A comparative Study of phonology and lexical words of Phuan in Nong Khai and Udon Thani, Thailand

Abstract

Abstract

This article aimed to compare phonology and lexical words of Phuan living in Nong Khai and Udon Thani Province. The data were collected from informants through standard wordlists. Thus, analyzed the data to find consonant and vowel phonemes by finding minimal pairs using William J. Gedney’s determining Tone box. Both consonant phonemes and syllable’s structures were analyzed. As to lexical items analysis, it was classified into identical words and non-identical words considered through Linguistics’ variable rules. The study showed that Phuan in Nong Khai Province and Udon Thani Province has 20 initial consonants, 9 final consonants, 18 single vowels, 3 diphthong vowels, 6 tonal phonemes, and has three-way splitting of vowel tones. There are slight differences in phonetic tones, whereas there are 5 different syllable
structures. A comparative study of lexical words of Phuan language in Nong Khai and Udon Thani found that both identical and non-identical words are used. Keywords: phonology, lexical words, Phuan Language