Borrowing Words due to The Language Contact of Northern Thai and Standard Thai Loanwords in the Shan Language in Ban Wiangwai, Monpin sub-district, Fang district, Chiangmai Province

Abstract

This article aims to study the borrowing words forms due to the language contact of Northern Thai and Standard Thai loanwords in the Shan language in Ban Wiangwai, Monpin sub-district, Fang district, Chiangmai province. The data were collected from Shan speakers which is divided into 3 age levels: aged 20-25 years, 40-45 years and 60-65 years, each group of 5 people and totaling 15 people. The collecting data tools such as vocabulary tables and speaker interviews have been used in order to obtain the vocabulary data of speakers in their daily lives.

Results are that Shan speakers in the Ban WiangWai, Monpin Sub-district, Fang District, Chiangmai Province not only use Shan language words to communicate, but also borrow the words from Northern Thai and Standard Thai, and the language contact by borrowing words are divided into 3 types, namely transliteration, language mixing and mixed borrowing. All of the types of words borrowing demonstrate language contact as a phenomenon of vocabulary change among Shan speakers at all 3 age levels. The research may be useful for studying the language changes of other ethnic groups in Thai society, and it also contributes to develop language protection policies of Shan communities in the in the future.