Emergence of figurative usages of color terms in Thai

Abstract

In Thai, color terms have been used figuratively since ancient times. This study aims to investigate the development of figurative usages of color terms in Thai from the Sukhothai period, the first Thai era in which written documents have been found, until the Rattanakosin period (the current period, which commenced in 1782 A.D.; records up until 2019 A.D.), the semantic processes involved, including the semantic domains of the figurative usages. The data was retrieved from selected literary works of the Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, and Rattanakosin periods, as well as from the Thai National Corpus. The findings reveal that among twelve color terms used in Thai language, the color term /dɛ:ŋ/ (RED) was used figuratively in the Sukhothai period while the color terms /kʰǎ:w/ (WHITE), /dam/ (BLACK), /lɨ̌aŋ/ (YELLOW), and /kʰǐaw/ (GREEN) which emerged in the same period, were used figuratively in the Ayutthaya period. Of the other seven color terms, /ʨʰom.pʰu:/ (PINK), /sôm/ (ORANGE), /fá:/ (LIGHT BLUE), and /mûaŋ/ (PURPLE), which were found in the Ayutthaya period, and /tʰaw/ (GREY), /ná:m.ŋən/ (DARK BLUE), and /ná:m.ta:n/ (BROWN), which were discovered during the Rattanakosin period, were used figuratively. The semantic processes involved in the usages of figurative meanings are metonymy and metaphor. The semantic domains that color terms refer to figuratively include characteristics, anomalies, items from daily life, emotions and feelings, the human life cycle, race, number, place, gender, class, time, nature, political regime, temperature, cooperation group, person, and food.