Chinese And Thai Adverbs "and" Kor "and" Before "and" Peung / Jeung Contrast

The two very commonly used Chinese adverbs, "Jiu就" and "Cai才", are easily confused by Thais learning the Chinese language. The former was often translated as "Kor" while the latter as "Peung" or "Jeung" in the Thai language. These translations only provided a quick understanding, but did not necessarily capture the essence of "Jiu" and "Cai". This dissertation aimed to examine closely these adverbs to discover the subtle similarities and the deep differences with the Chinese equivalents.To facilitate the comparison study, four books, namely Kobori & Angsumalin, The Happiness ofKati, Two Worlds, and The Happiness of Kati Part 2, were scanned thoroughly to uncover how "Kor", "Peung" and "Jeung" were used in these Thai literatures. These findings were later contrasted with how Chinese linguists'research proposed "Jiu" and "Cai" were used in the Chinese language. Semantics and pragmatics methods were adopted for the analysis.This dissertation was divided into six chapters. Chapter One gave an overview of the rationale for the current research, and how the findings can possibly contribute to theory and practice.Chapter Two presented a literature review of the current research and findings on of "Jiu" and "Cai".Chapter Three examined the existing definitions of "Kor" and proposed how some re-defining could better illustrate the meaning of the word. These proposals were based on the earlier findings on how the word was used in the Thai literatures.Repeating the steps applied in the previous chapter, Chapter Four examined the existing definitions of "Peung" and "Jeung" and discussed how some re-defining can be carried out based on how the words were used in existing literatures. The comparative study with "Cai" followed the re-definitions.In Chapter Five, the author analyzed 347 Chinese essays written by Year 3 students of the Chiang Mai University from the department of Chinese studies. The erroneous use of "Jiu" and "Cai" were highlighted and contrasted with the findings from the earlier chapters. The author attempted to propose how these two words can be taught to increase the rate of proper usage and understanding.Last but not least, the author summarized the findings and the implication of the present study, and proposed some possible areas for future research in the final Chapter Six.