English Loanwords in Thai and Optimality Theory

Even though Optimality Theory (OT) has come into
prominence since the 1990s and it has been studied with
many languages, surprisingly not much work has been
done in the Thai language. So, exploration of how
well this theory works, and where it fails, can lead
to significant new insights into what happens when
English loanwords are adapted to the Thai
phonological system. This study pays close attention
to the mechanisms required in understanding how
conflict between faithfulness and markedness
constraints is resolved through OT grammars, and in
what ways. Not only is the major focus on the
context-free adaptation of consonants that share
direct correspondents between English and Thai, but
it includes the adaptation that lacks direct
correspondents between the two languages as well.
Selected aspects of English loanwords cover the
phenomena of consonants in different environments,
namely, onset/coda simplification, laryngeal features,
medial consonants, and liquid alternations. Both
students and scholars will draw upon this book as a
substantive new resource in the literature of
loanword phonology and OT.

Autorentext

Rungruang, Apichai Ph.D (Applied Linguistics, Ball State
University, USA). Currently he is an English instructor in the
English Section, Department of
Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Naresuan University,
Phisanulok. THAILAND.

Klappentext

Even though Optimality Theory (OT) has come into
prominence since the 1990s and it has been studied with
many languages, surprisingly not much work has been
done in the Thai language. So, exploration of how
well this theory works, and where it fails, can lead
to significant new insights into what happens when
English loanwords are adapted to the Thai
phonological system. This study pays close attention
to the mechanisms required in understanding how
conflict between faithfulness and markedness
constraints is resolved through OT grammars, and in
what ways. Not only is the major focus on the
context-free adaptation of consonants that share
direct correspondents between English and Thai, but
it includes the adaptation that lacks direct
correspondents between the two languages as well.
Selected aspects of English loanwords cover the
phenomena of consonants in different environments,
namely, onset/coda simplification, laryngeal features,
medial consonants, and liquid alternations. Both
students and scholars will draw upon this book as a
substantive new resource in the literature of
loanword phonology and OT.