English Language Contact in Thai Translations from Two Different Time Periods: A Case Study of the Thai Translations of the Novel Vendetta! (1886)

Abstract

This article explores English language contact over time in Thai translations by analyzing the borrowing and intensity of loanwords in the form of English transliteration as found in two Thai translated versions of the same work which were completed in different time periods. The data used for this study are taken from the two Thai translated versions of Vendetta! (1886), or Khwamphayabat in Thai. The first version was translated by “Mae Won” in 2445 BE and the other by “V.Vinicchayakul” in 2530 BE. It is seen that the transliterated English loanwords which are found most often in the translations from both eras are in the domain of inedible things. In terms of intensity of contact, the borrowing in Mae Won’s version gets 217 points, while the version of “V.Vinicchayakul” gets 184 points on the borrowing scale. It may be concluded that the English language contact in the translation from the older time shows more intensity than that of the contemporary version. This is understood to be because of the different eras and factors associated with the translators, the target readers, and the social backgrounds.