The Conceptual Meaning of the Word [ko:ŋ] ‘to cheat’ in Thai: A Cognitive Semantic Analysis

Abstract

           This research aimed to categorize the related expressions associated with [ko:ŋ] ‘to cheat’ in Thai. Data were collected from The Royal Institute Dictionary, newspapers, and the          Thai National Corpus. On the basis of family resemblance and the prototypical semantic attributes of the word [ko:ŋ] were primarily analyzed. On this point, the research presents a new perspective of its conceptual meaning and semantic boundaries, and reflects the cheating behaviors in Thai society through these categories. The result of the research showed there were 522 expressions, conceptually related to the word [ko:ŋ]. Each would have 6 attributes: [on purpose], [bad], [not straight], [deal], [benefit], and [trick], they were categorized into 36 categories such as >  to corrupt<, >to cheat<, >to deceive<, >to imitate<,  >to take advantage< etc.