An Analysis of the Structure and Meaning of Chinese Store Names of Thai-Chinese People at Hua Ro Market Area in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province

การวิเคราะห์โครงสร้างและความหมายชื่อร้านค้าภาษาจีนของชาวไทยเชื้อสายจีน บริเวณตลาดหัวรอ อำเภอพระนครศรีอยุธยา จังหวัดพระนครศรีอยุธยา

Abstract

This research paper aims to study the Chinese store names of Thai-Chinese people at Hua Ro market area in Ayutthaya. It emphasizes the structure and meaning of the store names including the data reflected on store signs and analyzes the data from all the collected Chinese store names around Hua Ro, Ayutthaya. The structure and meaning of Chinese store names at Hua Ro, Ayutthaya, can be categorized into 3 categories: 1) Forms and characteristics of the language, 2) Language aspects according to types of language structure, and 3) Information reflected by the names of Chinese stores. In terms of language forms and characteristics, Chinese store signs of Thai-Chinese people in Hua Ro Market Area, Ayutthaya, reveal the character types, character reading order, and character color. All of the store signs (100%) use traditional Chinese characters (繁体), and all of them (100 percent) read from right to left. Moreover, 95.34% of the signs are painted in yellow or gold because these colors represent good luck. In terms of language characteristics according to the types of language structure, we found that the signs use a single structure, composite structure, and other types of structure. The single-structure signs use only the family names the original form (25%) since the names are not complicated and they clearly indicate the identity of the shop owners. The most common family name used is “Lor” (罗) (18.42%) because many Chinese people with this family name settled down in this area. Grocery shop is the most common type of business (34.88%).