Relationship between community closeness and lexical choice of the Lao Khrang community at Ban Nong Kraphi, Tambon Ban Luang, Amphoe Don Tum, Nakhon Pathom
Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Lao Khrangs community closeness and their lexical choice. Two social factors were taken into consideration, namely, the speakers age and education. The speakers were classified according to their age into 3 groups: 15-25 years old, 30-40 years old and 45-55 years old. They were also divided into three groups according to their education: lower than Pathom 5, Pathom 5 Matthayom 3 and higer than Matthayom 3. Data about community closeness and choice of words, based on 34 pre-selected Lao Khrang words, were collected through interviews. It is found that both the age and education of the speakers are related to community closeness and lexical choice. On community closeness, age has more influence than education. The older are always closer to their community than the younger. In contrast, education plays a more important role than age in the lexical choice. The less educated certainly choose Lao Khrang words more frequently than the more educated. Concerning the relationship between the community closeness and lexical choice of Lao Khrang words, it is found that high degree of closeness implies more use of Lao Khrang words. As for the Lexical choice of Lao Khrang and Standard Thai, generally, people in this community use less vernacular words than Standard Thai words, especially the new generations. The data show that change is going on in this communitys language use, as can be seen in the age-grading of the choice of Lao Khrang and Standard Thai words. It can be concluded that in this community Lao Khrang may be lost and shift to Standard Thai in the future.