Abstract
The article illustrates morphosyntactic characteristics of Thai, an isolating language, in contrast to the modern European languages. Thai is characterized as a topic-prominent language, where the voluntary–spontaneous contrast rather than transitive–intransitive one plays significant roles in forming basic sentence constructions. By assuming non-hierarchical serial verb constructions as its basic sentence structures, the author claims that the modern hierarchical view of language structure is not appropriate for Thai. In Thai, verbs are serialized to denote not only successive actions or an action and its objective, but also a cause and its result, an action and its evaluation. Furthermore, causative and passive constructions are analyzed as part of verb serializations which are structurally identical, but antiparallel to each other in the direction of affectedness.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
