Gabriella Lengacher
About Me!
Hi everyone, my name is Gabriella and I'm 19 years old. I come from Sutton, if that doesn't ring a bell, I usually just tell people I'm from that one ski town near the border. I have been studying languages on my own for quite a few years and joined the languages program to further my knowledge. I love to play music in my free time and to travel to new places. After graduation, I am aiming towards studying linguistics in university, following my gap year. I am looking forward to working on this project and seeing all of the great ideas everyone has to share!
Presentation Video
Topic Ideas
Topic 1
For my first topic choice, i would like to look into the development of script throughout the world, its differences and the use of it to match with its spoken language.
More specifically with this topic, I would like to research how script reflects culture. For example, using an alphabetical system or characters in writing. I would also like to relate historical topics such as the Korean writing system (한글) and its creation. In addition, a main point I would like to address would be the use of accents and tonal marks in script and its importance. I have gained some of this knowledge through the years that i have been interested by different languages and I am excited to gain a deeper understanding.
Topic 2
As for my second topic choice, I would like to develop on the idea of Language and its relationship with the evolution of names.
Specifically, the different meanings that can be associated with first and last names, the cultural impact on the number of syllables in one's name and the development of nicknames.
Preliminary Research on Final Topic:
For my final topic, I have chosen to write about my first choice, that of the evolution of script throughout the world. More specifically I have decided to focus on the Thai script in comparison to the English language. In general, I will be talking about the alphabet system, phrase structure, tonal marks/ accents and word spacing. Below I have posted a video about the Thai alphabet, as well as a few other videos about different languages that I found interesting.
This is an alphabet song for made to help children learn the Thai script. This language's writing system contains 44 consonants and 16 vowels. The video uses pictures and references to aid in the memorization of the letters and their sounds.
"เพลง ก เอ๋ย ก ไก่ แบบดั้งเดิม | พยัญชนะไทย | ท่อง ก ไก่ | Thai Alphabet Song." YouTube, uploaded by HappyJoe, 18 February 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tk-x5KHJFI
Here is a short video on the evolution of french and why it sounds so different from other Romance languages.
"Why French sounds so unlike other Romance languages." YouTube, uploaded by NativLang, 23 July 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2TWBBxwhbU
Here you can see a short video explaining the stroke order for Chinese characters. The narrator demonstrates this with 6 different characters.
"Chinese Stroke Order Rules." Youtube, uploaded by Understanding Chinese Characters, 20 November 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MCnjfws0XQ
Thailand!
As I have previously mentioned, I will be writing about the Thai language as it compares to English. Since we know quite a bit of history about the English language, I thought it would be interesting to write a little about Thailand before jumping into the language. Thailand is a country in the southeastern part of Asia next to Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Malaysia. Known for its beautiful beaches, temples, street food, and much more, it welcomes 35 million travellers each year.
In Thai, the country's name is ประเทศไทย (Pratheṣ̄thịy).
Works Cited
"Thailand." Britannica, 27 February 2022, www.britannica.com/place/Thailand/Tai
"What Is Thailand Famous For?" TravelDrafts, www.traveldrafts.com/what-is-thailand-famous-for/
Topic Sources:
First Source:
My First source is a book by Udom Warotamasikkhadit titled "Thai Syntaxe: An Outline". It was published in Berlin in 2017 by the company De-Gryuter Mouton. In the preface of the book, the author explains the book was first composed as a dissertation. It has been revised and many versions have been published since it was originally written in 1968. Warotamasikkhadit wrote this book to educate readers on the Thai Script. His main ideas consist of the phrase structure, generalized grammatical transformations, optional grammatical transformations and obligatory grammatical transformations.
This source contains a great amount of syntactical rules of the Thai language, so in the case of this book, most of the information was new to me. Though I did have some knowledge about some basic rules. To continue, this source broadened my understanding of Thai syntax. It also allowed me to make some comparisons with the english language, something I thought would be interesting to develop on in the composition of my final project. Finally, this source was somewhat difficult to dissect however, the information that I have read a few times over became increasingly easier to understand. In general, I do not have a wide range of knowledge about syntax so I do need to search some words up to be able to understand the source as best as I can.
Works Cited
Udom Warotamasikkhadit. Thai Syntax : An Outline. De Gruyter Mouton, 2017. EBSCOhost, dc153.dawsoncollege.qc.ca:2070/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,uid&db=e000xna&AN=1883061&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Second Source:
This source, written by Dr. Heather Winskel, is titled "Reading and Writing in Southeast Asian Languages". It was published in Australia in 2013. This article was written in the purpose of providing a deeper insight on eastern languages as most of it has mainly been done on their western counterparts. The author explains, through this article, the different aspects of Thai and Malay/Indonesian script. Dr. Winskel. My main focus in this article would be the pages dissecting the different characteristics of Thai script as it is an interesting form of writing to me, and I believe it will compliment my research, To continue, the author explains, on pages 438 and 439, the process of misaligned vowel words and how it works in relation to English. She also writes about the lack of interword spacing, a very uncommon process in Thai. I believe this article would be a great addition to help demonstrate the distinct differences between different writing systems.
Furthermore, I learned some new information on the Thai script. Although I knew about the lack of interword spacing within Thai's written language, I did not know much about the reasoning behind it being to aid in "lexical access" (Winskel, 439). To add, this information broadens my understanding of the Thai script as a whole, as interword spacing is such a large part of many languages, it is fascinating to understand the reasoning behind it in this case. On the other hand, this source was difficult to understand at certain points as the author uses many linguistic terms I was not familiar with. However, it only took a few google searches to find the definition of those terms, in turns facilitating my understanding of the article.
Works Cited:
"Heather Winskel". Research Gate, www.researchgate.net/profile/Heather-Winskel
Winskel, Heather. “Reading and Writing in Southeast Asian Languages.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 97, Nov. 2013, pp. 437–42. Science Direct, dc153.dawsoncollege.qc.ca:2325/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.10.256.
Third Source
My third source is also by Heather Winskel, along with Randall Nicole who holds a Masters of Organisational Psychology (Researchgate). The article, "Mirror invariance – A comparison between Thai and Roman script readers", was published online "Frontiers in Psychology" in 2015. The authors conducted the study in the article to compare the those who's mother tongue contains mirror letters such as "b" and "d" (Winskel, 2). The main idea of the study that was conducted was that Thai speakers, the script that does not contain mirror letters, would be able to recognize any same object without any influence from its left or right orientation. Finally, their conclusion drew the same idea as their hypothesis, where thai script readers dealt with mirror invariances with more ease that roman script readers.
This article was quite an interesting approach to the study of script that I have never seen before. Moreover, I learned that the writing system that is used along side the language one speaks influences their capacity to distinguish a picture depending on its position. To add, this study allowed me to discover a new side to linguistics, subsequently broadening my understanding of the Thai script as it relates to roman scripts such as english. It showed more great differences between the two languages my research will be based on. This source was the most understandable from what I have read thus far and grabbed my attention as it was interesting to follow the development of this study.
Works Cited
"Randall Nicole." Research Gate, www.researchgate.net/profile/Randall-Nicole
Winskel, Heather. Nicole, Randall. “Mirror Invariance – A Comparison between Thai and Roman Script Readers.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 6, Sept. 2015. Research Gate, DOI:10.3389/conf.fpsyg.2015.66.00028.
Fourth Source:
My fourth source is a blog post I found on the history of Thai written language, that was posted in 2017. This post, by East Asian Blog Spot is titled "Origin of Thai Language". In this post, the website explains development of this language, beginning with a chart. They bring the reader through the ancestors of Standard Thai showcasing the different writing systems as well as going through the history of Thailand leading up to the development of the writing we know.
Reading this source allowed me to learn about the history of the Thai language and all of its origins. Also, I learned about the other languages that had some influence on the development of Standard Thai. This source is going to prove useful in writing my work as it gives me insight on the the history of the language and why it its writing system was developed in such a way. To add, comparing this to my other sources, it is the source with the largest historical component. It goes more in depth in to the origins of the language itself rather than studies being conducted in recent years. In relation to this, this blog post was a simple read. It clearly explained multiple topics without becoming confusing.
Works Cited
"Origin of Thai Language." East Asian Origin, 2 August 2017, eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2017/08/origin-of-thai-language.html
Some Thai Music You Should Check Out!
Here is a beautiful Thai song that I absolutely adore! It is called ไม่นานก็ชิน (Mị̀ nān k̆ chin), which translates to "you'll get used to it soon". The artist sings about losing love and the pain that follows. They need to overcome it and move on, singing:
แม้ว่าความเจ็บช้ำ จะกัดกินฉัน
maeo khwam chep cham cha kat kin chan
"Even if the pain devours me
ความเจ็บเหล่านั้น ไม่เคยจาง
khwam chep lao nan mai khoei chang
those pains never fade,
ฉันต้องอยู่ให้ไหว ต้องเดินต่อไป
chan e mai nai chai ph mai e nai cha e mai tai e chai tong
I must survive. I have to keep walking,
แม้ไม่มีเธอ
tho e nai tong tho
even without you , no".
Works Cited
Fin. "ไม่นานก็ชิน". YouTube, uploaded by FIN Official, 31 march 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX0GuxhDBVA
"เนื้อเพลง ไม่นานก็ชิน - ฟิน". SiamZone, www.siamzone.com/music/thailyric/20704
Preliminary Thesis Statement and Topic Sentences:
Thai and English both descend from their different ancestors making the variations between their scripts visible on the surface level when it is first observed. When looking deeper in to each language, Thai and English showcase dissimilarities from their alphabet, to their word structures, and their accentuated sounds.
I have decided that the best option would be an explicative essay describing the differences between the Thai and English scripts. In general, from the information I have found thus far, I want to focus on these topics:
1) The first difference one notices between different languages is the alphabet.
2) Thai functions without the use of inter-word spacing and misaligned vowels a contrast from the word structure of English words.
3) The translation of tonal marks in Thai is distinct from the lack of accent marks in English words.
Thailand through artwork and pictures.
daringthai.com/5-ways-to-visit-thailand-on-visit/
www.reddit.com/r/MostBeautiful/comments/8a7nbh/thai_temple/
Artwichai, Chaichan. "Eddie of the realms eternal (elf village)." ArtStation, 2017,
Sources Cont'd:
Fifth Source
My next source is a book by Vivian J Cook was a professor of linguistics from the United Kingdom. He has written many books on the topic such as my source "The English Writing System". This source develops multiple different topics from spelling to the history of English. The main idea of the book is to educate the reader on the English language, coming from the author teaching university level courses on this topic.
While I reviewed the source, I learned a few new things about the English language. Mostly, the historical portion was new to me. It was a great read, and helped me develop and deeper comprehension of my mother tongue. In the case of this source compared to the others I have gathered thus far, this one is a little different. Though it does explain historical and theoretical aspects of a language, it is based on a completely different language with a different writing system. Therefore, the knowledge that is shared is dissimilar to the others. This source, though theoretical, was not too difficult to understand. It was an interesting approach to the English language, a perspective I had not much prior knowledge of.
Works Cited
Nelson, Libby. "25 maps that explain the English language." Vox, 3 March 2015, www.vox.com/2015/3/3/8053521/25-maps-that-explain-english
"Vivian Cook (linguist)." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Cook_(linguist)
Vivian J Cook. The English Writing System. Routledge, 2004. EBSCOhost, dc153.dawsoncollege.qc.ca:2070/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,uid&db=e000xna&AN=327739&site=eds-live&scope=site.
What About Diacritical Marks in English?
one of the main subjects I am looking to develop on is the use of accentuation marks in Thai but the lack thereof in English. The two questions I ask myself facing this situation are; what are the known uses of accent marks in English? and, are there any traces of them in the past? The two following sources respond to these questions:
Sixth Source
My next source is an article posted on the Antidote website in 2018 that discusses the use of accent marks in English titled "Using Accents and Diacritics in English". The article informs the reader on the different uses of diacritic marks in the language, such as in borrowed words, in words with roots in other languages, in names and with the diaeresis. So in all, there are specific exceptions in which the English language utilizes written accentuation, however it is not a common occurrence like in others.
Reading this article brought me a deeper understanding of the use of diacritical marks in the English language. Though, I did know that they one of the only occurrences is in borrowed words, I did not know about the use of the diaeresis in the language. To add, I would like to continue research this topic on its own, as in the possible effects it has on the language. On its own, the article is a new topic to widen my knowledge on the topic. Though it is similar to my fifth source in the sense that it develops on the idea of written English, it adds a new topic to write about in my paper. Antidote's article was a very simple and comprehensible read, perfectly fit to add a little bit of examples to my paper later on.
Works Cited
"Using Accents and Diacritics in English." Antidote, 1 April 2018, www.antidote.info/en/blog/reports/using-accents-and-diacritics-english
Seventh Source
My next source on diacritics in English is an academic journal by Roger Lass and Margaret Laing, who both hold PhDs in linguistics. It was published in 2010, in the journal Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. The title of the source is "In Celebration of Early Middle English 'H'", it is written in way to inform the reader on the use of the phone "h" in early middle English by approaching the subjects of the reason for the presence of "h", what is represents throughout history, and its use.
While reading this academic journal, I learned a lot of new information on the employment of "h" throughout history and its origins. I also developed a deeper understanding of the diacritics in English and how "h" relates to this category. To continue, this source will serve a a great example for my point on accent marks, considering my two other articles approaching this subject. It is a good complement to this information. To finish, this article was an intermediate read, meaning it took some time to decipher. However, I was still able to understand the context of the text and its information.
Works Cited
"Margaret Laing." The University of Edinburg, www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~esss09/
"Prof Roger Lass." The University of Edinburg, www.lel.ed.ac.uk/affiliated_faculty/roger_lass.php
Roger Lass, and Margaret Laing. “In Celebration of Early Middle English ‘H.’” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, vol. 111, no. 3, Jan. 2010, pp. 345–54. JSTOR Journals, https://dc153.dawsoncollege.qc.ca:2070/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,uid&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.43344720&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Eight Source
My next source on the topic of diacritic marks in the english language is an academic journal titled "Syllable Cut Prosody in Early Middle English" published in Linguistic Society of America, in 2000. The author, Robert W. Murray, holds a PhD in political sciences, and wrote this journal as a way of presenting a study on Middle English quantity changes. The main ideas of the source are the different ideas on syllable cuts in Middle English following the author, Orm's, analysis. Murray's conclusion is that Orm's study is what explains the development of syllable cuts in Middle English.
While reading this source I learned some new information on syllable cuts in English, which allowed me to develop on my understanding on its history. This new information is a more specific topic on the language's development which in comparison to the other articles is different. This topic focuses on the written language in relation to the script. Finally, the journal was a harder to understand than my other sources but I believe it can serve as a good addition to my paper as a little reflection on the connection between script and spoken language. It would more interesting if, in my further research, I were to find a similar journal about Thai.
Works Cited
"Bob Murray." DrBobMurray, www.drbobmurray.ca/
Robert W. Murray. “Syllable Cut Prosody in Early Middle English.” Language, vol. 76, no. 3, Sept. 2000, pp. 617–54. JSTOR Journal, dc153.dawsoncollege.qc.ca:2325/10.2307/417137. https://dc153.dawsoncollege.qc.ca:2312/login?url=
"Robert W. Murray, PhD." LinkedIn, ca.linkedin.com/in/robert-w-murray-phd-63933242
Frozen in Thai!
Ever since hearing this version of "Into the Unkown" by the Thai voice actress for Elsa, Wichayanee Pearklin, I have been obsessed.
P.S. My favourite part starts at 2:00.
Works Cited
Pearklin, Wichayanee. Aurora. "Into the Unknown (From "Frozen 2")." YouTube, uploaded by DisneyMusicAsiaVevo, 17 January 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YAlHbMcP5Y
Ninth Source
My next source is a short blog post also on Thai diacritics posted to Script Source. This source describes the use for diacritics in the Thai language, explaining the different ways in which they occur. It informs the reader of the difference between consonant characters that modify tone and diacritical marks.
To continue, though brief, the post showcases very simply ways in which diacritic marks function in Thai. This source was great addition to the few english diacritics sources i have found thus far. It will be used to compare the subject in the two languages.
"Thai Diacritics". ScriptSource, 3 August 2010, scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=entry_detail&uid=b6zmkda5es#:~:text=Diacritics%20are%20used%20with%20the,full%20information%20on%20the%20tones.
Tenth Source
My tenth source is also a blog post titled "Thai (ภาษาไทย)" on the Thai language posted to Omniglot. It is a very clearly labeled source providing the reader information on the basics of Thai. This meaning, the alphabet, the diacritic marks, the origins of Thai, pronunciation and phrases.
To add, the source was a very simple read. Most notably because of how clearly labeled and organized the post is. I will be using this source to provide a little more information on the diacritic marks in Thai as well as possibly using the information to fill in bits of missing information with the other sources I have found to date. This blog post is a great addition to my collection of sources on diacritics.
"Thai (ภาษาไทย)", Omniglot, omniglot.com/writing/thai.htm#tones
Thai Tones!
This educational video provides some information on the tonal aspect of the Thai language. It provides the listener with examples, clear description and explanation as well as guides to pronunciation.
"113 Learn Thai tones - Simple explanations with MTL school". YouTube, uploaded by Easy Thai with Som, 15 September 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMZ8EFPh2Cc
Eleventh Source
My eleventh source is another academic journal by Heather Winskel published on March 1st 2018 by the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. This source is a study conducted on first letter advantage where they are looking for an advantage in the position of the vowel in the orthography of a word. They use roman script and compare it to Thai as they differ in ways of writing. They find that the disadvantage isn't present as it depends on the ways of writing of the certain language.
This study was a little difficult to understand. However, as I read through it a second time it become easier to grasp. This topic fits in with the idea of misaligned vowels so I believe it would be great to add this study to my paragraph on this subject to give it some more depth.
Works Cited
Winskel, Heather, et al. “Can the First Letter Advantage Be Shaped by Script-Specific Characteristics?” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, vol. 44, no. 3, Mar. 2018, pp. 493–500. Eric, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,uid&db=eric&AN=EJ1173721&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Twelfth Source
My twelfth source is a blog post on the website MustGo Travel. It is about the history of Thai and its characteristics. It describes aspects such as word order, particles, verbs. Also aspects I have researched before such as the consonants, the vowels and the tones.
This source was simple to understand as the information is put very simply and it is well explained. To add, I have already researched a bit of this topic, so I have a grasp of these topics already. This source could help fill in a few blanks in my paper with missing links in some parts.
Works Cited
"Thai Language- Structure, Writing & Alphabet" mustGo Travel, www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/thai/
Ted Talk!
Here is a ten minute ted talk by english teacher Patricia Ryan on language loss.
Ryan, Patricia. "Don't insist on English." YouTube, uploaded by TED-ed, 25 July 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCTI5tcnEok
What have I learned?
For my project I decided to research the topic of the Thai language compared to the English language, answering the question: What are the differences between the Thai and English scripts? I chose to conduct my research on this topic as I have always found Thai script to be beautiful and I wanted to learn more about it.
With this idea, i thought it would be interesting to develop on the differences between this language and my mother tongue. Throughout the semester, I learned that the Thai and english alphabets have very different components. This is due to each of their ancestors which allowed them to develop distinguishing characteristics. One main difference between each would be the lack of mirrored letters in Thai whereas English has b, d and p, q. I also learned that Thai does not have spacing between each word but does use misaligned vowels, English however has the opposite. Finally, The two scripts function with opposing uses for diacritics. In Thai it is very important two translate tonal marks but in English it is barely seen. To be specific the only functions are to isolate vowels and when adopting a word from another language that has an accent mark.
This project allowed me to delve deeper into my interest of each language and learn so much new information.