Attitudinal Factors Determining Disyllabic Thai Nicknames

Abstract

The objective of the research paper titled, “Attitudinal Factors of Determining Disyllabic Thai Nicknames,” is to study the logic and contributing factors behind contemporary Thai guardians’ behaviour of giving their children a disyllabic nickname, revealing Thai attitude towards choosing a nickname.

A survey seeking information on why a dysllabic nickname for a child might be chosen was sent out to guardians of kindergarten and primary school students. The results indicate that amongst those surveyed, 48.33% of kindergarten students in year 2 and 47.34% of the overall number in year 3 have a disyllabic nickname. This is significantly higher than primary school students in years 5 and 6 in which only 38.37% and 30.71% of the overall numbers, respectively, have a disyllabic nickname. The results register a growing trend to give a child a disyllabic nickname, contrasting with past custom.

In addition, it was discovered that one of the guardians’ desire to give their children a name with a desirable meaning is one of the main reasons a disyllabic nickname is chosen. Other reasons for the choice include that the children tend to lose them if a syllable is dropped and the desire for a unique sounding nickname. However, it was also observed that despite having got a disyllabic nickname, a particular child when addressing him/herself would still pick out only one of the two syllables to be used in place of the first person pronoun.