DigitalResources Electronic Survey Report 2013-009 ® Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Thai Jennifer Herington, Margaret Potter, Amy Ryan, and Jennifer Simmons Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Thai Jennifer Herington, Margaret Potter, Amy Ryan, and Jennifer Simmons SIL International® 2013 SIL Electronic Survey Report 2013-009, April 2013 ©2013 Jennifer Herington, Margaret Potter, Amy Ryan, Jennifer Simmons, and SIL International® All rights reserved Abstract This paper presents the results of a sociolinguistic survey of the Northern Thai varieties spoken in six provinces of Northern Thailand. The purpose of this survey was to determine whether the variety of Northern Thai currently being used for literature development will be adequate for Northern Thai speakers in all of these six provinces, and if not, which varieties should be selected for further development. The researchers conducted brief sociolinguistic questionnaires and modified recorded text tests to investigate sociolinguistic attitudes. The data for this survey was collected in 12 randomly selected sub-districts in 6 provinces of Northern Thailand between December 2011 and February 2012. ii Acknowledgments This research was conducted under the auspices of Payap University Linguistics Institute, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The research team consisted of Jennifer Herington, Amy Ryan, and Jennifer Simmons, with assistance from Margaret Potter and Elizabeth Pisaniello. The report was consultant checked by Margaret Potter. The research team would like to thank the Northern Thai language development team—Ajaan Manop Panyo, Saisunee Nusak, and Pat Lew—for their aid in planning the survey and collecting stories for testing. The team would also like to acknowledge the hospitality and willing participation of the Northern Thai community. iii Summary Introduction Northern Thai (ISO 639-3: nod) is a language of the Tai-Kadai language family spoken by around 6,000,000 speakers in Northern Thailand (Lewis 2009). Northern Thai is closely related to the national language of Thailand, Central Thai (ISO 639-3: tha), and bilingualism in Central Thai is high among Northern Thai speakers. Northern Thai exhibits signs of strong vitality, and is also used as a language of wider communication among many of the tribal groups in Northern Thailand. Language development is currently being conducted in Northern Thai. Research purpose The purpose of this survey was to assess whether the variety of Northern Thai currently being used for language development will be adequate for all Northern Thai speakers, and if not, which varieties should be selected for further development. The criteria used to determine this were sociolinguistic attitudes toward different varieties of Northern Thai. Comprehension was not tested, as background research indicated that all varieties of Northern Thai are intelligible to speakers of other varieties. Additionally, although Northern Thai is used by people of various ethnicities throughout Northern Thailand, this survey focused solely on ethnic Tai people who are native speakers of Northern Thai. Where the term “Northern Thai speakers” is used in this report, it refers to this population. Methodology The researchers conducted brief sociolinguistic questionnaires and modified recorded text testing to assess sociolinguistic attitudes. The data for this survey was collected between December 2011 and February 2012 in twelve randomly selected sub-districts in six provinces of Northern Thailand. Sociolinguistic attitudes toward varieties of Northern Thai No strong negative attitudes were found toward any variety of Northern Thai. Most speakers expressed positive attitudes toward the variety spoken in their own province, and also toward the variety spoken in Chiang Mai province. The Chiang Mai variety was the most easily identified, both by speakers within Chiang Mai province, and also by speakers from other provinces. Conclusions The researchers conclude that a single written set of vernacular literature in Northern Thai will be sufficient to reach all Northern Thai speakers. If audio materials are to be developed based on this literature, it is recommended that materials be recorded by speakers from Chiang Mai province. iv Contents Abstract Acknowledgments Summary List of figures List of tables 1 Introduction 1.1 Geography 1.2 Peoples 1.3 Languages 1.4 Previous research 2 Research questions 3 Methodology 3.1 Recorded text testing 3.2 Individual sociolinguistic questionnaires 3.3 Site selection 3.4 Subject selection 3.5 Fieldwork timeline 3.6 Analysis 4 Results 4.1 Perceived groupings of Northern Thai varieties 4.1.1 Speak differently 4.1.2 Speak the same 4.2 Reported attitudes toward Northern Thai varieties 4.2.1 Most pleasant Northern Thai accent 4.2.2 Least pleasant Northern Thai accent 4.2.3 Where to Learn Northern Thai 4.2.4 Dialect groupings 4.3 Language vitality 4.3.1 Sociolinguistic questionnaires 4.3.2 EGIDS Score 4.4 Literature 4.5 Recorded text test results 4.5.1 Comprehension 4.5.2 Observed groupings of Northern Thai varieties 4.5.3 Observed attitudes toward Northern Thai varieties 5 Conclusion 5.1 Language attitudes 5.2 Language vitality and literature 6 Recommendations Appendix A. Divisions of Northern Thai based on various sources Appendix B. Population density of districts in Northern Thailand Appendix C. Synopses of recorded text test stories used Appendix D. Questionnaire Appendix E. Subject selection matrices References v List of figures Figure 1. Regions of Thailand. ...................................................................................................................... 1 Figure 2. Topography of Northern Thailand. ................................................................................................ 2 Figure 3. Organizational chart of Northern Thai and related languages. ..................................................... 4 Figure 4. Extent of Northern Thai language (adapted from Premsrirat 2004:38). ....................................... 5 Figure 5. Diagram of relationships between different varieties. .................................................................. 6 Figure 6. Map of randomly selected sites. .................................................................................................... 9 Figure 7. Map of tentative dialect boundaries. ........................................................................................... 22 List of tables Table 1. Population of Northern Thai provinces .......................................................................................... 3 Table 2. Names of randomly selected sites ................................................................................................... 9 Table 3. Subject selection for recorded text testing .................................................................................... 10 Table 4. Places that speak Northern Thai differently ................................................................................. 11 Table 5. Responses of the 94 subjects who listed other provinces as speaking differently from themselves ................................................................................... 12 Table 6. Level of understanding of other varieties ..................................................................................... 12 Table 7. How other varieties speak differently ........................................................................................... 13 Table 8. Places that speak Northern Thai the same .................................................................................... 14 Table 9. Responses of the 100 subjects who listed provinces that speak the same .................................... 15 Table 10. Best Northern Thai accent—sorted by interviewee’s province of origin .................................... 16 Table 11. Best Northern Thai accent—comparing interviewee’s home province v. other provinces ......... 17 Table 12. Best Northern Thai accent—interviewees who chose a different province ................................ 17 Table 13. Worst Northern Thai accent—sorted by home province ............................................................ 18 Table 14. Worst Northern Thai accent—interviewees who chose a different province ............................. 20 Table 15. Recommendations of where to learn Northern Thai—by province ............................................ 21 Table 16. Language vitality ......................................................................................................................... 23 Table 17. Subjects who did NOT report that parentsspeak Northern Thai with children .......................... 23 Table 18. EGIDS diagnostic decision tree ................................................................................................... 25 Table 19. People who have tried to read Northern Thai using Central Thai script.................................... 26 Table 20. People who have tried to read Northern Thai using Central Thai script, by age ....................... 26 Table 21. Was the whole story clear, or not ............................................................................................... 28 Table 22. Was the speech same or different ............................................................................................... 29 Table 23. Guessed correctly where the storyteller is from ......................................................................... 30 Table 24. Incorrectly guessed storyteller to be from own