A Comparative Study of Thai and Chinese Idioms Containing Plant Terms

Abstract

This research aims to: 1) compare the forms and meanings of Thai and Chinese idioms containing plant-related terms, and 2) examine the reflections conveyed through Thai and Chinese idioms containing plant-related terms. The data were collected from books and dictionaries of Thai and Chinese idioms using purposive sampling. The research sources consisted of 4 books and dictionaries of Thai idioms and 4 dictionaries of Chinese idioms. The theoretical frameworks employed in this study included the Semantic Field Theory proposed by Adrianne Lehrer (1992) and the concept of lexical meaning proposed by Nawawan Phanthumetha (2025).

              The findings revealed that Thai idioms contained 57 plant-related terms, whereas Chinese idioms contained 45 plant-related terms. The forms of plant-related terms found in both Thai and Chinese idioms included idioms containing one plant-related term and idioms containing more than one plant-related term. The plant-related terms could be categorized into 3 types: 1) general plant terms, 2) terms referring to parts of plants, and 3) terms referring to types of plants. Regarding meanings, both Thai and Chinese idioms containing plant-related terms demonstrated idioms with identical meanings, similar meanings, and different meanings. In terms of plant-related vocabulary appearing in Thai and Chinese idioms with identical or similar meanings, the study found the use of identical plant-related terms, similar plant-related terms, and different plant-related terms. The reflections conveyed through Thai and Chinese idioms included geographical reflections, reflections of human relationships with nature, socio-cultural reflections, religious belief reflections, and reflections of symbolic communication.