The The Use of First-Person Pronouns in Isan Creative Speech

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Abstract

          This study examines the use of first-person pronouns in Isan Creative Speech; a stylized public speaking genre performed in the Thai-Isan dialect in northeastern Thailand. Creative speech is a competitive rhetorical performance that combines persuasive discourse, cultural storytelling, and regional identity expression. While previous research on Thai pronouns has focused primarily on everyday interaction and politeness strategies, relatively few studies have investigated pronoun use in performative speech contexts.

          The objectives of this study are threefold: (1) to identify the forms of first-person pronouns used in Isan Creative Speech, (2) to analyze the frequency and distribution of these pronouns, and (3) to examine their sociolinguistic functions in terms of identity construction, personal positioning, and rhetorical stance. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative frequency analysis and qualitative discourse analysis. The dataset consists of 30 speeches from the Creative Isan Speech Contest held between 2021 and 2023 (Data collected by Ploypailin Ponsongkhor).

          The findings reveal five first-person pronouns, namely เฮา /haw/, ผม /phǒm/, ข่อย /khɔ̀j/, ข้อย /khɔ̂j/, and ดิฉัน /dìʔ-chǎn/. Among these forms, เฮา /haw/ overwhelmingly dominates the dataset, accounting for 90.8% of all pronoun tokens. This pattern reflects a strong orientation toward collective identity construction and in-group alignment with the audience. Less frequent pronouns, such as ผม /phǒm/, ข่อย /khɔ̀j/, ข้อย /khɔ̂j/, and ดิฉัน /dìʔ-chǎn/, are used strategically to express personal stance, gender identity, or rhetorical emphasis.

          By integrating quantitative distribution with discourse-level interpretation, the study demonstrates that first-person pronoun choice functions as an important rhetorical resource in Isan Creative Speech, enabling speakers to construct social identity, express cultural values, and strengthen audience engagement.