Kham Mueang Dialect Usage over Three Generations in Tambon Wiang Phayao.

บทคัดย่อ

The purpose of this study was to investigate Kham Mueang dialect usage in the daily lives of the local people according to gender, education, and occupation and to study the differences over three generations of informants in the use of words, phrases and expressions. Purposive sampling was used to select 90 Kham Mueang informants over three generations in Tambon Wiang Phayao, with 30 informants from each generation group. They were classified by age, above 51 years old, between 31- 50 years old, and between 15 - 30 years old. Research results showed that the language commonly used in daily life of the informants consisted of over 50 percent in Kham Mueang, according to gender, education, and occupation. In general, the informants use Kham Mueang dialect exclusively the most, followed by Kham Mueang combined with Central Thai, and Central Thai exclusively, respectively. Concerning the 166 words, phrases and expressions, Informants aged above 51 years know and use Kham Muang words the most. Those aged 15 - 30 used Kham Muang the least. It was found that certain Kham Muang words used by older generations have been replaced with Central Thai vocabulary words pronounced in a northern accent by subjects between the ages of 15 - 30 years. This research found evidence which confirmed that Kham Muang was still in existence and was used daily. Several methods of preservation are proposed.