CHANGES OF WORD FORM WRITTEN ACCORDING TO SPOKEN SOUNDS ON THAI LINE STICKERS IN THE CATEGORIES OF DOG AND CAT CHARACTERS

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze changes of words form that are written according to spoken sounds on Thai LINE stickers in the categories of dog and cat characters. Data were retrospectively collected from December 2, 2022, from 20 sets of Thai LINE stickers in the Creator’s stickers of LINE Store. A total of 792 stickers were collected and 107 stickers with words written according to spoken sounds were selected for analysis based on the concepts of changes in current Thai usage and changes in the sound of word units. The study found 1) changes in word form written according to the sounds of the current spoken Thai on 97 stickers (90.65 percent). The changes could be classified into 6 types: the changes of the initial consonants, ending consonants, vowels, forms of consonants and vowels, forms of tones, and the forms of consonants, vowels, and tones. The most frequently found type was the change from short to long vowels on 11 stickers (35.48 percent), and the least frequently found was the change to approximant final consonant on 1 sticker (25.00 percent), and 2) changes of sounds in word units which were found on 10 stickers (9.35 percent) and could be classified into 3 types: assimilation, sound loss, and consonant addition. Because LINE is used for informal communication, changes in sounds on the Thai stickers reflect that language is always changing.