Syntactic, Semantic and Pragmatic Properties of the Negative Form /plàaw/ in Thai

Authors

  • รุจิรา บำรุงกาญจน์ Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
  • กิ่งกาญจน์ เทพกาญจนา Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

Keywords:

negative form /plàaw/, negation in Thai, syntax, semantics, pragmatics

Abstract

/plàaw/ is a familiar negative form when it is part of question particles like /rɨ̌ plàaw/ and /châj rɨ̌ plàaw/. Thai native speakers can also use /plàaw/ at the beginning of a sentence or use it solely in response to conversations naturally and may not even notice its syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic properties. This paper aims to study the three stated properties of the negative form, /plàaw/, in the second or responding turn in conversations. However, /plàaw/, which is part of question particles; /plàaw/, which is part of fixed expressions such as /rɨ̌ kɔ̂ plàaw/; and /plàaw/, which means ‘empty or nothing else but itself’, such as /klɔ̀ŋ plàaw/ and /khâaw plàaw/, are not included in this study. The data were collected from the Thai National Corpus under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Mahachakri Sirindorn, novels, Internet media, and conversations in the researcher's daily life. It was found that /plàaw/, which is used in response to other speakers’ utterances in second turns, can occur solely and precede verb phrases, as well as final particles. Despite its different syntactic properties, every occurrence of /plàaw/ has the same semantic meaning: ‘empty or nothing else but itself’. Its negation scope is beyond constituents and clauses, as speakers use it to negate the utterance of other speakers and pragmatic presupposition. Pragmatically, it is used for negating, making excuses, cutting others short while talking, and concealing the truth.

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Published

2018-01-30

How to Cite

บำรุงกาญจน์ ร., & เทพกาญจนา ก. (2018). Syntactic, Semantic and Pragmatic Properties of the Negative Form /plàaw/ in Thai. Journal of Letters, 46(2), 295–343. Retrieved from https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jletters/article/view/110557