Overview of Southern Thai Dialect Study

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to collect and synthesize the studying of southern Thai dialects for representing the current status, including proposing the directions which can occur in the future. The findings from 133 pieces show the covering all 14 provinces of southern Thai dialect works; Krabi, Chumphon, Trang, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Narathiwat, Pattani, Phangnga, Phuket, Yala, Ranong, Songkhla, Satun and Suratthani, and some places next to the southern Thai area, such as central Thai and upper part of Malaysia. The researcher found a lot of studies on some southern Thai dialects (Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla and Suratthani) but only a few studies on the rest of southern Thai dialects. The findings show that
consonant and vowel systems in each southern Thai dialect have similar characteristics, but tonal systems are divided into 3 groups. The vocabulary/ grammatical/ meaning have already been studied on many issues. Meanwhile the study on linguistic borderlines and transition areas are
located on contiguous provinces between central and southern Thai. (Pracuapkirikhan, Chumphon and Ranong). The potential future research directions are the characteristics of some southern Thai dialects which have been studied by a small number of studies or the modification of the methodology to be suitable for current trends so that the findings will be not only up to date but also more reliable.