proto-southwestern-tai revised: a new reconstruction - seals 22

38 Kitima Indrambarya
a. Nouns but not prepositions can be subject of the sentence. (Indrambarya 1994,
Prasithrathsint 2000)
b. Nouns can occur with a determiner (Savetamalya 1989, Indrambarya 1995,
Prasithrathsint 2000))
c. Nouns can occur with the possessive marker /khɔ̌ɔŋ/. (Savetamalaya 1989,
Prasithrathsint 2000)
I have found that using each of the criteria alone is not adequate to distinguish
prepositions from nouns in Thai. Although the use of possessive marker in Prasithrathsint
(2000) seems satisfactory to differentiate nouns from their homophonous prepositions.
This criterion, like other criteria mentioned above, cannot be used singly to identify all
types of nouns. For example, the words like thaaŋ ‘way’ and dâan ‘side’ may not easily be
followed by the possessive marker khɔ̌ɔŋ. Yet, they can be modified by determiner day
‘which’ and can follow quantifiers kɨ̀ɨ ‘how many’ and lǎay ‘several’ like other nouns.
Noun: thaaŋ ‘way’
(1) a. thaaŋ pàtìbàt
way practice
In practice
b. * thaaŋ khɔ̌ɔŋ pàtìbàt
way POSS practice
c.
Way of practice
thaaŋ day
way which
Which way?
d. kɨ̀ɨ thaaŋ
how many way
How many ways?
e. lǎay thaaŋ
several way
Several ways
Noun: dâan ‘side’
(2) a. dâan sathǎapàttayakam
side architecture
In architecture
b.* dâan khɔ̌ɔŋ sathǎapàttayakam
side POSS architecture
Side of architecture
c. dâan day
side which
Which side?