SOCIAL RELATIONS FROM LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE IN THE STORY OF PLACE NAMES OF THAI ETHNIC

Abstract

Place name as a phenomenon of linguistics is also a form of cultural expression
of a community, a group of people who were/are present in the territory where the place
exists. This study concerns place names and stories that form around place names of Thai
ethnic. Therefore, we conducted a review of the ethnic social relations from linguistic
perspective through the listing and classification of the place names system and showing
the characteristics and rules that form them. These rules are the way of thinking of the
people, how they see/regulate the world and establish their relationships with the world.
The analysis of linguistic relationships that was first established through the place name
system shows that language is also an effective means for the Thai community to assert
sovereignty over their land. By sowing «seed of words» - place names, the ethnic has
revealed their sense of affirmation of themselves, affirming their existence before other
communities since then to strengthen their position