A Corpus-Based Study of Thai and English Quantity Word Equivalents: "Laay," "Several" and "Many"

Autor/in	Wijitsopon, Raksangob
Titel	A Corpus-Based Study of Thai and English Quantity Word Equivalents: "Laay," "Several" and "Many"
Quelle	In: rEFLections, 28 (2021) 2, S.188-207 (20 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1513–5934
Schlagwörter	Thai; Contrastive Linguistics; Computational Linguistics; English; Language Variation; Language Usage; Form Classes (Languages); Semantics; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Language Patterns; Decision Making; Translation; Indexes + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Linguistics; Kontrastive Linguistik; Computerlinguistik; English language; Englisch; Sprachenvielfalt; Sprachgebrauch; Analytischer Sprachbau; Semantik; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Sprachmodell; Sprachstruktur; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Indexdatei
Abstract	The present study investigates the Thai quantifier 'laay' ([Thai characters omitted]) and its two major English lexical equivalents: 'several' and 'many', using data from an English-Thai parallel corpus, the Thai and British National Corpora. An examination of the parallel corpus reveals that the quantifier 'laay' has a broad semantic property as it can express meanings related to small, medium and large quantities or just the plurality of entities. This provides support to an observation that the word can pose problems for Thai EFL learners, translators and interpreters when expressing the concept of 'laay' in English. Based on the parallel corpus, two English quantity words that denote different scales of quantity, 'many' and 'several', were found to be among the most common lexical equivalents of 'laay'. Further comparative investigation was conducted on the Thai and British National Corpora. It is found that 'laay' and its two common equivalents have overlapping and different co-occurrence patterns, illustrating their lexical equivalent status and distinct usage profiles at the same time. Differences between the two English equivalents were then focused on so that empirical evidence of usage patterns of the two most common English lexical equivalents of 'laay' can be obtained. Findings from the study provide an insight into phraseological patterns and pragmatic-discourse functions associated with the English equivalents, which Thai speakers of English can make use of as a possible framework for their decision making when translating 'laay' into English. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi School of Liberal Arts. 126 Pracha Uthit Road, Bang Mod, Thung Khru, Bangkok, Thailand 10140. Tel: +66-2470-8756; Fax: +66-2428-3375; Web site: https://so05.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/reflections/index
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01