinship terms 3 3 Status terms 3 4 Names 4 Honorific particles 5 Honorific titles 5 1 Thanphuying and khunying 5 2 Khun courtesy title 6 ReferencesHistorical development EditThai honorifics date back to the Sukhothai Kingdom a period which lasted from 1238 to 1420 CE 2 During the Sukhothai period honorifics appeared in the form of kinship terms 3 The Sukhothai period also saw the introduction of many Khmer and Pali loanwords to Thai Later in the Ayutthaya Kingdom 1351 to 1767 CE a new form of honorific speech evolved While kinship terms continued to be used a royal vocabulary known as raja sap Thai rachasphth RTGS Rachasap emerged 4 The Raja sap an honorific register was created as a way for commoners and aristocrats alike to talk to and about the king of Thailand Soon after its creation the use of royal vocabulary was extended to address all members of the royal family as well as aristocrats At the same time a clerical vocabulary used to talk to or about monks arose very similar to the raja sap With the development of royal and clerical vocabularies means for honorific speech increased significantly The Bangkok period from 1782 to the present saw even greater expansion of the raja sap as it became the formal or polite way to address all peoples or topics Specifically lexical items from honorific registers replaced native Thai pronouns resulting in an entirely new set of pronominal forms Kinship terms continued to be used as honorifics and a new type of honorific emerged as well polite particles Honorific registers EditThe roots of Thai honorific registers lie in Khmer and Khmero Indic Pali or Sanskrit words borrowed first into Khmer then from Khmer into Thai loanwords 2 Khmer and Khmero Indic words were originally borrowed into Thai by an educated Thai upper class specifically kings and monks in order to discuss Buddhism When the need for honorific registers arose the Thai people turned again to Khmer Borrowing heavily from Khmer the Thai constructed a royal vocabulary a large lexicon of Khmer and Khmero Indic words appropriate for addressing the monarchy At the same time a clerical vocabulary emerged much smaller but similar in function and origin to the royal vocabulary The clerical vocabulary also composed mainly of borrowings from Khmer enabled the common people to communicate with and about monks Lexical items from standard Thai royal vocabulary and clerical vocabulary are shown side by side in the table below English gloss Standard Thai Clerical vocabulary Royal vocabulary hand mɯː mux mɯː mux pʰra hat phrahtth house baːn ban ku ti kudi waŋ wng mother mɛ ː aem jōːm mɛ ː oymaem pʰra tɕʰōn na niː phrachnni to give haj ih tʰa wǎːj thway tʰa wǎːj thway to speak pʰuːt phud pʰuːt phud trat trs to sleep nɔːn nxn tɕam wat cawd ban tʰōm brrthm Honorific pronominals EditPersonal pronouns Edit Personal pronouns are the most numerous and complex of pronominal forms in Thai Personal pronouns may make the following semantic distinctions 5 Number singular plural ambiguous Person first person second person third person ambivalent Gender Primary distinctions are distinctions of gender that are inherent to pronouns male female Secondary distinctions are distinctions of gender that depend on the presence or absence of other semantic features like status intimacy or non restraint male orientation female orientation neutral orientation Age absolute relative Speaker addressee referent relationship Primary distinctions Status the status of the speaker relative to an addressee or referent Status may be determined by relative age elders have higher status rank king gt royalty gt monks gt government and military gt professionals gt white collar gt blue collar or non intimacy strangers are treated as at least equals Intimacy the kind and degree of close day by day association Non restraint Secondary distinctions Deference Politeness AssertivenessKinship terms Edit Kinship terms are used pronominally to elevate or demonstrate solidarity with an addressee 2 To address a listener as kin is in effect to confer the listener with the same status as the aforementioned kin Generally kinship terms contain both literal and displaced meanings 5 Kinship terms are considered literal in cases of blood kin affinal kin and teknonymy They are considered displaced when used with kinlike individuals intimate friends of kin or kin of intimate friends When using kinship terms age is critical 2 Speakers must estimate the age of an addressee to determine his or her generation and choose an appropriate kinship term Kinship terms commonly used as honorific pronominals are summarized in the table below 6 English gloss Thai father phx pʰɔ ː mother aem mɛ ː older brother sister phi pʰiː younger brother sister nxng nɔ ːŋ child luk luːk grandchild niece nephew hlan lǎːn great grandchild ehln leːn great great grandchild lux lɯ ː uncle mother father s older brother lung luŋ aunt mother father s older sister pa paː aunt uncle mother s younger brother sister cousin na naː aunt uncle father s younger brother sister cousin xa ʔaː grandfather father s father pu puː grandmother father s mother ya jaː grandfather mother s father ta taː grandmother mother s mother yay jaːj great grandparent thwd tʰua t great great grandparent ethiyd tʰia t Speakers may demonstrate additional respect by adding the polite title khun khun before any kinship term Kinship terms are commonly followed by personal names or nicknames Status terms Edit Status terms denote referents in terms of occupation or status 2 While some status terms are used as first second or third person pronouns others are restricted to second and third person only Many pronominal status terms are preceded by titles Status terms may also be used as titles before given names 3 A few status terms frequently used as pronominals are presented in the table below 6 Thai English glossxacary ʔaːtɕaːn teacher professor khru kʰruː teacher hmx mɔ ː doctor phyabal pʰajabaːn nurse kraepa krapǎw bus fare collector pocketbook samlx sǎːmlɔ ː pedicab driver tricycle aethksi tʰɛ ksiː taxi driver taxicab tuk tuk tuk tuk motorized pedicab driver thanthut tʰan tʰuːt Mister Madame Ambassador thanxthibdi tʰan atʰibɔdiː Mister Madame Director General thanxthikar tʰan atʰikaːn Mister Madame Rector of university thanrthmntri tʰan rattʰamōntriː Mister Madame Minister of state thannaykrthmntri tʰan naːjok rattʰamōntriː Mister Madame Prime Minister Names Edit In Thai a person s full name consists of a given name followed by a surname or family name 5 In addition most individuals have a nickname As pronominals given names are used most frequently in second person form Given names are often preceded by the courtesy title khun when addressing friends or acquaintances Given names are sometimes truncated to convey mild informality Nicknames like given names are used most often in second person They generally do not take titles Nicknames are a friendly affectionate way to show intimacy between interlocuters Honorific particles EditHonorific particles are added to the end of an utterance or clause to show respect to the addressee 7 Honorific particles may exhibit the following semantic distinctions Sex male female neutral Status superior equal inferior Social mood a continuum ranging from formal at one end to extremely intimate at the other Illocutionary force affirmative imperative interrogativePolite particles are not used in conjunction with honorific registers or in written language 2 Commonly used polite particles 6 are summarized in the table below Thai Sex Status of addressee Social mood Illocutionary forcekhrb khrap male equal superior formal affirmative imperative interrogativekha kha female equal superior formal affirmative imperativekha kha female equal superior formal interrogativeHonorific titles EditThanphuying and khunying Edit Thanphuying thanphuhying and khunying khunhying were originally titles for wives of nobles of chaophraya and phraya rank respectively Today they are used as titles for married female recipients of the Order of Chula Chom Klao Those of the rank Dame Grand Commander and above use the title thanphuying while others use khunying Unmarried recipients use the title khun which is the same word as Khun courtesy title below Khun courtesy title Edit Khun khun a courtesy title pronounced with a middle tone should not be confused with the noble title of khun khun pronounced in a rising tone Today this word is used informally to courteously address nearly anyone 8 References Edit Foley William Anthropological Linguistics An Introduction Oxford Blackwell 1997 a b c d e f Khanittanan Wilaiwan An aspect of the origins and development of linguistic politeness in Thai Broadening the horizon of linguistic politeness Ed Robin T Lakoff and Sachiko Ide Philadelphia John Benjamins Publishing 2005 315 335 a b Terwiel Barend Jan 1983 Ahom and the Study of Early Thai Society PDF Journal of the Siam Society Siamese Heritage Trust 71 0 digital image 4 5 Retrieved March 7 2013 Table 1 Terms indicating rank title or class from early Siamese sources Royal Words Internet resource for the Thai language thai language com October 9 2013 Retrieved 4 October 2013 a b c Cooke Joseph R Pronominal Reference in Thai Burmese and Vietnamese University of California Publications in Linguistics 52 1968 1 68 a b c Smyth David Thai An Essential Grammar London Routledge 2002 Kummer Manfred Politeness in Thai Politeness in Language Studies in its History Theory and Practice Ed Richard J Watts Sachiko Ide and Konrad Ehlich Berlin Moutun de Gruyter 1992 325 336 Thai words for you Archived from the original on 17 April 2016 Retrieved 22 April 2010 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Thai honorifics amp oldid 1094508185, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
