3rd AASIC: Sustainable Development of Asian Community 49 Comparison between English Loanwords in Thai and Indonesian: A Comparative Study in Phonology and Morphology Ignatius Tri Endarto 1 1 M.A. Candidate, Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand Author’s email: endarignatius@gmail.com Abstract— Loanwords are very influential in language learning because learners have a tendency to pronounce or write target language’s words based on the corresponding loanwords in their first languages. For that reason, research on English loanwords in both Thai and Indonesian is a potential source for Thai and Indonesian language learning, and even English as a foreign language (EFL) learning in Thailand and Indonesia. The objective of this research is to find out the differences and similarities between English loanwords in Thai and those in Indonesian in terms of their phonological and morphological adaptation. Since not all suprasegmental features, such as tone, exist in both languages, the phonological analysis pays more attention on vowel and consonant changes. The morphological analysis on the other hand focuses on morphological changes of polymorphemic words. The data of this research were collected from previous studies and interviews with native speakers of each language. The finding shows that both Thai and Indonesian have different as well as similar processes of phonological and morphological adaptation of English loanwords. Keywords— loanword; English; Thai; Indonesian I. INTRODUCTION English which has long been recognized as the language of international communication is one of those from which tons of words are borrowed in many other languages, including Thai and Indonesian. Words that are borrowed usually undergo some changes so as to suit the linguistic features of the new language. Hence, the differences between the Thai and Indonesian linguistic features may result in dissimilar forms of English loanwords in the two languages. Loanwords are very influential in language learning because language learners, especially beginners whose native language has many words cognate with the target language, will tend to pronounce or write those words by following the rules of their native language instead of the target language. Therefore, the objectives of this research is to compare English loanwords in Thai and those in Indonesian in terms of their phonological and morphological adaptation The data of this research were collected from 6 previous studies of English loanwords in Thai ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]), and other 6 studies of those in Indonesian ([7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]). Data check was conducted through consulting online etymological dictionaries and native speakers of each language. II. PHONOLOGICAL ADAPTATION The English, Thai and Indonesian phonological systems are different from each other. These three languages also use different orthographic systems. English and Indonesian use the Roman alphabet but with different spelling systems (Indonesians adopted the Dutch spelling system with several changes). Thai on the other hand has its own script, which is also known as the Thai alphabet. These two factors contribute significantly to several similarities and differences of phonological adaptation between English loanwords in Thai and those in Indonesian. A. Non-native Sound Adaptation English sounds that do not exist in Thai and Indonesian are usually adapted through alterations. They are replaced with resembling native sounds in those languages. In the table below are some notable alterations of syllable-initial consonants (onsets) in English that cannot be found in Thai and Indonesian. TABLE I. NON-NATIVE SINGLE ONSET ADAPTATION English Thai Indonesian /g/ /gæŋ/ (gang) /k/ /kɛ ́ ŋ/ /g/ /gɛŋ/ /v/ /ˈvɪt.ə.mɪn/ (vitamin) /w/ /wí.ta:.min/ /f/ /fi.ta.min/ /θ/ /ˈθaɪ.rɔɪd/ (thyroid) /th/ /thaj.rɔ:j/ /t/ /ti.rɔit/ /z/ /ˈzen.ɑːn/ or /ˈziː.nɑːn/ (xenon) /s/ /si:.nɔ̂ :n/ /s/ /se.nɔn/ /ʃ/ /ʃɒk/ (shock) /ch/ /chɔ ́ k/ /sj/ /sjɔk /tʃ/ /tʃek/ (check) /ch/ /chék/ /c/ /cek/ /dʒ/ /ˈdʒæk.ɪt/ (jacket) /ˈdʒel.i/ (jelly) /ˈhaɪ.drə.dʒən/ (hydrogen) /c/, /j/ /cɛ ́ k.kêt/ /jen.lî:/ /haj.dro:.cên/ /ɟ/, /g/ /ɟa.ket/ /ɟe.li/ /hi.dro.gen/ brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by ASEAN / Asian Academic Society International Conference (AASIC) Proceeding Series