Cognitive semantic extensions of แม่ (mɛ̂ɛ, ‘mother’) compounds in Thai: A corpus-based analysis of conceptual metaphor, cultural schemas, and prototype effects

Abstract

This study examines the semantic extensions of the Thai kinship term แม่ (mɛ̂ɛ, ‘mother’) through a corpus-based cognitive semantic approach. Drawing on data from the Thai National Corpus (TNC), the analysis identifies 41 compounds in which mɛ̂ɛ functions as the initial morpheme, spanning domains of kinship, domesticity, economy, authority, origin, spirituality, and pragmatics. The findings reveal a radial category structure organized around the prototypical sense of ‘biological mother,’ with extensions motivated by conceptual metaphors (MOTHER AS SOURCE, MOTHER AS PROTECTOR, MOTHER AS AUTHORITY) and metonymic mappings (MOTHER FOR HOUSEHOLD MANAGER, MOTHER FOR MARKET VENDOR). Frequency data bear out prototype effects: high-frequency compounds such as แม่น้ำ (mɛ̂ɛ-náam, ‘river,’ 3,803 tokens) and แม่บ้าน (mɛ̂ɛ-bâan, ‘housewife,’ 956 tokens) form secondary prototypes, while low-frequency but culturally salient compounds such as แม่ย่านาง (mɛ̂ɛ-yâa-naaŋ, ‘vehicle guardian’) reveal distinctively Thai elaborations rooted in animist traditions. The study contributes to cognitive semantic theory by demonstrating how universal metaphorical structures interact with culture-specific schemas, and to Thai linguistics by identifying mɛ̂ɛ as a cultural keyword encoding Thai conceptualizations of gender, authority, morality, and the sacred.