Abstract
This study challenges the widespread belief that Thai lacks word stress, demonstrating its pivotal role in morphophonology. Through a Maximum Entropy analysis, we investigated how specific segmental properties statistically influence speakers’ choices of word order in coordinate compounds. Results indicate a significant effect of phonological weight on the ordering patterns. Specifically, the dispreference for stop codas in final positions and the preference for long or low vowels word-finally converge to differentially distribute phonological weight, ensuring that final syllables are heavier in accordance with the Stress-to-Weight Principle. Additionally, a marginal affinity is observed between the final syllable and the (historical) high-register tone, aligning with the well-documented tone-stress interaction where high tones gravitate towards stressed syllables. These findings provide compelling evidence for the existence of word stress in Thai: compound stress necessarily coincides with word stress, as dictated by the Continuous Column Constraint. Thus, this work suggests that relying solely on phonetic cues is insufficient for identifying stress; instead, a comprehensive analysis incorporating “phonological exponents” is essential to capture the greater phonological contrasts licensed in stressed syllables. This study also contributes to a deeper understanding of metrical and prosodic prominence, revealing that word stress can sometimes be masked by higher-level prominence.
References
Abramson, Arthur S. 2001. The stability of distinctive vowel length in Thai. In M.R. Kalaya Tingsabadh & Arthur S. Abramson (eds.), Essays in Tai linguistics, 3–26. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Beckman, Mary E. & Janet B. Pierrehumbert. 1986. Intonational structure in Japanese and English. Phonology Yearbook 3. 255–309. https://doi.org/10.1017/s095267570000066x.Search in Google Scholar
Bradley, Cornelius B. 1911. Graphic analysis of the tone-accents in the Siamese language. Journal of the American Oriental Society 31(3). 282–289. https://doi.org/10.2307/3087645.Search in Google Scholar
Breiss, Canaan & Bruce Hayes. 2020. Phonological markedness effects in sentence formation. Language 96(2). 338–370. https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2020.0023.Search in Google Scholar
Cartwright, Basil Osborn. 1907. A Siamese-English Dictionary. Bangkok: The American Presby-terian Mission Press.Search in Google Scholar
Chertchinnapa, Pornthip & Amnat Paksasuk. 2016. English words in the formation of Thai synonymous compounds and reduplicated words. VANNAVIDAS 16(1). 192–205.Search in Google Scholar
Cooper, William E. & John R. Ross. 1975. World order. In Robin E. Grossman, L. James San & Timothy J. Vance (eds.), Papers from the parasession on functionalism, 63–111. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.Search in Google Scholar
Dhanvarjor, Ratree. 1991. A study of lexical reduplication in Thai. Bangkok: Chulongkorn University dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Diller, Anthony V. N. 2008. Resources for Thai language research. In Anthony V. N. Diller, Jerold A. Edmondson & Yongxian Luo (eds.), Tai-Kadai languages, 31–82. New York: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar
Duanmu, San. 2022. Chapter 17: Evidence for stress and metrical structure in Chinese. In Chu-Ren Huang, Yen-Hwei Lin, I-Hsuan Chen & Yu-Yin Hsu (eds.), The Cambridge handbook of Chinese linguistics, 361–382. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108329019.020Search in Google Scholar
Dupoux, Emmanuel, Christophe Pallier, Nuria Sabastian & Jaques Mehler. 1997. A distressing “deafness” in French. Journal of Memory and Language 36. 406–421. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1996.2500.Search in Google Scholar
Flemming, Edward. 2021. Comparing MaxEnt and noisy harmonic grammar. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics 6(1). 141. https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.5775.Search in Google Scholar
Gandour, Jack, Siripong Potisuk & Mary P. Harper. 1996. Effects of stress on vowel length in Thai. Paper presented at The Fourth International Symposium on Language and Linguistics, Thailand. Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development, Mahidol University, 8–10 January.Search in Google Scholar
Goldwater, Sharon & Mark Johnson. 2003. Learning OT constraint rankings using a maximum entropy model. In Jennifer Spenader, Anders Eriksson & Östen Dahl (eds.), Proceedings of the Stockholm Workshop on Variation within Optimality Theory, 111–120. Stockholm: Stockholm University, Department of Linguistics.Search in Google Scholar
Gussenhoven, Carlos. 1983. Focus, mode and the nucleus. Journal of Linguistics 19(2). 377–417. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022226700007799.Search in Google Scholar
Haas, Mary R. 1964. Thai-English student’s dictionary. Stanford: Stanford University Press.10.1515/9781503622708Search in Google Scholar
Hayes, Bruce. 1995. Metrical stress theory: Principles and case studies. Chicago: The Chicago University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Hayes, Bruce. 2022. Deriving the Wug-shaped curve: A criterion for assessing formal theories of linguistic variation. Annual Review of Linguistics 8(1). 473–494. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-031220-013128.Search in Google Scholar
Hayes, Bruce & Colin Wilson. 2008. A maximum entropy model of phonotactics and phonotactic learning. Linguistic Inquiry 39(3). 379–440. https://doi.org/10.1162/ling.2008.39.3.379.Search in Google Scholar
Hayes, Bruce, Colin Wilson & Anne Shisko. 2012. Maxent grammars for the metrics of Shakespeare and Milton. Language 88(4). 691–731. https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2012.0089.Search in Google Scholar
Henderson, Eugenie. J. A. 1970 [1949]. Prosodies in Siamese. Asia Major (New Series) 1(2). 189–215. Reprinted in F. R. Palmer (ed.), Prosodic Analysis, 27–53. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Hiranburana, Samang. 1971. The role of accent in Thai grammar. London: University of London dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Hsieh, Feng-fan. 2005. Tonal chain-shifts as anti-neutralization-induced tone sandhi. In Sufha Arunachalam, Tatjana Scheffler, Sandhya Sundaresan & Joshua Tauberer (eds.), Proceedings of the 28th Penn Linguistics Colloquium, Penn Working Papers in Lingusitics, vol. 11.1, 99–112. Philadelphia: Department of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania.Search in Google Scholar
Hsieh, Feng-fan. 2021. Lùn Hànyǔ yǒu Cízhòngyīn [On the existence of word stress in Mandarin Chinese]. Studies in Prosodic Grammar 7(1). 27–58.Search in Google Scholar
van der Hulst, Harry. 2014. The study of word accent and stress: Past, present, and future. In Harry van der Hulst (ed.), Word stress: Theoretical and typological issues, 3–55. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139600408.003Search in Google Scholar
Hyman, Larry. 2014. Do all languages have word accent? In Harry van der Hulst (ed.), Word stress: Theoretical and typological issues, 56–82. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139600408.004Search in Google Scholar
Injan, Alisa. 2014. Coordinate compounds in Thai. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University MA thesis.Search in Google Scholar
Jenny, Mathias. 2019. Thai. In Alice Vittrant & Justin Watkins (eds.), The mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area, 559–608. Boston and Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.10.1515/9783110401981-013Search in Google Scholar
Jones, Daniel. 1918. The tones of Siamese with a note on the distribution of tones in Chinese. Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, 1(4), 53–58.Search in Google Scholar
Jurafsky, Daneil & James Martin. 2019. Speech and language processing, 3rd edn. Available at: https://web.stanford.edu/∼jurafsky/slp3/.Search in Google Scholar
de Lacy, Paul. 2002. The interaction of tone and stress in Optimality Theory. Phonology 19(1). 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0952675702004220.Search in Google Scholar
Laksanasiri, Churairat. 1987. Formation of Thai words in the Sukhothai period. Bangkok: Silpakorn University MA thesis.Search in Google Scholar
Luangthongkum, Theeraphan. 1978. Rhythm in Thai. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Luksaneeyanawin, Sudaporn. 1983. Intonation in Thai. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Morén, Bruce & Elizabeth C. Zsiga. 2006. The lexical and post-lexical phonology of Thai tones. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 24(1). 113–178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-004-5454-y.Search in Google Scholar
Naksakul, Kanchana. 1998. Rabop siang phaasaa Thai [The Thai Sound System]. Bangkok, Thailand: Chulalongkorn University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Nespor, Marina & Irene Vogel. 1986. Prosodic phonology. Dordrecht: Foris.Search in Google Scholar
Noss, Richard B. 1964. Thai reference grammar. Washington, D.C.: Foreign Service Institute.Search in Google Scholar
Peyasantiwong, Patcharin. 1986. Stress in Thai. In Robert J. Bickner, Thomas J. Hudak & Patcharin Peyasantiwong (eds.), A Conference on Thai Studies in Honor of William J. Gedney, 211–230. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.Search in Google Scholar
Phaholphinyo, Sitthaa, Kanyanut Kriengket & Krit Kosawat. 2012. Observations on word re-ordering in two-syllable synonymous compounds. Naresuan University Journal 20(2). 62–66.Search in Google Scholar
Pittayaporn, Pittayawat. 2018. Chapter 17. Quantitative and qualitative restrictions on the distribution of lexical tones in Thai: A diachronic study. In Kunio Nishiyama, Hideki Kishimoto & Edith Aldridge (eds.), Topics in theoretical Asian linguistics: Studies in honor of John B. Whitman, 371–386. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/la.250.18pitSearch in Google Scholar
Pongpaiboon, Naowarat. 1988. Varee-duriyang [Water Music]. Bangkok: Bhannakij.Search in Google Scholar
Pothipath, Vipas. 2012. Khamkao-Khamthin naj Khamson [Old words and dialect words in synonymous compounds]. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University. Available at: http://cuir.car.chula.ac.th/bitstream/123456789/63871/1/Vipas%20P_Res_2555.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3_2G2fzzGv_jk_MCcWFVHO_EYVSd2Kv4gjDMjKpi1F0jIuHrV575o665.Search in Google Scholar
Potisuk, Siripong, Jack Gandour & Mary P. Harper. 1994. F0 correlates of stress in Thai. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 17(2). 1–27.10.32655/LTBA.17.2.01Search in Google Scholar
Potisuk, Siripong, Jack Gandour & Mary P. Harper. 1996. Acoustic correlates of stress in Thai. Phonetica 53. 200–220. https://doi.org/10.1159/000262201.Search in Google Scholar
Prince, Alan. 1990. Quantitative consequences of rhythmic organization. Chicago Linguistic Society 26(2) (Papers from the 26th Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society Volume 2: The Parasession on the Syllable in Phonetics and Phonology). 355–398.Search in Google Scholar
Prince, Alan & Paul Smolensky. 2004 [1993]. Optimality theory: Constraint interaction in generative grammar. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.10.1002/9780470759400Search in Google Scholar
Royal Institute. 2007. The Royal Institute Dictionary of new words volume I, 2nd edn. Bangkok: Thana Press. Available at: http://www.royin.go.th/upload/246/FileUpload/2097_5163.pdf.Search in Google Scholar
Royal Institute. 2009. The Royal Institute Dictionary of new words volume II. Bangkok: Union Ultra Violet. Available at: http://www.royin.go.th/upload/246/FileUpload/1823_9431.pdf.Search in Google Scholar
Royal Institute. 2011a. The Royal Institute Dictionary of new words volume III. Bangkok: Union Ultra Violet. Available at: http://www.royin.go.th/upload/246/FileUpload/2099_8105.pdf.Search in Google Scholar
Royal Institute. 2011b. The Royal Institute Dictionary of Standard Thai 2011. Available at: http://dictionary.orst.go.th.Search in Google Scholar
Ryan, Kevin. 2019. Prosodic weight: Categories and continua. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780198817949.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Suntadarat, Suntana Gungsadan. 1978. A Phonological Description of Standard Thai. Madison: University of Wisconsin - Madison dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Taylor, Lawrence Fryer. 1920. On the tones of certain languages of Burma. Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London 1(4). 91–106.10.1017/S0041977X00101685Search in Google Scholar
Tumtavitikul, Apiluck. 1998. The metrical structure of Thai in a non-linear perspective. In Arthur S. Abramson (ed.), Southeast Asian linguistics studies in honor of Vichin Panupong, 309–324. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Ulfsbjorninn, Shanti. 2022. An argument for phonological stress in French: The syntagm over contrast. Journal of French Language Studies 32. e1. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959269521000168.Search in Google Scholar
Vogel, Irene. 2009. The status of the clitic group. In Janet Grijzenhout & Baris Kabak (eds.), Phonological domains: Universals and deviations, 15–46. Berlin and New York: De Gruyter Mouton.10.1515/9783110219234.1.15Search in Google Scholar
Vongvipanond, Peansiri E. 1985. Lexicological significance of semantic doublets in Thai. Paper presented at the 18th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, August 27–29, 1985, Bangkok, Thailand.Search in Google Scholar
Warotamasikkhadit, Udom. 1967. Some phonological rules in Thai. Journal of the American Oriental Society 87(4). 541–547. https://doi.org/10.2307/597595.Search in Google Scholar
Wightman, Colin W., Stephanie Shattuck-Hufnagel, Mari Ostendorf & Patti J. Price. 1992. Segmental durations in the vicinity of prosodic phrase boundaries. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 91(3). 1707–1717. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.402450.Search in Google Scholar
Yip, Moira. 2012. Tone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Zhang, Niina. 2007. Root merger in Chinese compounds. Studia Linguistica 61(2). 170–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9582.2007.00131.x.Search in Google Scholar
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- How word stress is realized in Thai: evidence from the ordering of coordinate compounds
- Only states can be gradable
- A syntactic analysis of <no + event deverbal nominalization> in Spanish
- Glottal stop insertion and production planning domains in French
- Chinese topic constructions are derived by movement: evidence from acceptability judgment experiments
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- How word stress is realized in Thai: evidence from the ordering of coordinate compounds
- Only states can be gradable
- A syntactic analysis of <no + event deverbal nominalization> in Spanish
- Glottal stop insertion and production planning domains in French
- Chinese topic constructions are derived by movement: evidence from acceptability judgment experiments