A Study Of The Changes Of Chinese Loanwords In Thai Language From The Perspective Of Language Contact

The communication between China and Thailand has a long history.Language contact between Chinese and Thai leads by ethnic immigrants,economic exchanges,cultural exchanges and so on.Chinese words are borrowed and imitated,and then become "Chinese loanwords" in Thai.Throughout history,Chinese loan words have an important role in the Thai language and have always been a important fields of language contact research.This research aims to analyze Chinese loanwords in Thai language.This paper hopes to make a deeper understanding of the relationship between language and society by studying the changes of Chinese Loanwords in Thai,and to fill in the blank of language contact and loanwords research,which is the characteristic and innovation of this paper.This study explores and analyzes the situation of the changes in Chinese loanwords in Thai from 1846 to 2011 through language contact theory and language borrowing theory of social language.This paper discusses the real overview of the changes of Chinese loanwords in Thai language systems,and analyzes that Chinese loanwords borrowed from Thai as a heterogeneous factor on the changes of loanwords,including the changes of words,meaning,pronunciation and so on.Here are the results of this research;1)The way Thai borrows Chinese words is reflected for the first time in a form of transliteration.Due to the influence of spoken pronunciation and Thai pronunciation habits,some phonetic changes have taken place in the development of loanwords after borrowing.In terms of word meaning,the borrowed words have changed to varying degrees with the way of language contact and social factors,which are mainly reflected in the narrowing,expanding and transferring of word meaning.2)The main reason for the change of loanwords is the influence of social factors and language contact.The language contact in the history of China and Thailand has a deep influence on the phenomenon of loanwords.The influence of Chinese social and cultural development on the formation of Loanwords along with the change of borrowings affects Thai vocabulary as follows;the rise and decline of words,the more convenient use of words,and the changes in the use of words.3)Loanwords are formed in the contact between language and culture.Chinese loanwords provide us with good materials to investigate the development and evolution of local society,and reflect the identity of contemporary Thais to Chinese language and culture.In a word,the change of Thai loanwords is the result of the interaction of multiple factors,in which the difference of Chinese and Thai language characteristics is the fundamental cause,and the transformation and integration of language is the main cause.The changes of Chinese loanwords are closely related to Thai language and culture.