THE PATTERNS OF USING PAIL AND SANSKRIT LOANWORDS IN
I-SAAN LAM LONG FOLK MUSIC

Itsarate Dolphen
Dr., Khon Kaen University, Thai Language Department, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, THAILAND, itsdol@kku.ac.th

Abstract

Pali and Sanskrit loanwords have been used in Thai language long time ago since the Sukhothai period. It has been found that Pali and Sanskrit words have been used at the first time appearing on the first stone inscription and many others in the later period of Thai dynasty. At the present time, they are widely used in standard Thai as well as in regional languages of Thailand.

In the old days, Pali and Sanskrit language were used commonly by Buddhist monks. The persons can compose I-Saan Lam Long folk music are those who used to study in  temple or used to be the monk. These educated people obviously know Pali and Sanskrit language as well as all kinds of secular and religious knowledge. Because of these conditions, it is common to find many Pali and Sanskrit words used in I-Saan Lam Long folk music.

This paper aims to explore the patterns of using Pali and Sanskrit loanwords in composing I-Saan Lam Long folk music. The data used in this paper were collected from 10 Lam Longs folk music. They were selected from different composers and different I-Saan folk singers. The data analyzed in this paper were retrieved from the website, http://youtube.com and then transcribed into Thai alphabet. This paper is considered as a qualitative study. The findings reveal that there are two main patterns of using Pali and Sanskrit loanwords in I-Saan Lam Long folk music. The first pattern is that of using Pali and Sanskrit language as a single word and the second one is that of using Pali and Sanskrit language as a compound word. For the first pattern, the Pali and Sanskrit loanwords can be used individually in composing I-Saan Lam Long folk music. There is no word formation in this particular pattern. As for the second pattern, the Pali and Sanskrit loanwords are used as a compound word. Words are formed to create new meanings to attract listeners. The compound words in this sense are either from Pali and Sanskrit words combined together to form a new word or from Pali or Sanskrit words combined with other languages such as central Thai language, I-Saan dialect, or even the Khmer language. In terms of meaning, some compound words are created  to form new meaning but some are coined just to reduplicate the meaning of the Pali or Sanskrit word. This paper is applicable for those who would like to study how Pali and Sanskrit words are used in dialect languages of Thailand in the aspect of word formation. It helps to illuminate that not only the standard Thai language are used with Pali and Sanskrit to coin new words but the I-Saan dialect also used to form new words especially in I-Saan Lam Long folk music.

Keywords: Pali and Sanskrit loanwords, word formation, I-Saan Lam Long folk music, I-Saan dialect.