Color Terms in Thailand

Abstract

This article aims to synthesize the studies of color terms in Thailand by language family. The data’s synthesis was collected from articles, theses and research papers totaling 23 works:13 theses, 8 articles and 2 research papers. The study was divided into 23 works in five language families in Thailand : 9 works in Tai, 3 works in Austro-Asiatic (Mon-Khmer), 2 works in Sino-Tibetan, 2 works in Austronesian and 2 works in two HmongMien. There are also 5 comparative studies of color terms in the same family and different families. The studies of color terms in Austro-Asiatic, Sino-Tibetan, Austronesian and HmongMien in Thailand have still found rare so it should be studied further, especially, study color terms of languages in each family and between different families, both in diachronic and synchronic study so that we are able to understand the culture, belief and world outlook of native speakers through their color terms.