The Meanings of /kàp/ in the Sukhothai Inscriptions: An Analysis of Semantic and Syntactic Contexts
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Abstract
Objectives: The objectives of this article are to investigate the contextual meanings of /kàp/ in the Sukhothai period by analyzing its contexts from both semantic and syntactic perspectives, and to study the conceptual meaning of /kàp/ which can relate to the contextual meanings of the inscription.
Methods: The data has been collected from the book “The Inscription Collection Vol. 8: The Sukhothai Stone Inscriptions” which was published by the Fine Arts Department in 2005. This study only collects Thai texts in the Sukhothai Thai script and the Sukhothai Khom script. Afterwards, the semantic and syntactic contexts of each surrounding statement are analyzed to examine the contextual meanings, and relation to other meanings to form the conceptual meaning of /kàp/.
Results: The research results indicate that there are 55 statements found in 17 Sukhothai inscriptions. The word /kàp/ can be categorized into 3 groups according to their functions, and can be construed as having 4 meanings. As a PREPOSITION, there are 2 meanings: 1) ‘together with/in accompany with’, and 2) ‘showing destination’. As a NOUN PHRASE CONJUNCTION, it means 3) ‘and/including’. As a NOUN, it means 4) ‘side dishes/food that is eaten or served with rice’. Furthermore, these 4 meanings are related to a single CONCEPTUAL MEANING of ‘participating in a particular situation’. In other words, all distinct meanings are influenced by both semantic and syntactic contexts; consequently, these 4 meanings are so-called CONTEXTUAL MEANINGS. In conclusion, /kàp/ is not a HOMONYM but a POLYSEMOUS WORD.
Application of this study: The research results can be applied to the study of language change in both diachronic and synchronic approaches. The analysis of semantic and syntactic contexts may be essential for considering the meanings of grammatical words because these words have no clear meaning; therefore, the contexts in which they appear must be taken into account. Moreover, the results can also be developed into the methodology of Grammaticalization.
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