Abstract:
There are 3 goals in this study : 1) analyzing variation of kinship terms by age and language attitude 2) analyzing variation of the pronunciation of the vowel (aƜ) by age and language attitude 3) comparing change in progress of kinship terms and the pronunciation of the vowel (aƜ). The data used in this study consist of 10 Black Tai kinship terms and 10 times of the pronunciation of the vowel (aƜ) spoken by each informant - describing the scenes in four pictures. Data were collected from 40 Black Tai people in Baan Sakaerai, Amphoe Mueang, Changwat Nakhon Pathom. The informants consist of four age groups (10 informants per age group): 15-25, 30-40, 45-55, and over 60 years old. A questionnaire was used to obtain language attitude toward the Black Tai language of the 40 speakers - dividing them into 3 groups - positive, neutral and negative. This study shows that lexical variation differs from phonological variation in the Black Tai variety under investigation. The four age groups use Black Tai kinship terms more than Standard Thai kinship terms. There is a gradual decrease in the use of the Black Tai kinship terms from the oldest group to the youngest group. Language attitude has no effect on the variation of kinship Terms. However, variation in the pronunciation of the vowel (aM) does not have that pattern. There are four variants: the Black Tai variant [aM], the Standard Thai variant [ai] and the new variants [au] and [ә:]. The Black Tai variant of (aƜ) will soon disappear in this variety of Black Tai because it is not found in the two younger groups. The occurrence of the new variants is significantly high in every age group. The occurrence of the Standard Thai variant sharply increases in the pronunciation of the youngest group. The positive group uses the new variants most frequently while the negative group uses the Standard Thai variant most frequently. It is illustrated in this study that change in progress in the usage of kinship terms occurs more slowly than that in the vowel (aƜ) and this study also shows that the 15 -25 years old group prefers to use the Standard Thai kinship terms and the Standard Thai variant [ai] indicating-possible loss of the Black Tai language in Baan Sakaerai in the future.