Meanings of Words in Thai and Lao That Have the Same Word Forms

Abstract

This paper explores the meaning relationships of words having the same word forms in Thai and Lao. The words comprising the data for the study were selected from the Lao-Thai-English dictionary of the Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Kasetsart University. The study shows that 238 words in the dictionary have the same word forms. These words can subsequently be classified into 6 groups which are 1) words where both word forms and meanings are similar, 2) words having the same word forms, but more extended meaning in Thai than in Lao, 3) words having the same word forms, but more restricted meaning in Thai than in Lao, 4) words having the same word forms but more meanings in Thai than in Lao, 5) words having the same word forms but fewer meanings in Thai than in Lao, and 6) words having the same word forms, but different meanings in Thai and Lao.