NORTHERN THAI DIALECT WORDS IN THE 2024 S.E.A. WRITE AWARD-WINNING LITERARY WORK KI BAD BY PRASERTSAK PADMARIT

Abstract

This article aimed to study, compile, categorize, and translate Northern Thai dialect vocabulary found in the 2024 S.E.A. Write Award-winning literary work Ki Bad by Prasertsak Padmarit into Standard Thai. The classification followed the framework proposed by Nawaphan Phanthumetha et al. (1997). A total of 99 dialectal words were identified and grouped into 13 semantic categories. The most frequent category was “actions and behaviors” (22 words), followed by “plants” (12 words), “speech” (11 words), “tools and utensils” and “people” (9 words each), “time” (8 words), “clothing,” “environment and dwellings,” and “others” (6 words each), “values, traditions, and entertainment” (4 words), and finally “body parts,” “beliefs and sacred entities,” and “animals” (2 words each). The study of Northern Thai vocabulary facilitated readers’ ability to decode the meanings embedded in the regional language used in the narrative, thereby enhancing comprehension of the literary work.