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The Distinctions Between Indefinite Pronouns and Interrogative Pronouns in Thai

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The Distinctions Between Indefinite Pronouns and Interrogative Pronouns in Thai THE DISTINCTIONS b. interrogative pronoun BETWEEN INDEFINITE naiJ rial) nfi khraj daaj duu baal) movie CL this who PAST see some PRONOUNS AND 'Who has seen this movie?' INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS IN THAI1 (2) a. indefinite pronoun phanakl)aan khon nfi khaw maa Roongaroon employee CL this come thamiJaan t<il)teE miaraj 2 Teekhachunhatean work since when chan cam maj daaj leew Abstract I remember not can PAST 'I can't remember when this employee This article aims to present a study of began working. ' the distinctions between two types of b. interrogative pronoun pronouns in Thai-indefinite pronouns and phanakl)aan khon nfi k.haw maa interrogative pronouns, which are employee CL this come homophonous and homographic but thamiJaan tal)teE miaraj different in function. The results of the work since when study reveal that they can be ' From when was this employee distinguished both syntactically and employed?' semantically. Therefore, they can be classified into two word classes. (3) a. indefinite pronoun thaa ca tham £araj kh:5::> haj . 1. Introduction if will do what let j ft k.hwaamthuukt51J pen lak Indefinite pronouns and interrogative hold on rightness as principle pronouns show a language phenomenon ' Whatever you do, you should abide by that words with the same form, such as rightness.' /khraj/ , /?araj/ , /thilnaj/ , /mlanlj/ , b. interrogative pronoun /jaaiJraj/, and /thawraj/, can function thaa thamiJaan kap khon carnnuan differently when occurring in different if work with people amount syntactic contexts. Some examples are: maak khun jft jaraj pen many you hold on what as (1) a. indefinite pronoun lak naiJ rtal) nfi khraj duu k5 principle movie CL this who see ADV 'If you work with many people, by what daaj principle do you abide?' · can 'Anyone can see this movie.' From the above examples, /khraj/, /miaraj/, /?araj/ have the same form but 11 would like to express my gratitude to differ in function, i.e., interrogative Professor Dr. Prenee Kullavanijaya for pronouns request information from the patiently editing this paper and giving addressee, such as /khraj/ asking about valuable suggestions and comments. a person, /miaraj/ about time, and /?araj/ 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Thai, about a thing. Indefinite pronouns, on the Faculty of Humanities, Chiangmai other hand, do not signify a question. University. Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:32:02AM via free access MANUSYA: Journal ofHumaniti es 6.2, 2003 Both pronouns share the same meaning 4.4 functioning as nouns or noun of indefiniteness and seem as if they complements cannot be absolutely distinguished. Yet, 4.5 cannot be modified by adjectives they are recognized by native speakers as separate words. The researcher, Based on the characteristics above, 25 therefore wanted to study the homophonous and homographic pairs of distinctions between these two types of indefinite and interrogative pronouns pronouns. have been identified. They can be classified by meaning into 7 types as 2. The aim of the study follows: This article aims to present a study of person : phuudaj, khraj the distinctions between the indefinite thing : prakaandaj, s'i.IJdaj, pronouns and interrogative pronouns that ?arai, kraraj have the same form with the hypothesis place : naj, th1inaj, th1idaj that they can be classified into two word time : miadaj, miaraj, miaraj classes. The study consisted of 3 stages. manner : jaaiJraj,jaiJIJaj, IJaj, The first was to search for words that chendaj, chenraj have the aforementioned characteristics. amount or : thawdaj, thawraj, The second was to investigate their estimation thawraj, phiaiJdaj, context in order to infer both syntactic phiaiJraj, phiaiJnaj, and semantic criteria to classify them kh€cnaj into two word classes. The third was to reason : thammaj identify each word in the data as to what class it belongs. Mostly, these words consis t of 2 morphemes. The former is a free 3. Sources of data morpheme with the meaning about human knowledge which. Haspelmath The data came from three sources: two (1997) called the ontological category. novels, two books ofgeneral knowledge, The ontological category is divided into and one general article, randomly picked 7 sub-groups : person, thing, place, time, from the CU electronic corpus. From manner, amount and reason. In some the last corpus, 200 samples were taken. languages, the member of sub-groups can be lesser or greater. The other word 4. The characteristics of is a bound morpheme with the meaning of indefiniteness: /daj/ and /raj/. It was indefinite and interrogative noticeable that some words have pronouns undergone certain changes and become monosyllabic such as /khraj/ (khon+raj) Using data survey and literature review and /naj/ (hon+raj); some with sound as guidelines, characteristics about these assimilation such as /jaiJIJaj/ (jaaiJ+raj) pronouns were designated: and /thammaj/ (tham+raj); some with sound attrition such as /?araj/ (?an+raj) 4.1 consisting of a formal element /daj/ and /kraraj/ (kaan+raj); and some with or /raj/ tonal changes such as /thawraj/ 4.2 having indefinite meanings (thaw+raj), and /miaraj/ (mia+raj). 4.3 occurring in the same position as nouns 112 Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:32:02AM via free access The Distinctions between Indefinite Pronouns and Interrogative Pronouns in Thai 5. Syntactic contexts of He like learn what indefinite and interrogative 'What did he enjoy studying?' ·pronouns In example (5) a., /?araj/ is an indefinite The researcher analyzed the 25 pairs pronoun that occurs before a of indefinite and interrogative pronouns demonstrative phrase /tharnn:->:->IJ nii/, in the sentential contexts to find out how whereas in example (5) b., l?araj/ is an different they were syntactically. Four interrogative pronoun. criteria were used to separate these two types of pronouns. (6) a. indefinite pronoun samaj nii ?araj taaiJtaaiJ period this what various 5.1 Indefinite pronouns can occur phitthanaa paj ruatrew maak with 3 types of noun modifier: numeral develop quickly very classifier, demonstrative modifier, and 'At present, everything is quickly indefinite modifier. Interrogative developed.' pronouns, on the other hand, cannot b. interrogative pronoun occur in these contexts. Some examples samaj nfi ?araj phatthanaa paJ are: period this what develop ruatrew maak (4) a. indefinite pronoun quickly very paa jaak ca phuut kap 'At present, what is quickly developed?' Auntie want speak with khraj sak khon nil) In example (6) a., /?arajl is an indefmite who CL one pronoun that occurs before an indefinite 'Auntie would like to speak to someone.' modifier /taaiJtaaiJ/, whereas in b. interrogative pronoun example (6) b., l?araj/ is an paa jaak ca phuut kap interrogative pronoun. Auntie want speak with khraj 5.2 Indefinite pronouns can occur as who an object of a negated predicate. 'To whom would Auntie like to speak?' Interrogative pronouns, on the other hand, cannot occur in such context. In example ( 4) a., /khraj/ is an indefinite Examples are: pronoun that occurs before a numeral classifier, for example, /sak khon nil)/, (7) a. indefinite pronoun whereas in example (4) b., /khraj/ is an maj phop phu:daj naj tham mfn interrogative pronoun. not see who in cave that (5) a. indefinite pronoun l~j at all khaw ch5:->p rian ?araj thamm:->IJ '(I) didn't see anyone in that cave.' He like learn what manner b. interrogative pronoun nii thaan phop phu:daj naj tham this you see who in cave 'He likes to learn things like this.' mfn baaiJ b. interrogative pronoun that some khaw ch5:->p rian ?araj 'Whom did you see in that cave?' 113 Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:32:02AM via free access MANUSYA : Journal of Humanities 6. 2, 2003 In example (7) a., lphu:dajl is an haj c€tiJ laomprachaasoiJkhr::l? indefinite pronoun occurs as an object let inform The Public Welfare of a negated predicate, lmaj phop Department phu:dajl, whereas in example (7) b., I ' Anyone who has a problem, inform phu:daj/ is an interrogative pronoun and The Public Welfare Department' as seen in the sentence is not accepted if the predicate is negated. b. interrogative pronoun dek thli maa chuaj raw soiJ 5.3 Indefinite pronouns can occur in a the boy that come help us deliver yes-no question with lmajl, lrril, I kh5::>IJ pen khraj riiplaaw/. Interrogative pronouns, on the goods is who other hand, cannot occur in this context. 'Who is the boy who helps us to deliver Examples are given below: the goods?. (8) a. indefinite pronoun In example (9) a., /khrajl is an indefinite M td5 k mu ~.llJ.s!ill. ki a w kh5IJ pronoun occurring in a subordinate hotdog have what relate clause, whereas in example (9) b ., kap maa riiplaaw lkhrajl is an interrogative pronoun to dog or not occurring in a main clause. 'Is 'hotdog' related to dogs in anyway?' b. interrogative pronoun (10) a. indefinite pronoun h6td5k mn slndaj kiaw kh5IJ thaa puu sia loiJ thlidaj, thli hotdog have what relate if spread mat down where, place kap maa nan pen ?anacak kh5::>IJ ton to dog that is territory of oneself ' Is ' hotdog' related to dogs?' 'Whenever one spreads his mat anywhere, that place becomes his In example (8) a., lsli]daj/ is an indefinite terri tory.' pronoun that occurs in a yes-no question b. interrogative pronoun with lrii:p\aawl, whereas example (8) thaa ca damn~nkaan taam b., with lsiiJdajl as an interrogative if will implement according to pronoun is already a question and kh5san5~, ratthabaan ca nam obviously needs nothing more to make the proposal, government will bring it so. IJoppramaan maa caak thlidaj budget from where 5.4 Indefinite pronouns can occur 'If it is implemented according to the in a subordinate clause of a complex proposal, from where will the sentence as well as in a co-ordinate government get this budget?' clause of a compound sentence.
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