A Systemic Functional Interpretation of Thai Grammar: An Exploration of Thai Narrative Discourse

This research is a text-based study of the grammar of standard Thai, based on systemic functional linguistics. It is the first attempt to explore Thai in systemic functional terms, that is with the account of the grammar of Thai being interpreted as resource for making meaning that is part of language as a higher-order semiotic system. This account utilizes a corpus-based methodology and explores extensive evidence from natural narrative texts, specifically fourteen Thai folk tales. This systemic functional interpretation of Thai is also supported by an investigation of other text types (See Chapter 2). The research has both intermediate and long term implications. The description itself will be a resource for the Thai community and it will also contribute to the growing area of linguistic typology based on systemic descriptions. The long term implication of the research is that the description will be used as a model for text-based research into minority languages in Thailand. There are two introductory chapters to the study. The first chapter discusses some general issues concerned with systemic functional theory and data used in the development of the description of the grammar of Thai. The second chapter is a preview chapter which provides an overview of the grammar of Thai in terms of three strands of meaning: textual, interpersonal, and the experiential mode of ideational meanings. The systemic functional interpretation is based on an exploration of a number of texts with a wide generic spread (e.g. news reports, topographic texts, encyclopedia, and television interview). Chapter 3 to Chapter 7 constitute the main body of the thesis. Chapter 3 deals with the textual metafunction: it explores the THEME system as the enabling resource for the clause grammar for presenting interpersonal and experiential meanings as a flow of information in context. Chapter 4 is concerned with the interpersonal metafunction. It is focused on exploring the MOOD system, that is, the resource of clause grammar for enacting social roles and relationships in an exchange. Chapter 5 is concerned with the experiential mode of the ideational metafunction: it investigates the TRANSITIVITY system, which is the resource of the clause grammar for construing our experience of the world around and inside us. As this thesis is based mainly on narrative discourse, Chapter 6 profiles Thai narratives in terms of context, semantics, and lexicogrammar. Firstly, at the context stratum, the chapter describes the generic structure potential of Thai folk tales. Secondly, the chapter describes the realization of this generic structure by semantic properties. Finally, the chapter is concerned with quantitatively exploring the narratives on 11 the basis of clause-rank systems, at the stratum of lexicogrammar, across the metafunctional spectrum midway up the cline of instantiation. In the final chapter, the study concludes by summarizing the preceding chapters, pointing out research implications and limitations, and suggesting some areas for further studies. Ill Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Professor Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen, my thesis advisor, who generously gave me invaluable support and encouragement throughout my PhD candidature, which made my research a very positive and rewarding experience. His guidance all through the thesis is greatly appreciated. Without his thoughts and kindness given to me, the thesis would not have been possible. He has always been a source of enlightenment and inspiration. It was Christian who first introduced me to systemic functional linguistics, and continuously helped extend my thinking about language typology, but I would also like to acknowledge the great influence of Michael A. K. Halliday, without whom this grammar of Thai could not have been contemplated. I would like to thank Dr Canzhong Wu, my associate advisor, for his comments on systemic language typology and his computational tool support. His computational expertise has made a great contribution to my research. In this research, 'SysAm' made it possible to study the Thai grammar in qualitative terms. I also wish to thank Dr Kazuhiro Teruya for the detailed discussions we had. Having discussions of MOOD systems in Japanese enlightened my thinking about Thai MOOD systems. I would like to thank him for his support and encouragement. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my sister, Kate Hughes for her endless support. Her encouragement and managing techniques have always been appreciated. I wish to express my deepest appreciation and thanks to Bradley Smith for his time and dedication in editing the final draft of my thesis. He also gave me many writing thoughts and consistent discussions related to my thesis. His friendship has always been a great support. I am truly grateful to Dr Virginia Stuart-Smith for her kind assistance and support. Her final editing touches make this thesis refined and her contribution deserves a special acknowledgement. IV I would like to express my gratitude to Mahidol University, especially to Professor Dr Khunying Suriya Ratanakul, the former director of the Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development (ILCRD), for her invaluable support, and to Professor Suwilai Premsrirat, the director of ILCRD, for granting me academic leave. I sincerely wish to acknowledge my beloved teacher, Professor Somsonge Burusphat, for her kind consideration and continuous encouragement. Her works on the structure of Thai narrative has inspired my interest in,doing discourse analysis. I wish also to express my great appreciation to all my teachers and my colleagues at ILCRD for being supportive. I am grateful to the Australian Agency for International Development (AusADD) for granting me a scholarship throughout the years of my postgraduate study at Macquarie University. Financial support from a Macquarie University Postgraduate Research Grant was appreciated for supporting the presentation of papers at two international systemic functional conferences in the United Kingdom and Portugal in 2002. I am indebted to Rosemary Costley, Anna Phillips, and Catherine Charlton for editing my papers. I also appreciate the support and facilities provided by the Linguistics Department and the National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, and, particularly appreciate the help given by the Document Supply Unit at Macquarie University in supplying the literature needs for this research. I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my family, especially my parents, and my sisters for their love, care, and ultimate encouragement. My special thanks go to my boyfriend, Pongpat Phetrungrueng, who strongly supported and encouraged me throughout the period of my study. Last, I wish to pay tribute to my late grandparents, who continue to be a great resource of inspiration. Last but not least this research is influenced by the works of Professor M.A.K. Halliday and Professor Christian Matthiessen, with contributions from many other systemic-functional linguists, including Professor Ruqaiya Hasan and Professor J.R. Martin. I am, however, alone responsible for any errors or misunderstandings in its conception.