วารสารมหาวิทยาลัยศิลปากร

Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts

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Editorial Advisory Board

Silpakorn University Journal of

Emeritus Prof. Chetana Nagavajara, Ph.D. Social Sciences, Humanities, and Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Arts is published in June by Thailand Silpakorn University. The journal Prof. Santi Leksukhum, Ph.D. features articles and research notes/ Department of Art History, Faculty of Archaeology, articles in the fields of Art and Silpakorn University, Thailand Design and the Social Sciences and Emeritus Prof. Kusuma Raksamani, Ph.D. Humanities. Its aim is to encourage Department of Oriental Languages, Faculty of Archaeology, a n d d i s s e m i n a t e s c h o l a r l y Silpakorn University, Thailand contributions by the University’s Assoc. Prof. Rasmi Shoocongdej, Ph.D. faculty members and researchers.

Faculty of Archaeology, Silpakorn University, Thailand Well researched, innovative works Assoc. Prof. Maneepin Phromsuthirak, Ph.D. by other scholars are welcome. A Faculty of Arts, Silpakorn University, Thailand review committee consisting of Prof. Samerchai Poolsuwan, Ph.D. academic experts in the relevant fields Faculty of Sociology & Anthropology, will screen all manuscripts, and the Thammasat University, Thailand editorial board reserves the right Assist. Prof. Wilailak Saraithong, Ph.D. to recommend revision/ alteration, English Department, Faculty of Humanities, if necessary, before their final Chiang Mai University, Thailand acceptance for publication.

Assist. Prof. Alice Thienprasert, Ph.D. Director, Silpakorn University Research and Development Institute, Thailand

Editor Assoc. Prof. Thanik Lertcharnrit, Ph.D. Faculty of Archaeology, Silpakorn University Editorial Board Asst. Prof. Bamrung Torut, Ph.D. Faculty of Education, Silpakorn University Instructor Kamonpan Boonkit, Ph.D. Faculty of Arts, Silpakorn University Instructor Supaporn Nakbunlung, Ph.D. Department of Sociology-Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiangmai University Prof. Miriam Stark, Ph.D. Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii, USA Assoc. Prof. Peter Smith, Ph.D. International College, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom Assist. Prof. Matthew Liebmann, Ph.D. Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, USA Managing Editor Pranee Vichansavakul All correspondence should be addressed to : Managing editor, 44/114 Soi Phaholyothin 52, Phaholyothin Road, Klongthanon Saimai, Bangkok 10220 Telephone : 080-5996680 Fax : 66-2973-8366 E- mail address : pranee_aon1@hotmail.com Web site : http: //www.journal.su.ac.th and www.surdi.su.ac.th Information about the Journal An electronic journal is provided on the web site (http://www.journal.su.ac.th and www.surdi.su.ac.th)

Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts Volume 11 (January - June) 2011

Contents

Editor’s Note

5

Articles Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya: The Direct Influence from Mahiyangana Stupa in Sri lanka

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Chedha Tingsanchali

The Impact of the Perceived Physical and Social Environments on Personal Happiness of Residents in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand

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Wanippol Mahaarcha and Donlatip Mahaarcha Integral Resolving Poverty Problem by Community

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Organization Case Study Northeast Area in Thailand

Somsong Banjongthitithan, Sutida Jamsai Whyte,

Preecha Piampongsan

Language Change: a Cognitive Linguistic Approach

Jason Reeve

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Book Review 50 Years of Archaeology in Southeast Asia: Essays in Honour of Ian Glover

Stephen A Murphy

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Editor’s Note

This issue of Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts (formerly Silpakorn University International Journal) features three main articles on different, but interesting, subjects from the disciplines of art history, sociology, and linguistics. There is also a book review article that provides comments and critique on an archaeology book. Please note that the production of this issue was significantly delayed due to the disastrous flooding that plagued Thailand this year. As the editor, I would like to thank our readers for their patience and understanding, as well as the contributors and all the reviewers who made the production of this issue possible. We already have a number of manuscripts on interesting and varied topics currently under review for our next issue, which we are sure readers will find thought-provoking and useful for further studies.

Thanik Lertcharnrit, Editor thanik@su.ac.th

Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya: The Direct Influence from Mahiyangana Stupa in Sri lanka Chedha Tingsanchali 1* Department of Art History, Faculty of Archaeology, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand * Corresponding author. E-mail address: cheda_t@yahoo.com 1

Mahiyangana Stupa in Sri Lanka

Mahiyangana, a small town located some 70 kilometers east of Kandy in Sri Lanka, is a most important place for Buddhist pilgrimage.

The site is mentioned in Mahāvamsa as the first place where the Master visited Ceylon after his enlightenment to convert several Yakshas and indigenous people.1 Therefore, Mahiyangana became one of the sixteen sacred Buddhist places in Ceylon, hence a significant destination for pilgrims.

Nowadays, there exists the Stupa of Mahiyangana at the sacred spot. The stupa is circular in plan, and the size of the stupa is not as large as those in Anurādhapura. The molding system is comprised of triple torus moldings at the base supporting the squat hemispheric anda, continued by the square harmikā and the conical spire (Fig.1). The square harmikā and the conical spire are recently renovated.

This is possibly the most ancient stupa to be constructed since the Anuradhapura period as mentioned in Mahavamsa. However, as an important pilgrimage site, the stupa has been continuously enlarged.

Wilhelm Geiger, Mahavamsa: The Great Chronicle of Ceylon (Dehiwala: Buddhist Cultural Centre, 2007), pp.3-5.

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Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya

C. Tingsanchali

Evidence from several Kandy murals testifies to the stupa’s enlargement from time to time (Fig.2).

Despite being continuously restored, the present stupa seems to be datable to the post-Polonnaruwa period because the base of the stupa is supported by the triple torus moldings (Fig.3). Triple torus moldings

Fig.1 Mahiyangana Stupa in Sri Lanka, Post-Polonnaruwa period

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Fig.2 Kandy mural at Lankatilaka testifies Mahiyangana Stupa’s enlargement from time to time

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Fig.3 Triple torus moldings of Mahiyangana Stupa, the typical character of Post-Polonnaruwa period

Fig.4 a Triple platforms, the moldings supporting Anda in Anuradhapura period

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are one of the typical characteristics of a stupa of the post-Polonnaruwa period, differing from the triple platforms of Anuradhapura art (Fig.4 a) and the triple vedibandha of Polonnaruwa art (Fig.4 b). The present style of the stupa is comparable to other post-Polonnaruwa stupas, such as the stupa at Lankatilaka, Kandy (Fig.5).

Supporting the stupa is the circumambulatory platform, square in plan and decorated by a row of elephants (Fig.6). This type of the elephant-decorated circumambulatory platform is called Hatthī-Prākāra (Elephant-wall),2 being typical to Sri Lankan art. It is also noticeable

Fig.4 b Triple Vedibandha, the moldings supporting Anda in Polonnaruwa period

Paranavitana mentions that the elephant-wall of the Ruvanveli is mentioned in Mahavamsa as belonging to the reign of Saddhatissa.

(Wilhelm Geiger, Mahavamsa, Chapter XXXIII, p.228.) Moreover, there were the elephant-walls for Abhayagiri and Jetavana Stupa also built by King Mahanaga (the 7th century A.D.) (Please see Paranavitana, S., The Stupa of Ceylon (Colombo: Colombo museum, 1988), p.18). Therefore, the elephant-wall of Mahiyangana seems to belong to a very ancient date.

2

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that, in Sri Lankan art, the platform is always wider than the stupa, providing ample space for circumambulating.

The style of the Hatthī-Prākāra at Mahiyangana is comparable to that of Ruvanveli Stupa in Anurādhapura (Fig.7). However, the size of the main stupa of Mahiyangana is relatively small compared to that of Ruvanveli in Anurādhapura.

Fig.5 Post-Polonnaruwa period Stupa at Lankatilaka

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Fig.6 Hatthī-Prākāra of Mahiyangana Stupa

Fig.7 Ruvanveli Stupa in Anurādhapura supported by Hatthī-Prākāra

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Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya

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Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya

Located in the eastern direction outside the moat, Wat Maheyong is one of the most significant temples in Ayutthaya. The temple is mentioned in the Ayutthayan Chronicle that King Baromarājādhirāj II (Chao Sām Phrayā) constructed this temple in 1438.3

The main Stupa of Wat Maheyong (Fig.8) is surprisingly similar to that of Mahiyangana Stupa in Sri Lanka. The architectural similarities can be described as such:

(1) Maheyong Stupa is supported by the elephant-decorated circumambulatory platform, Hatthī Pākāra (Fig.9). The platform is wider than the stupa providing ample space for circumambulating (Fig.10).

Fig.8 General View of Maheyong Stupa, Ayutthaya

The Ayutthayan Chronicle of Luang Prasert Aksorn Niti, in Thai (Bangkok: Klang Vidya, 1972), p.447.

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Fig.9 Hatthī-Prākāra of Maheyong Stupa, Ayutthaya

Fig.10 The wide space of the circumambulatory platform, Maheyong Stupa, Ayutthaya

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(2) The stupa is circular in plan and the size of the stupa is not as large as the platform.

(3) The molding system of the stupa composes of triple torus moldings (Fig.11) supporting the squat hemispheric anda, continued by the square harmikā and the conical spire.

Of special interest, the style of the main stupa at Wat Maheyong is surprisingly similar to that of Mahiyangana Stupa in Sri Lanka. Even the name of “Wat Maheyong” is actually the Thai pronunciation of “Mahiyangana.” This important connection will therefore be examined in this article.

The Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya: Influenced by Sukhothai or by Sri Lankan Art?

Several Thai scholars, such as Professor Santi Leksukhum, opine that Maheyong’s elephant-decorated circumambulatory platform was influenced by Sukhothai art as there are several examples of the same kind of platform at Sukhothai and Sri Satchanalai (Fig.12).4 As King Baromarājādhirāj II’s mother was also a Sukhothai princess and there were several campaigns against Sukhothai launched during this reign, most scholars believe that Maheyong Stupa is the result of these connections.

As already examined above, however, the style and the name of Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya are surprisingly similar to those of Mahiyangana Stupa in Sri Lanka. Therefore, as the result issued in this study, the connection between Sukhothai and Ayutthayan art will be examined.

(1) The name of Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya is explicitly a copy of Mahiyangana Stupa in Sri Lanka. It is, therefore, more connectible to Sri Lanka than to Sukhothai.

Santi Leksukhum, Ayutthayan Art, (in Thai). (Bangkok: Muang Boran Press, 1999), pp.71-72.

4

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(2) The entitlement of Wat Maheyong at Ayutthaya indicates that King Baromarājādhirāj II wanted to establish Ayutthaya as the sacred city where the Master had visited, being comparable to Mahiyangana in Sri Lanka.

Fig.11 Triple torus moldings, Anda and the spire, Maheyong Stupa, Ayutthaya

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Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya

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(3) The Hatthī-Prākāra of Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya (Fig.8-10), in my opinion, is not connectible to Sukhothai art as the Hatthī-Prākāra of Sukhothai art always provides only a “narrow” space for circumambulation (Fig.12). However, the Hatthī-Prākāra of Sri Lankan art always provides the “wide” space for circumambulation (Fig.6). It is, therefore, observable that The Hatthī-Prākāra of Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya is more similar to that of Sri Lankan art than that of Sukhothai art.

(4) The set of triple torus moldings supporting the hemispheric and a of Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya is extremely similar to the order of the post-Polonnaruwa Sri Lankan Stupas (Fig.13).5

Fig.12 Stupa support by Hatthī-Prākāra, Sukhothai Art

5 There are three orders for the molding of post-Polonnaruwa Sri Lankan stupas. The first order is the triple basal moldings, the second is the triple torus-moldings, and the third the triple pointed-torus-moldings

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Fig.13 Comparison between Sri Lankan and Thai Stupas molding (13a) Sri Lankan = triple torus molding, (13b) Ayutthayan = triple torus molding, (13c) Sukhothai = triple inverted cyma molding

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Differently in Sukhothai art, the stupas are always supported by the three inverted cyma moldings. Therefore, Maheyong Stupa at Ayutthaya is more similar to the Ceylonese order than that of Sukhothai (Fig.13).

This stylistic comparison between Wat Maheyong at Ayutthaya, Mahiyangana Stupa in Sri Lanka and the elephant-based stupa in Sukhothai art yields the conclusion that Wat Maheyong at Ayutthaya is more connectible to Sri Lanka than Sukhothai.

Patriarch Ñānagambhīra : the Evidence of the Relation between Ayutthaya and Sri Lanka during the Reign of King Baromarājādhirāj II

There are several items of evidence indicating the direct religious relation between Sri Lanka and Ayutthaya during the reign of King Baromarājādhirāj II. One of these is “Mūlasāsanā Ñānagambhīra,”6 the documentary evidence composed in Chiang Mai, which narrates the story of Ñānagambhīra a, the patriarch of a new Sinhalese sect at Chiang Mai who traveled to Sri Lanka in 1423. After studying Sinhalese Buddhism for five years, he traveled back to Ayutthaya in 1428 during the reign of King Baromarājādhirāj II.

The document states that Ñānagambhīra stayed in Ayutthaya for one year under royal patronage. During his stay, King Baromarājādhirāj II appointed him as the patriarch of Simhala Paksha (i.e. Ceylonese sect). Hence, more than 70 monasteries belonging to this sect belonged to him.

Although there is no mention of Wat Maheyong in the text, the stupa which is the possible copy of Mahiyangana in Ceylon testifies itself that Wat Maheyong is possibly one of the seventy monasteries belonging to the Ceylonese sect. Ñānagambhīra himself is also the evidence of the

Bamphen Rawin (editor), Mūlasāsanā Ñānagambhīra, (in Thai) (Chiang Mai: Institute of Social Research, 1996), p.17.

6

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direct religious connection between Ayutthaya and Sri Lanka during the reign of King Baromarājādhirāj II.

Another evidence of this connection is the mural in the crypt of the main stupa at Wat Ratchaburana, which has been studied and dated to the same reign.7 The style and the iconography of the painting clearly testify the Ceylonese connection, such as the treatment of the halo and the red background (Fig. 14).

Fig.14 Similarities of Sri Lankan and Thai murals during the reign of Baromarājādhirāj II

7

Santi Leksukhum, Ayutthayan Art, p.172.

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Therefore, the construction of Wat Maheyong Stupa seems to be possibly associated with Patriarch Ñānagambhīra who traveled back from Sri Lanka and set up the Sinhalese sect in Ayutthaya.

The evidence reviewed here emphasizes the possibility of the direct religious connection between Ayutthaya and Sri Lanka during the reign of King Baromarājādhirāj II. The Stupa of Wat Maheyong, moreover, seems to be associated with Patriarch Ñānagambhīra. Possibly, King Baromarājādhirāj II constructed the Stupa of Wat Maheyong in order to ensure the stability of the Sinhalese sect in his capital. Furthermore, the Stupa of Wat Maheyong seems to be the evidence of the king’s desire for establishing Ayutthaya to be as sacred as Sri Lanka where the Master had visited, hence under the protection of the Master forever.

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Bibliography Geiger, W. (2007) Mahavamsa: The Great Chronicle of Ceylon.

Dehiwala: Buddhist Cultural Centre.

Leksukhum, S. (1999) Ayutthayan Art (in Thai). Bangkok: Meung Boran Press.

Paranavitana, S. (1988) The Stupa of Ceylon. Colombo: Colombo Museum.

Rawin, B. (editor). (1996) Mūlasāsanā Ñānagambhīra (in Thai). Chiang Mai: Institute of Social Research.

The Ayutthayan Chronicle of Luang Prasert Aksorn Niti (in Thai). (1972) Bangkok: Klang Vidya.

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The Impact of the Perceived Physical and Social Environments on Personal Happiness of Residents in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand Wanippol Mahaarcha 1* and Donlatip Mahaarcha 2 Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand 2 Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand * Corresponding author. E-mail address: wanippol@hotmail.com 1

Abstract

Existing literature recognizes that physical and social environments are important determinant of happiness. Studies have shown that the perceived environment more influence on happiness than the observed environment. The relationship of perceived physical and social environments with personal happiness should be examined in Thailand in communities in which there are current development projects.

This study aims at examining levels of happiness and their relationship with perceived levels of pollution and perceptions about the social environment in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand. The results of the study confirm the hypothesis that a lower perceived level of pollution and a higher perceived level of the social environment increase levels of happiness. The results highlight the need to pay attention to perceived levels of the environment among people in Kanchanaburi communities.

Community policies and programs should take these perceptions into account.

Key words: Perceived Physical Environment, Perceived Social

Environment, Happiness

Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts Vol.11 (1) : 24-51, 2011

Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

Introduction

The fact that environmental surroundings influence personal happiness has long been recognized by several social science researchers.

Most studies focus on factors of the physical environment as determinants of happiness, especially pollution and atmospheric surroundings (Welsch, 2006; Rehdanz and Maddison, 2008).

Environmental contexts involve not only the physical environment, but also the economic, cultural, and social environments as well (Winkel et al., 2009). Few researchers have examined the broader sense of environmental determinants which take the social environment into account (Putnam, 1995; Bruni and Stanca, 2008). The social environment refers to how people and communities behave, their relationships, and the conditions in which they live. The contextual nature of personal/environmental relations is expected to affect people’s sense of well-being.

Existing literature recognizes that physical and social environments are important determinants of happiness. In terms of the physical environment, problems in this area have been found to be a major source of depression (Evan et al., 1988). Problems in the physical environment can cause hazardous effects on physical health as well as mental health. In addition, the social environment has been strongly correlated with positive emotions. Baumeister and Leary (1995) review evidence showing that people seem to have a fundamental need for close social relationships. However, environmental determinants have usually been measured by quantitative parameters, such as level of sulfur dioxide emission (Smyth et al., 2004), temperature (Rehdanz and Maddison, 2005), and network size (Burt, 1987).

Often these standards are based on expert judgments and do not take into account personal preferences. Some studies have found that the perceived environment is significantly related to levels of happiness, but the objective or measured environment is not significantly related (Rehdanz and Maddison, 2008; van Praag and Baarsma, 2005). The

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relationship between opinions about the environment and happiness is a relatively new area of research (Rangel, 2003; Welsch, 2002). This study is also relevant to the growing attention being paid to the relationship between cultural opinions about the environment and personal happiness (Diamond, 2005).

Thailand is an interesting setting in which to examine these issues.

The past rate of socioeconomic development in Thailand was rapid and this has paved the way for many problems in the physical and social environments. Almost all parts of Thai society are controlled by the government (Kanchanapan, 2001). Communities have become the primary areas of development instead of natural resources, cultural diversity, and social relationships among community members. As a result, there are harmful industrial activities and agro-chemical substances used in many areas, creating pollution that harms the community’s environment. Also, social relationships and traditional values of Thai communities are reduced in importance. The ways that Thai people perceive these changes and how they affect Thai well-being are topics that need to be explored.

To examine the impact of the perceived physical and social environments on personal happiness in the Thai context, this study uses Kanchanaburi province, Thailand, due to its diverse characteristics.

Kanchanaburi is a province located about 120 km west of Bangkok and shares a long border with Myanmar. This province is diversified in its social, economic, and ecological features. The large number of internal and international migrants in this province contributes to its diverse cultures. It has a mixed economy that includes both industrial and agricultural sectors. Also, this province has a variety of landscapes and natural resources.

The two main research questions of this study are (1) to what extent are people in Kanchanaburi satisfied with their lives, and (2) how do perceived levels of the physical and social environment influence the levels of happiness of people in Kanchanaburi?

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Concept of Happiness and Its Determinants

“Happiness” denotes a measure of an individual’s evaluation of his or her overall quality of life (Veenhoven, 1997). The term is usually used interchangeably with “life satisfaction.” Both happiness and life satisfaction belong to the concept of subjective well-being. Subjective well-being is typically conceived of as comprising a cognitive component of life satisfaction and two other components, namely the presence of positive effects and the absence of negative effects (Diener and Suh, 1997). Recent studies have shown that subjective well-being operates in both a top-down and a bottom-up fashion. Well-being results partly from a general tendency to hold positive life views, and partly from the cumulative effects of specific events (Brief et al, 1993; Mallard et al., 1997). Moreover, Suh et al (1996) determined that people tend to stabilize at a certain level of subjective well-being, regardless of the daily events they face. Even after dramatic life events within the past few months, people tend to return to their typical level of subjective well-being.

Data on self-reported well-being are used in the growing literature in the social sciences. They are elicited in large-scale surveys which provide the respondents’ most important socio-demographic characteristics. The question pertaining to subjective well-being may refer to “happiness” or to “life satisfaction,” and the categories may be purely verbal or may combine verbal with numerical features.

For instance, the General Social Surveys uses a three-point verbal happiness scale. It asks the question, “Taken all together, how would you say things are these days-would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?” In the World Values Surveys, people are offered a scale from 1 (dissatisfied) to 10 (satisfied) to respond to the question “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?”

Research on happiness has identified a number of personal, demographic and socio-economic covariates of happiness that explain happiness patterns. Important personal and demographic characteristics

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which affect happiness are health, age, sex, marital status, size and structure of the household, educational level, and degree of urbanization.

There is a long standing discussion about the measurability of happiness. Recently, after decades of validation research, it can be concluded that happiness can be measured by self-report. The answers given by individuals have been found to be valid. Survey data from different populations have been replicated and re-analyzed with respect to their theoretical significance.

It is clear that the young and old seem to be happier than the middle aged, allowing for health and other factors (Frey and Stutzer, 2002). The empirical evidence on the link between education and happiness is not fully conclusive. Frey and Stutzer (2002) claimed that level of education bears little relationship to happiness by allowing a better adaptation to changing environments. Some studies (e.g. Clark and Oswald, 1996) find the opposite results; after allowing for income, more educated individuals register a lower level of satisfaction. It has been found that the highly educated are more distressed than the less well educated when they are hit by unemployment (Clark and Oswald, 1994). However, Veenhoven (1991) found that people with higher income levels had higher levels of happiness or subjective well-being.

Environment and Happiness: Theory and Empirical Literature

Ecological perspective has been used across the social sciences, particularly environmental psychology (Stokols and Altman, 1987).

This perspective determines that human well-being is always the product of an interaction between a person and their environment, where the environment is both social and physical. Rather than interpreting human environments as merely neutral frameworks against which human behavior occurs, an ecological perspective takes pains to consider the interrelationships between a human and their surroundings. There are multiple contexts that affect individual experience and behavior. This study focuses on the factors of the physical and social environments which might affect personal happiness.

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Physical environment and happiness

The relationship between physical environment and human psychology has been studied for quite some time (Kellert and Wilson, 1993). Much work has been done in the area of physical environment and well-being by psychologists and biologists. Wilson (1993) uses the term “biophilia” to refer to the psychological well-being humans receive from interacting with the environment. Ulrich (1984) found that surgery patients who stayed in rooms with a view of trees had shorter hospital stays and needed less medication than those who stayed in rooms with windows that faced brick walls. Since health is perpetually found to be a major determinant of life satisfaction levels, it can be assumed that with improvement of health, a significant increase in life satisfaction can be realized. A study by the California Energy Commission (2003) found that a better view improved office worker job performance and was correlated with fewer negative health symptoms.

Environmental features may have positive effects (natural landscapes, interaction with plants and wildlife), as well as negative effects (pollution, visual degradation). Numerous studies have also found a negative relationship between subjective well-being and environmental pollution. People living in high levels of atmospheric pollution report lower levels of well-being (Smyth, Mishra, and Qian, 2008). Welsch (2002) found a negative relationship between well-being and the level of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant directly detrimental to human health.

Not only has measured pollution been significantly, negatively associated with personal happiness, but perceived pollution has also been associated with it (MacKerron and Mourato, 2009). The success of self-report measures in predicting outcomes is a common finding in research on environmental influence that speaks of the power of individuals’ perceptions of environment in mediating effects of the environment itself (Evans et al., 2003). Stiffman and colleagues (1999) found that perceptions of the environment are consistently better predictors of outcomes than objective measures of the physical

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environment. Nevertheless, there is a relationship between cultural attitudes about the environment and the sustainability of human society.

Frey and Stutzer (2002) argued that happier people may be more likely to exhibit positive attitudes toward the environment.

Social environment and happiness

For David Hume, the pursuit of happiness, a fundamental human goal, can be attained only in connection with other people (Bellebaum and Barheier, 1997). Numerous studies have corroborated the finding that good and close relationships with other people are a major source of satisfaction with life and happiness (Michalos et al., 2001; Land et al., 2001). Helliwell (2001) argued that social capital (defined as ‘networks, norms and understandings that facilitate cooperative activities’) can have a positive effect on subjective well-being because social capital creates positive environment for its members. Fiori et al. (2006) believed that individuals have different social networks and that each has a different effect on health. The different roles that each person plays introduce them to different networks that help them to feel socially connected and improve their sense of well-being. Bjornskov (2003) argued that his results demonstrate that social capital is a powerful factor when explaining why some countries are happier than others.

Steptoe and Feldman (2001) investigated neighborhood-level effects of deprivation and deficit of social capital on self-rated health and psychological distress. Neighborhood problems, including litter in the streets, air pollution, noise, vandalism and disturbance by neighbors or youngsters correlated with poor self-rated health, psychological distress and impaired physical function independent of age, gender, neighborhood SES, individual deprivation, and social capital.

The present study hypothesized that perceived levels of pollution negatively affect personal happiness, while perceived levels of the social environment positively affect personal happiness when allowing for socio-demographic characteristics of people in Kanchanaburi province.

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Material and Method

Setting

The setting of the study is Kanchanaburi province, located in the western part of Thailand. It is the third largest of 77 Thai provinces, and covers an area of 19,480 square kilometers. The administrative center of the province is 130 kilometers west of Bangkok. According to the 2005 population statistical data, 834,447 live in Kanchanaburi province and about 99 percent of residents are Buddhists (NSO, 2010). This study uses Kanchanaburi province as the setting due to its diverse social, economic, and ecological features. The province contains a variety of ethnic groups.

It shares a long border with Myanmar and is home to many migrants from Myanmar. This province has a variety of economic activities, including ones in the agricultural sector (such as rice crops, plantation crops), the industrial sector, and the commercial sector. Kanchanaburi province also has diverse ecological and geographical features, ranging from plains to mountainous areas and from plantations to tropical forest. It can be said that few provinces in Thailand have as diverse social, economic, and ecological features as Kanchanaburi province.

We can assume that this diversity has shaped people’s lives in many different ways.

Data

Data for this analysis was collected using a community participatory approach for poverty eradication in Thailand. This project was designed to develop indicators of the population of Kanchanaburi’s well-being in 2005. Stratified two-stage sampling designed by the National Statistical Office was applied. The sample group in this survey includes 1,440 households. 2,984 persons aged 15 and over in the households were interviewed.

Measures Dependent Variable The variable indicating the level of happiness in this study refers to people’s subjective assessment of this feeling at the time of the survey. The assessment was given as a response to the question, “At

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present, how are you feeling?” This question did not include the term “satisfied” or “happy” in order to avoid bias and to prevent constrained responses. Respondents replied using an eleven-point scale (0-10) to rate their feeling, with 0 representing “unhappiest”, 5 representing “not unhappy or happy”, and 10 representing “happiest.”

Independent Variables Since the present study aims to explore the impact of the physical and social environments on personal happiness, two independent variables were measured; physical environment and social environment.

Perceived Physical Environment: Perceived Level of Pollution This study uses “perceived level of pollution” as a proxy variable for the perceived physical environment variable. Perceived level of pollution is derived from the question, “How strongly do you feel you are affected by pollution in your residential area?”, for example, noise, smoke, odor, dust, water, garbage, mosquito, and fly pollution.

Respondents replied using a four-point scale (0-3) to measure the perceived level of adverse effects for each type of pollution, with 0 representing “not at all”, 1 representing “slightly”, 2 representing “bearable”, and 3 representing “strongly.” This study uses eight continuous variables to analyze the impact of each perceived level of pollution on personal happiness.

Perceived Social Environment: Perceived Level of Social Environment The perceived level of social environment is employed as one of the independent variables to determine the level of personal happiness.

This study measured perceived level of social environment based on an individual’s feelings with regard to their social environment, neighbors, and their property. The respondent was asked a number of questions related to his or her perception of his or her social environment: (1) how well they knew their neighbors, (2) how much they trusted other people in their community, (3) how their neighbors would react if they needed help, and (4) how safe they felt in terms of life and property.

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The answers to these questions are combined for a total score between 0 and 8, where a higher score refers to a better social environment.

Control Variables The study uses age, gender, marital status, working status, educational level, illness within the past month, smoking, alcohol drinking, and current exercise behaviors as control variables. This study also employs the number of household possessions as one of the control variables, which are represented by four dummy variables: microwave oven, washing machine, air-conditioner, and cars/vans/pick-ups. This variable was rated on a four-point scale, reflecting the level of absolute household wealth expected to affect the level of happiness. Also, this study includes household size and strata as control variables.

Strata refer to place of residence, i.e. whether the respondents live in an urban, rice growing, plantation, or upland area in Kanchanaburi province. The urban stratum covers the population living in municipal areas. Rice growing strata are those located in lowland areas where the main occupation is rice cultivation. Plantation strata are also located in lowland areas and where the major occupation of the local people is cultivating cassava or sugar cane. Upland strata are located in the three highland districts.

Methods

Since the dependent variable of the level of happiness is continuous, multiple regression analyses were employed. The independent variables include perceived physical environment and social environment. Perceived physical environment uses eight separated variables of perceived level of pollution, while perceived social environment employs the perceived level of social environment.

All independent variables are continuous.

Control variables cover demographic and socioeconomic factors, including age, gender, marital status, working status, educational level, illness within the past month, smoking, alcohol drinking, current exercise behaviors, number of household possessions, household size,

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and strata. All control variables are treated as dummy variables, except age, household size, and number of household possessions.

Results

Table 1 shows the percentage distribution for levels of personal happiness in Kanchanaburi province. It was found that most members of the sample group described their happiness at a level of 5, which is “not unhappy and not happy.” Only 1.5 percent of respondents reported they were “unhappiest,” while 3.4 percent of samples reported they were “happiest.” About 43 percent of the sample group reported their happiness as greater than the “not unhappy or happy” level. The total mean happiness score for respondents was 5.8, which is close to “being not unhappy and not happy”.

Table 1 Percentage distribution and mean happiness score in Kanchanaburi Province Level of Happiness

N

Percent

Mean Happiness Score

Unhappiest (0)

46

1.5

5.8

1

20

0.7

2

45

1.5

3

75

2.5

4

160

5.2

1,388

45.5

6

374

12.3

7

398

13.0

8

302

9.9

9

139

4.6

Happiest (10)

105

3.4

3,052

100.0

Not unhappy and not happy (5)

Total

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Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

Regarding the independent variables of regression analysis, Table 2 provides the mean happiness score and percentage distribution of the perceived level of pollution. It was found that, on average, members of the sample group who faced less severe pollution tended to report higher levels of happiness. Percentage distribution showed that most of the samples have no pollution in their household. There were few respondents who face strongly adverse effects of pollution, with the exception of dust and mosquito problems. Table 3 shows the mean happiness score and percentage distribution of the sample group by perceived level of social environment, which ranged from 0-8. It was found that those who have lower perceived levels of their social environment tend to report lower levels of happiness, but the mean happiness score was not much different among the different perceived levels of social environment.

Table 2 Mean happiness score and percentage distribution by perceived level of pollution in Kanchanaburi province Mean Happiness Score by Type of Pollution

Perceived Level of Pollution Not At All

Slightly

Bearable

Strongly

Noise

5.8

5.5

6.3

6.0

Smoke

5.8

6.3

5.8

5.9

Odor

5.8

6.0

6.1

5.5

Dust

5.9

5.7

5.9

5.6

Water

5.8

5.6

5.9

5.3

Garbage

5.8

5.9

5.7

6.1

Mosquito

6.0

5.9

5.8

5.7

Fly

6.0

5.8

5.7

5.4

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Percentage Distribution

Type of

Not

Pollution

At All

Slightly

Bearable

Strongly

Total

Noise

81.4

8.2

6.9

3.5

100.0

Smoke

89.1

6.5

2.8

1.6

100.0

Odor

83.3

8.7

4.4

3.6

100.0

Dust

58.9

15.3

13.3

12.5

100.0

Water

93.8

3.0

2.1

1.1

100.0

Garbage

94.5

3.7

1.2

0.5

100.0

Mosquito

16.6

17.3

28.1

37.9

100.0

Fly

43.9

26.5

17.6

12.0

100.0

Table 3 Mean happiness score and percentage distribution by perceived level of social environment in Kanchanaburi province Mean Perceived Level of

Happiness

Social Environment

Score

S.D.

Distribution

0

5.6

1.2

0.5

1

5.7

1.7

1.2

2

5.6

2.0

7.6

3

5.6

1.8

15.0

4

5.8

1.7

21.5

5

5.9

1.8

36.0

6

5.7

1.6

9.6

7

5.7

1.8

6.1

8

5.8

2.3

2.5

Total

5.8

2.5

100.0

36

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Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

Concerning control variables for regression analysis, Table 4 shows mean happiness scores and percentage distribution across the set of control variables. Members of the sample group who were young (aged 15-24) seem to be happier than adults of working age (aged 25-59).

The older population (aged 60 and over) was also happier than adults of working age, but less happy than the young. Men reported higher levels of happiness than women. Those who were single had higher levels of happiness than those who were married. Members of the sample group who did not work reported being happier than those who were worked.

The mean happiness score increased noticeably in direct correlation with level of education. Considering health status and behavior, members of the sample group who reported no illness within the past month, who didn’t smoke, and who currently exercised were happier than others. It was evident that members of the sample group who had more household possessions reported higher levels of happiness. Those who resided in small households had higher mean happiness scores than those living in large households. Those who resided in the urban stratum reported higher mean happiness scores than respondents residing in other strata.

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Table 4 Mean happiness score and percentage distribution by control variables in Kanchanaburi province Mean Control Variables

Happiness

Percentage

Score

S.D.

Distribution

15-24

6.2

1.6

12.9

25-59

5.7

1.8

68.7

60 and over

5.9

4.4

18.4

Men

5.9

1.8

43.4

Women

5.8

2.9

56.6

Single

6.3

1.7

14.5

Married

5.7

1.7

73.2

Widow/Divorced/Separated

5.8

5.3

12.2

Not working

6.0

2.0

22.9

Working

5.8

2.6

77.1

No education

5.6

5.7

10.3

Lower primary school

5.6

1.8

40.3

Primary school

5.7

1.6

19.4

Lower secondary school

6.3

1.7

12.6

Higher secondary school and higher

6.4

1.6

17.4

No illness

5.9

2.6

81.9

Have illness

5.3

2.0

18.1

Age

Gender

Marital status

Working status

Education level

Illness within 1 month

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Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

Smoking Not smoking

5.9

2.8

64.4

Smoking

5.7

1.8

35.6

Not drinking

5.8

2.8

63.6

Drinking

5.8

1.7

36.4

Not exercising

5.7

2.7

74.1

Exercising

6.2

1.7

25.9

None

5.6

3.3

37.5

1 item

5.7

1.8

29.8

2 items

6.0

1.8

19.6

3 items

6.4

1.7

8.2

4 items

6.4

1.7

4.9

Lower than 5

5.8

2.6

77.2

5 and over

5.8

1.9

22.8

Urban

6.1

3.6

28.6

Rice

5.9

1.8

35.3

Plantation

5.4

1.8

27.7

Upland

5.8

1.8

8.5

5.8

2.5

100

Alcohol drinking

Currently exercising

Number of household possessions

Household size

Strata

Total

Table 5 displays three regression models, all of which take happiness as the dependent variable. The R2 value shown at the bottom of each model shows the total amount of variance in happiness explained by all the predictors in the model.

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W. Mahaarcha and D. Mahaarcha

Model 1 begins the analysis with a focus on the relationship between happiness and control variables. The results show that gender, marital status, educational level, illness within the past month, smoking, number of household possessions, and strata are statistically significant. Males are happier than females. Those who are married are less happy than those who are single, but this difference is not statistically significant for those who are widow, divorced, and separated.

Members of the sample group who have higher levels of educational (lower secondary school and over) are happier than those with lower levels of education. Physical health has a strong relationship with psychological health. Members of the sample group who reported having an illness within the past month are less happy than those who had no illness. Also, those who smoke tend to have lower levels of happiness than those who do not smoke. Concerning economic status, those who have a greater number of household possessions have higher levels of happiness than those with a lower number of household possessions.

Compared to living in the urban stratum, those who live in the plantation stratum have lower levels of happiness.

Model 2 adds the physical environment factor of “severity of pollution.” The effects of this control variable on happiness show little change from the first model. For severity of pollution factors, the results clearly show that, holding other factors constant, dust and water pollution have a significantly negative effect on happiness. Those who live in households with more severe dust and water pollution are significantly less happy than those who live in households with less severe pollution.

The last model (Model 3) adds the social environment factor of “perceived social environment.” The effects of control variables and severity of pollution differ little from the second model. The results show that, holding the other factors constant, perceived social environment has a significantly positive effect on happiness. Those who reported a higher perceived social environment score have a higher level of happiness. Therefore, these results confirm the hypothesis that severity

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Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

of pollution decreases personal happiness, while a higher perceived social environment score increases personal happiness.

Note that the last model, which takes into account perceived social environment, explains the level of happiness much better than other models. The R2 increased significantly from Model 2 to Model 3 (about 4%) with only one variable, while the R2 from Model 1 to Model 2 with eight variables did not change.

Table 5 Regression model of the relationship between perceived physical and social environment and personal happiness in Kanchanaburi province Variables

Model 1

Model 2

Model 3

Constant

5.972***

6.053***

5.494***

Age

0.004

0.004

0.003

Male

0.221*

0.215*

0.184*

Married

-0.284*

-0.286*

-0.265**

Widow/divorced/separated

-0.162

-0.145

-0.334

-0.078

-0.068

-0.189

Lower than primary school

-0.128

-0.130

0.173

Primary school

-0.008

-0.012

0.260*

Lower secondary school

0.372*

0.375*

0.658***

Higher secondary school and over

0.395*

0.384*

0.685***

Illness within 1 month

-0.511***

-0.489***

-0.393***

Smoking

-0.246*

-0.253*

-0.172**

Alcohol drinking

-0.056

-0.040

-0.018

Currently exercising

0.140

0.128

0.155**

Number of household possessions

0.121**

0.120**

0.155***

Marital status (Single: ref.)

Working Educational level (No education: ref.)

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W. Mahaarcha and D. Mahaarcha

Household size

-0.016

-0.013

-0.021

Rice

-0.072

-0.055

0.046

Plantation

-0.372**

-0.313**

-0.196*

Upland

-0.030

0.007

0.171

Noise (0-3)

0.084

0.007

Smoke (0-3)

0.118

0.018

Odor (0-3)

-0.019

0.033

Dust (0-3)

-0.052*

-0.088**

Water (0-3)

-0.189*

-0.141*

Garbage (0-3)

0.042

0.060

Mosquito (0-3)

-0.013

-0.049

Fly (0-3)

-0.072

-0.028

Strata (Urban: ref.)

Perceived level of pollution

Perceived social environment score (0-8)

0.064**

R2

0.04

0.04

0.08

Adjusted R2

0.03

0.03

0.08

Note: *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001 Discussion

Using the survey data on well-being indicators in Kanchanaburi province, this study aims to answer the two research questions.

The first question concerns the level of happiness of people in Kanchanaburi province and the second question concerns how perceived levels of physical and social environment influence the level of happiness of people in Kanchanaburi province.

For the first research question, it was found that the average happiness level of respondents was 5.8, which is above the neutral feeling of â&#x20AC;&#x153;being not unhappy and not happy.â&#x20AC;? The average level of

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Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

happiness differs noticeably across nations. Veenhoven (2009) used an eleven-point scale for his study (0-10) to measure levels of happiness in 148 countries and found that the average level of happiness score ranged from 2.6 in Togo to 8.5 in Costa Rica. The average happiness score in Thailand is 6.6. The findings of an average happiness score of 5.8 in the present study may partly reflect the influence of Buddhist teachings to follow a moderate path or avoid extremes of happiness and sadness. Neutral responses among Thai people were also found in the Gross Domestic Happiness Index, collected monthly by an ABAC poll conducted by Assumption University (Kannika, 2009).

The predominance of Theravada Buddhism is an important aspect of Thai society since it influences Thai peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attitudes, thoughts, and ways of life. Buddhism teaches that avoiding the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification leads to vision, knowledge, awakening, and nirvana, which is the ultimate goal of Buddhists (Bhikkhu, 1996). The ultimate Buddhist goal is true happiness, that is, a spiritual happiness characterized by a freedom from craving. Inspired

by Buddhism, Thai people tend to subscribe to the Buddhist notion of seeking a path of moderation between two extremes, feeling satisfied with what they have, and not feeling that resources are inadequate to meet increasing desires. It can be said that Buddhist teachings encourage people to be happy with their current situation, and thus could account for the slightly higher than average happiness scores found in the present study.

Concerning the second research question, factors affecting the level of personal happiness, the perceived level of pollution, and perceived level of the social environment were used to assess the effects of the independent variables. It was found that both the perceived level of pollution and the perceived level of social environment statistically significantly affect the level of personal happiness, allowing for demographic and socioeconomic factors such as age, gender, marital status, working status, educational level, illness within the past month, smoking, drinking alcohol, and current exercise behaviors, number of

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household possessions, household size, and strata.

The principle finding from the second research question is that perceived level of pollution has a significantly negative effect on personal happiness, while perceived level of social environment has a significantly positive effect on personal happiness in Kanchanaburi province.

To the extent that the perceived level of pollution affects happiness, it is found that only perceived levels of dust and water pollution significantly affected personal happiness. This finding is consistent with previous research that found perceived levels of air pollution is negatively related to life satisfaction scores (Rehdanz and Maddison, 2008). Dust is one kind of air pollution that can cause harm to humans and air pollution is viewed as a stressor. Negative effects may comprise depression, anxiety, tension, helplessness, and anger (Koelega, 1987). Chattopadhyay et al. (1995) determined that residents of industrial areas are highly affected in terms of physical and mental health. They complained of throat and eye irritation, respiratory problems, tension, and anxiety much more than inhabitants of residential areas.

This study confirms the hypothesis that perceptions about polluted water lower levels of personal happiness. Safe water is essential for human daily life. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include access to an improved water source as a goal so that people in urban and rural areas can access safe drinking water. Polluted water has a harmful effect on any living thing that drinks, uses or lives in it. Polluted water may disturb the daily life of people. Israel and Levinson (2003) found that an increase in per capita water pollution is associated with a decrease in subjective well-being. Nevertheless, there might possibly be a different cause which could explain the results. Are happier people more likely to exhibit positive attitudes toward the environment?

Although previous research found the effects of perceived noise (van Praag and Baasma, 2005; Stansfeld et al., 2000) negatively affect personal happiness, this study did not find any relationship between noise

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Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

or other perceived level of pollution, on levels of personal happiness.

Although Kanchanaburi province has severe problems with mosquitos, leading to a high prevalence of malaria in the area, this does not affect happiness.

This study reveals that perceived levels of social environment are important in explaining personal happiness. When perceived levels of social environment were added to the last model, R-square values increased by about double. Allowing for perceived levels of pollution, those who reported higher perceived levels of social environment were significantly happier than those who had lower perceived levels of social environment. It seems that the hypothesis, stating that life satisfaction and happiness are the outcome of social relations and a good social environment, was clearly confirmed. Social relationships can be seen as a source of well-being (Deci and Ryan 2001), as well as the essential element necessary for humans to flourish (Ryff and Singer, 2000). The results of this study are consistent with previous research which found that social environment has a positive impact on personal health and happiness (Putnam, 2000; Pholphirul and Rakamnuaykit, 2007). Also, individuals who report themselves as living in a high-trust environment report significantly higher levels of life satisfaction and of happiness (Helliwell and Putnam, 2004).

Happiness was also examined in relation to demographic variables and health and economic factors. It was found that married people have lower levels of happiness than those who are single. Highly educated people have higher levels of happiness. As expected, physical health is strongly associated with mental health. Those who have a better health status and behavior report higher levels of happiness. Happiness appears to be increasing among those who live in richer households, when the level of happiness is positively related with number of household possessions. This study found that a certain level of economic well-being would seem to be a necessary condition for happiness. Compared with urban residents in Kanchanaburi province, those in plantation areas have lower levels of happiness.

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This study highlights the need to pay special attention to perceived levels of the environment among people in the communities.

Communities, cities, or even large social entities might be significant contexts, because at these levels important decisions about the quality of the environment are made. Community development policies and programs should take peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perceptions into consideration when striving to increase the quality of the environment to increase happiness.

Even though the present study cannot compare effects of measured and perceived environmental determinants on personal happiness, it provides the fundamental result that perception of the physical environment may be the most worthy predictor of happiness because respondents are able to include subjective perceptions about aspects of the environment that may not be captured by observer ratings made by persons unfamiliar with a particular location.

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Rehdanz, K., Maddison, D., (2008) Local Environmental Quality and Life-Satisfaction in Germany. Ecological Economics 64, 787–797.

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Integral Resolving Poverty Problem by Community Organization Case Study Northeast Area in Thailand Somsong Banjongthitithan 1*, Sutida Jamsai Whyte 1, Preecha Piampongsan 1 Faculty of Management Science, Ubon Ratchathani University, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand * Corresponding author. E-mail address: somsonglong2@yahoo.co.th 1

Abstract

The findings indicated that the poverty problem resulted in the increase of poor people and the problem could not be resolved by the factor because of prolongation and complexity of multidimensional causes. Bu Klang, Nong Phra, and Na Doon villages applied the integration for the community organization and village development projects, which was a social capital in the villages. The integration was also employed as machinery to drive poverty problem solution, leading to establishment of the community organization with financial institutions in the communities and operation of village development projects with activities for improvement of quality of peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life.

The integral development also supported learning processes, people participation, community organization management, social networks, and efficient development planning, consistent with contexts of the villages. Thus, people in the communities held potentials for development and abilities for resolving problems by themselves and self-reliance, resulting in sustainable development and social and economic security of their families and villages. For example, people could resolve their debt problems, had occupations, enhanced their quality of life and environment, kept on local wisdoms, patronized and sustained

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family institutions, and prolonged the villages along with development dynamics. All of these developments reached to modern societies.

Key Words: Poverty, Integration, Community, Organization, Adaption

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Significance

Adaptation processes of economic, society, politics, and Thai cultures partially resulted from development policies of Thai government, leading to an establishment of a modern society. The establishment of National Economic and Social Advisory Council in 1959 resulted in The First National Economic and Social Development Plan in 1961, the model scheme defining development and investment strategies of Thailand aiming to enhance the standard of living of people. The plan would focus on economic growth for increased national income of the country, by integration of social capitals to reinforce industrial sectors and services (Wongkul, 2002). Regarding these strategies, it entirely leaded to continual economic growth and increased average incomes (per person). Additionally, some products of Thailand were the world best export merchandises.

Nevertheless, the development perspective for a modern economic society was disputed on administrative power and social equity, directly correlated with economic growth. Most advantages were probably provided for only few groups of people, who worked for the industrial sectors and service organizations, while the majority especially in agricultural sectors did not receive the reasonable benefits from the growth and could not reach social capitals equally (Pan-piemras, 1990).

The majority, furthermore, were considered as marginalized people because government agricultural policies created a plenty of social problems and totally affected lifestyle of these people. Originally, people maintained their agricultural production for self-reliance in terms of economic and society and consumption in their households and communities. Then, they changed their original production to rely more on market mechanism, for increased produces, and the produce would be provided for industrial production processes and the market system, rather than household consumptions.

It could be indicated that the new agricultural production, under the government support, negatively caused the destruction of natural resources, low quality of life, and social conflicts among people who

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absolutely competed each other to occupy limited resources. These contributed to economic, social, and cultural crisis, implicitly effected people lifestyle and their living conditions. They would also confront impoverishment and higher debt: some families lost their land and lived under the poverty cycle (Chiangkul, 2004). Thus, the community agricultural sector, the core production of Thailand, was in the weak condition and then was not self-reliant.

Consciousness of problems related to economic, society, and culture under the development policies drove into an adaptation among people, who worked as farmers in the northeastern region of Thailand and faced weak the economic condition and poverty. Regarding the adaption, they could learn changing situations from several dimensions of problems for cooperated problem solutions in their communities.

Also, they would be self-reliant without any helps from the government and community organizations. The good case studies could be found in Ban Bu Klang in Nam Yuen district located in Ubon Ratchathani province, Ban Nong Phra in Pho Si Suwan district in Sisaket province, and Ban Na Doon in Lue Amnat district in Amnat Charoen province.

The communities created a social mechanism for sustainable crisis management, consistent with adaptation processes, by establishment of social and community organizations which instituted social space for suffered people. They had knowledge of result-based management for resolving poverty problem which is the main crisis of Thailand by themselves. In this study, the researcher aimed to investigate dimensions of adaptation processes of the three communities related to their power, existence, and integral resolving of poverty problem.

Preposition of the study

The development placed importance on economic and social modernization, unconditionally affected living conditions of people especially villages in rural areas. They confronted bankruptcy and lacked of knowledge management to resolve their own problems and they could not develop the community to be self-reliant.

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Purposes of the study 1. The study aimed to find adaptation processes effected on the existence of the communities.

2. The study aimed to investigate integral resolving poverty problem by community organization.

Research methodology

This study was conducted qualitatively to explain in-depth details consistent with the objectives of the study. Obtaining sufficient data could provide proper factors and conditions to describe the results of the study. Also, all collected data could help the researcher to present operational process model of the community organization contributing to the integral poverty solution.

Approach and area selection

Qualitatively, this study employed case study research with limitations of place, time, persons, and group of people (Yin, 1994 and Leedy, 1997). The qualitative methodology was presented as follows:

1. The qualitative data consisted of collected documents related to area information and other sources from secondary data such as history, map, development plan, and operational reports of the community organization. The information was significant for explanation of village contexts in several dimensions.

2. Semi-structured interview, with assigned questions and significant statements, was applied for data collection. In this interview, the sample representatives could express their attitude deeply and accurately under the assigned objectives and study framework.

3. Focus group of community organization representatives, village leaders, and villagers was also employed for data collection.

Opportunities for independent expression, discussion, and conversation related to themes of the study were provided for them, but the opinions did not implicate other people.

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4. Participant observation was applied for data collection in the three communities, by living and doing activities with villagers. This would provide phenomenological facts of social beliefs and participation in development activities.

Data analysis

The collected data was analyzed and checked according to themes of the study. The study tools were used to reorganize, find meaning, separate proper contexts, and investigate correlation of the collected data. The data analysis would identify causes, effects, times and places of situations, stake holders, and related environment conditions. The data was analyzed by both Analytic Induction and Typological Analysis because of different contexts of society, political situations, economic situations, and cultures.

Data checking

The data was checked by two levels. Firstly, Data Triangulation was used to verify content validity of the collected data by consideration of three dimensions such as time, place, and people. Secondly, Data Confirmation was applied to send the collected data back to the three communities to recheck the content validity by arrangement of a people hearing center.

Study period

This study was conducted during September 2007 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; July 2009.

Results of the study

The findings found in this study were demonstrated as follows:

1. Adaptation processes effected on the village existence

Adaptation processes played a key important role to resolve troubles in Ban Bu Klang, Ban Nong Phra, and Ban Na Doon. The processes could encourage people to help themselves in both economic and social conditions. There were supported factors of potential

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development and village strength, as describe below.

1.1 Regarding social factors of people and social groups under social relationship, people in the communities altogether determined objectives, ideology, beliefs through knowledge management and people participation. Thus, people were awakened to attend development activities and 50 community organizations were established to enhance economic, social, and culture developments.

1.2 In accordance with economic factors of production and living conditions under the economic adaptation, people in the communities could absolutely summarize problems and find guidelines, approaches, and resolutions of problems. Efficiently, they gave priority to social capitals such as wisdom, man, and resource capitals as a problem explication of production and living conditions in the communities. The establishment of financial institutions and community rice banks was a major power for problem solutions. People held economic adaptation, self-reliance, saving money, vocational training, community welfares, and sustainability of problem management.

1.3 Founding of a social network was an adaptation process in the dimension of development network. The communities provided social space for knowledge management and participant development activities among people in both inside and outside villages. The real practice and information exchange leaded to application of outside knowledge for problem solution corresponded with the villagesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; contexts.

2. Integral resolving poverty problem by community organization It could be said that the poverty problem could not be absolutely resolved because of its complexity of causes connected to other social problems. The solution processes of the communities, in consequence, were successful by integrating the communities as the center to solve the problem efficiently. The main content could be explained as follow: 2.1 Social capitals, used for development mechanism, comprised of abstract and concrete capitals. Abstract capitals consisted of thinking power, harmony, wisdoms, customs, and traditions while

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concrete capitals were resources, social organizations, philosophers, and village leaders. The two capitals were applied for the operation of the community organization, with a diversity of activities, effecting positive thinking approach for problem solutions. Hence, people could sustainably resolve troubles concerning economic, society, and quality of life.

2.2 Cognitive process among people resulted in resultbased operation and integral activity arrangement for systematic village development. Cognitive process was not only information exchange, but also was the finding of proper activities consistent with perspectives of problems related to economic, society, and quality of life. Also, outside learning provided more vocational and development experiences, consistent with existent social capitals. Therefore, the communities held a diversity of useful activities and met the peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs of grievance solutions.

2.3 According to development participation, the communities opened social space for all stake holders such as people, community leaders, and organizations for cooperation of planning, decision, and development to reach the final goals. The community organization founding, activity selection, operational development, beneficial management, and monitoring and controlling could efficiently resolve the poverty problem. For instance, it helped people to hold more saving money, managed household debts, promoted vocational trainings, and supported community welfares, etc.

2.4 In accordance with development activities, the organization could expand activities of production processes, decision, and management. The community financial institution played as Working Capital Fund for members. Furthermore, it supported cultural activities, ethical awareness, and quality of life such as community welfares procurement and allurement prohibition in both individual and family levels. Dharma training courses were also arranged in every Buddhist holy day. The community rice bank not only solved paddy shortage of suffered villagers, but also supported events for increased

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incomes such as catfish and frog feeding for household consumption, selling, or making merits.

2.5 The development activities of the communities were successful and sustainable because of several factors such as community committee, activities, requirements, financial management, conferences, and audit. All factors did not work together for adhocmissions, but long term continual cooperation.

2.6 The social network was established in two levels: area-based and activity- based networks. Area-based network provided orientation for information exchange and creation of new knowledge sources of community development. Activity-based network, additionally, supported community activity arrangement, drove social networks for cooperation, created negotiation power with outside communities in terms of production, consumption, marketing, and resource management.

Therefore, Activity-based network was the entire answer for poverty resolving in the selected areas.

3. Outcomes of integral resolving poverty problem by community organization It was demonstrated that resolving poverty problem by the community organization, under using of social capitals, cognitive processes, participation, development activities, and social networks was the key mechanism of community development leading to people adaptation and community enhancement. People were more self-reliant and independent to express opinions and manage their community for sustainability. The integration resulted in unity and completeness of the communities especially poverty resolving as presented below.

3.1 The financial institution, served as a working capital fund and a saving center, now occupies over 50 millions THB of its working capital. Also, the rice bank holds over 20 carts (unit of capacity for paddy or rice equivalent to 2,000 liters/a cart) of total reserved rice.

3.2 The financial institution of the three communities provided a loan service for the members for resolving grievance problems of individual and families. The loan service was also available

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for occupational trainings. Nowadays, there are over 47 millions THB of a total loan with 1,700 loan accounts. The rice bank of Ban Nong Phra, served as a community organization, provided a food security and the center of paddy seeds for household rice production.

3.3 The financial institution supplied community welfares for members in case of injury and death. It also offered home loan campaigns provided for 16 low-incomes families with occupational training. The welfares could help people to have sufficient earnings and they did not need to work outside the communities.

3.4 The development processes of economic, society, culture, and quality of life were operated continually, leading to development activity expansion under peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s support. People gathered to perform activities for integral resolving of all troubles to reach the sustainable existence and completeness of the communities.

3.5 The project of debt solution was available for families with outside bounded debts. The financial institution would carry out a debt negotiation between creditors and members (debtors). After the collective agreement, all debts from creditors would be transferred and managed by the financial institutions. The member could pay, in the reasonable rate based on their earnings, for principles and interests of a loan. The loan contract could be edited by consideration of suitable payment periods. There are now over 50 members of the project.

3.6 Development of technical skills and academic techniques could enhance knowledge perception of people. Organizational committee arranged production and transformation training and organizational management project as a learning and experience exchange center. Also, people could spend their free time worthily to earn more money.

3.7 Cooperation among social networks could enhance negotiation power, in several dimensions, resulting in efficient poverty solution and entire development of the three communities.

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4. Conclusion

4.1 The adaptation process, affecting the villageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existence, was an effort to find the method and model of villageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s survival under the current dynamic period caused by development policies of the country.

The villages employed significant methods such as social organization establishment and community-based organization model, the social capital in the villages used as a mechanism for poverty solution. For this reason, adaptation process of economic, society, and culture was appeared and the villagers focus on the importance on mental development by social value establishment. The mental development could change personal attitudes and behaviors for appropriate self-reliance. At the village level, the established organizations played an important role to support and form a movement of balanced and sustainable potential enhancement.

4.2 The integration of social organizations, for problem solution of poverty and poor, was indentified as the cycles of liability and poor, a social phenomenon, were long appeared. The integration, therefore, was the key answer, derived from the combination and application of concepts, methodology, activities and dimensional work processes under social capital of the villages, in order to reach the development objective. The integration processes were ordered to create a completed knowledge source, leading to independent development and self-reliance, in terms of economic and society, of people. Such integration reflected value-based social beliefs, resulting in public peace and strong organizations for efficient poverty solution. The poor had more social spaces to information and knowledge sharing. They also had equal development participation, pride and peaceful association in the villages.

Discussion and Recommendations

According to findings of the study, there were six discussions and recommendations as following perspectives:

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1. Social equity Although policies of poverty and poor solutions from the governments were urgently determined, the problems were not suitably untangled and they appeared more complicated especially the contribution of government budgets to the villages. This was because lacking of appropriate checking and auditing. Also, attitude conflict concerning budget management, among villagers or between villagers and government offices, were found.

Pan-piemras (1990) and Chiangkul (2004) indicated that development distribution and social equity were directly correlated with economic growth. Majority working in agricultural sectors did not receive economic advantages, consistent with the findings of this study explaining changes of economic, societies, and cultures in the villages under the development policies. It was noticed that the policies affected people life style and living conditions especially unequal distributions of natural resources, incomes, production inputs, and social capitals leading to the poverty problem.

2. Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s adaptation processes The strategic development to modern economic and society was the significant causes of changes of people life style and value, consistent with Wongkul (2002). The union of people and social relationship was effect and villages depended on external factors in terms of production and living. Social relationship was not self-reliant and assistance from government, private sectors, and politicians appeared in the form of patronage system. People focused more on value significance than their unity.

Economic and Society should be strong and secured, based on its backgrounds. People should be more self-reliant concerning production and living. Social capital of communities should be prior considered, as people can wisely live under the dynamic society. If social capitals can be integrally applied for poverty solution policies, efficient solution processes will be seen. This may be a correct answer since village contexts were antecedently determined rather than urgent development

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policies of the government but lacking of people participation of all levels in the societies.

3. Establishment of integral mechanism for development The integral resolving poverty problem depended on significant management by consideration of villageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contexts, not just its definition. The findings demonstrated that integral resolving could enhance abundant villages and new knowledge sources by driving of social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions for reaching the shared development objective.

The integral poverty resolving developed the balanced social relationship among people and diversity advancement. Both money and merit system of individual and family should be reconsidered for productive poverty solution.

4. Learning process of people The findings indicated that learning process and community participation should be determined in all processes of development as they were basic potential development of people for systematic and sustainable problem solution. Unless, problems especially poverty problems, resulted from government development policies related to nationwide people, will be pending.

5. Development of community economic and culture dimensions Independence of production and consumption of local people leaded to their absolute self-reliance. The findings pointed out that several villages employed development methodology concerning community economic and culture dimensions consistent with their contexts.

Thus, for efficient and successful integration of poverty problem resolving, government and related participants should give precedence to such methodology, define such it as strategic development, and broadcast it to all sectors of societies. The community will properly survive under consumerism and can resolve social conflicts.

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6. In accordance with recommendations for further study, the scope of this study should be broadened because the related studies of are rare especially the focus on specific community case studies. The poverty solution of different community contexts expresses dissimilar methodology and process dimensions. The findings of this study should be raised to determine as the strategic development of the country by application of such model integration, for need access of people.

Furthermore, cooperation of several member networks to resolve poverty and poor problems, in all levels, will be perceptible.

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to many people for their assistance in the completion of this thesis. First of all, I profoundly appreciated the advice and feedback of my advisors Dr Suthida Jamsai White (Faculty of Management Science in Ubon Ratchathani University) and Dr Preecha Piampongsan. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Valaya Alongkok Rajabhat University under Royal Patronage, my original affiliation where offering scholarship and facilities throughout the thesis.

I would like to give my special thanks to Graduate School of Ubon Ratchathani University for helpful suggestions during my thesis.

I would like to display my sincere thanks to government agencies in the districts of Nam Yuen, Pho Si Suwan, Lue Amnat, and related departments for their facilities during my data collection. Furthermore, village leaders and villagers in Bu Klang, Nong Phra, and Na Doon villages were appreciated for their accommodations, assistance as their family members, and well-groomed cooperation.

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References Chiangkul, Vittayagorn. (2004) Sustainable Development and Poverty Solution. Video Institution: Wisdom. Amarin Printing and Publishing Public Company Limited.

Leedy, P.D. (1997) Practical Research Planning and Design. United States of America, Prentice-Hall, Inc. Pan-piemras, Kosit. (1990) Development of Thailand: Concepts and Directions. Collection of Articles and Descriptions from 19711991. Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board.

Wongkul, Vittaya. (2002) Problems of Strategic Planning for Learning of Community and Society: The Case of Poor People Found in Current Crisis Period. Narong Petprasert, Editor. P. 50-48.

Bangkok: Edison Press Product.

Yin, R. K, (2003) Case Study Research: Design and Methods. United Kingdom. Sage Publications, Inc.

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Language Change: a Cognitive Linguistic Approach Jason Reeve 1* Department of Western Languages, Faculty of Archaeology, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand * Corresponding author. E-mail address: silpakornjason@yahoo.com 1

Facsimile from the 1611 King biblicalscholarship.com/400th.htm

James

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Bible:

http://www.

Language Change: a Cognitive Linguistic Approach

J. Reeve

Introduction

This paper considers an alternative approach to analyzing language change: cognitive linguistic evidence. In doing so, fundamental cognitive linguistic theories of embodiment (Lakoff and Johnson 1999), figure and ground (Ungerer and Schmid 1996:156-204), the dominant (Jakobson 1985:25-28) and image schema (Langacker 1986, 1987, 1991) will be utilized as a backbone for explaining language change. The paper starts by detailing the instruments that underpin the investigation. Subsequently, two versions of The Lordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prayer will be presented with an explanation of their suitability as test subjects for language change. The core of the paper comprises of a cognitive linguistic analysis of language change in The Lordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prayer between 1611 and 1977, followed by a brief consideration of the wider implications of cognitive linguistic approaches to language change. In sum, the paper aims to demonstrate that cognitive linguistics provides a methodology which can be productively used to study language change, as demonstrated by a cognitive linguistic analysis of change within The Lordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prayer over a 366 year period.

Some preliminary background

Traditionally, the study of language change has focused around the lower and central levels of the linguistic scale: phonology, morphology, lexicology and syntax/semantics. For example Freeborn initiates his prefaces to the second edition of From Old English to Standard English by stating: The text of the first edition has been completely revised and enlarged to include nearly two hundred historical texts, of which more than half are reproduced in facsimile. The facsimiles are primary sources of our knowledge of the language, illustrating the development of handwriting, printing, punctuation and spelling in a way which is not possible using modern printed versions of old texts. ( Freeborn 2006:xi)

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The words I’ve underlined highlight the abstraction ‘knowledge of the language’ within ‘punctuation and spelling’ which is commonly used as the basis to study language change. Freeborn continues (2006:xii): ‘Change takes place at every level of language: Lexical…

Semantic… Syntactic… Phonological.’; the striking contradiction here is that ‘every level’ only includes the mid and lower levels, namely: lexical, semantic, syntactic and phonological. Hogg and Denison (2006) in A history of the English language split their book into nine chapters: Overview, Phonology and morphology, Syntax, Vocabulary, Standardization, Names, English in Britain, English in North America, English worldwide. The core focus, once again, is on the central and lower regions of the linguistic scale (as I’ve underlined). April McMahon’s 1994 edition titled Understanding Language Change has twelve chapters (Introduction/Three views of sound change,/ Sound change 2/Morphological change/Syntactic change 1/Word order change and grammaticalization/Semantic and lexical change/ Language contact/Linguistic variation/Pidgins and creoles/Language death/Linguistic evolution) which cover a wide area, with the notable exclusion of the pragmatic and socio-linguistic levels, as well as language use, meaning and understanding—none of these three volumes list the words ‘meaning’ or ‘understanding’ in their indexes.

Whilst acknowledging the importance of works such as the ones

by Freeborn, Hogg & Denison and McMahon, this paper offers an alternative approach which concerns itself with language user construal rather than language assembly, and a cognitive linguistic framework is proposed to better reflect this aim. In recent years, cognitive science has been increasingly used by linguistic analysts, as evidenced by Patricia Canning’s (2008) article ‘the bodie and the letters both’: ‘blending’ the rules of early modern religion which uses Conceptual Integration Theory (Fauconnier and Turner 2002, Turner 2006) to analyze a sixteenth century poem called JESU; the abstract states: ‘To date, no-one to my knowledge has applied this theory in an early modern text’. Although Canning wasn’t specifically concerned with language

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change, but rather ‘the material effects of this cognitive linguistic phenomenon in the significantly literary theological context of early modern England’, (the abstract’s closing statement), Canning’s use of cognitive linguistic tools to understand meaning has set a precedent that the current essay adheres to.

In summary, this paper considers language change through a user centric approach—moving beyond ‘knowledge of the language’ into ‘knowledge of the use of the language’.

Cognitive linguistic tools

This section outlines the cognitive linguistic tools chosen for the study: image schema, the dominant, and figure and ground, as well as relating them to the study of language change.

Image Schema

To understand image schema we first need to outline the pivotal cognitive linguistic notion called embodiment. Joan Bybee (2007:969), a leading scholar within diachronic linguistics and language change, states that: ‘…even the most abstract of grammatical notions can be traced back to very concrete, often physical or locational concepts involving the movement and orientation of the human body in space…’.

A number of her books and articles (1984, 1994 and 2001) highlight embodiment at both the core of language and of language change, as do many other diachronic linguistic practitioners (Anderson 1971, Haspelmath 1989, Heine, Claudi and Hunnemeyer 1991). So, within Cognitive Linguistics, researchers understand embodiment to be a fundamental mechanism forming human language; physical, personal and social—neuroscience and psycholinguistics are two supporting legs that provide empirical research (Raymond Gibbs probably being the best known exponent).

From the 1970’s when Lakoff and Johnson’s study on metaphor began to elaborate a theory of embodiment, many related theories have been developed; one being image schema, which was developed by Johnson in the early eighties. He says: ‘patterns emerge

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primarily as meaningful structures for us chiefly at the level of our bodily movements through space, our manipulation of objects, and our perceptual interactions’ (1987:29) which links to Bybee’s words above in respect to the body and its movement through space as being directly analogous to core language creation. An often cited example is the CONTAINMENT image schema where the experience of our body moving through containment experiences is prevalent and central to language: we take a pencil ‘out’ of a pencil case then hold it ‘in’ our hand; we get ‘up out of’ bed then go ‘into’ the kitchen, sit ‘in’ a chair then dip our biscuits ‘in’ our tea. As can be seen in these examples, prepositions are very often signals of spacial movement, of image schemas, thus for our analysis of The Lord’s Prayer we will use image schemas to analyze the change in prepositional phrases over time.

Figure and Ground

Construal is at the heart of this cognitive linguistic tool, where construal implies a choice of linguistic explanation between participants, features and their relations, for example: the dog is under the table/the table is over the dog, are two construals of the same information, both offering different interpretations that lead to differing mental processing and understanding. Verhagen (2007:48) aptly explains: ‘a cluster of stars and specs of light in the sky evoke their objects of conceptualization by combining several elements into a whole in some particular way, while the lexical item constellation does not’ (original italics).

Figure and ground was introduced into linguistics from gestalt studies in psychology, by Talmy in 1978. Talmy explained how the ‘figure’ is perceived as the prominent coherent element when set against a ‘ground’; in my example above, ‘the dog’ is initially the figure set off against ‘the table’ (the ground), whereas ‘the table’ is figured in the second sentence which results in a different understanding of the same situation. To paraphrase Verhagen (2007:50): lexical items, different lexical verbs, progressive verb constructions and active/ passive distinctions, are all examples of figure and ground. He offers

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the progressive construction of the verb ‘to be’ as an example where be+V-ing ‘can be said to impose a particular profile on the interpretation of the clause, backgrounding any boundaries of the designated process, irrespective of the meaning of the verb’. Thus, noun phrase and verb phrase change in The Lord’s Prayer will be analyzed utilizing Figure and Ground.

The Dominant

This tool derives from Cognitive Poetics rather than Cognitive Linguistics, and is a commonly used tool (initially discussed by Roman Jakobson in the Matejka and Pomorska collection), highly productive for linguistic analysis. Stockwell (2002:14) explains the tool as: ‘The feature that is determined to be the organizing element, or seems most striking in the text’, going on to state ‘The dominant is a sort of super-foregrounded figure, around which the rest of the literary text is dynamically organized’. Notable examples would be Graham Greene’s use of a Catholic theme in Monsignor Quixote, Zadie Smith’s very detailed descriptive writing in On Beauty and the use of simple rhyming within children’s nursery rhymes—where theme, description and rhyme, are the respective dominants.

Within The Lord’s Prayer, the largest area of language change can be attributed to function words (pronouns, conjunctions and determiners), and is thus considered the dominant for the purposes of this language change analysis.

The Lord’s Prayer (http://www.lords-prayer-words.com/)

How old texts thought in comparison to present day texts is a rarely explored question, but one that this paper attempts to shed light upon. Cognition centered analysis of a Middle English (ME) and Early Modern English (EME) texts when compared, via a similar process, to a Present Day English (PDE) text could afford exceptional insight into language change at the cognitive level. Most EME texts avail an unstable variety of English (highly dialectal and variable), and this paper insists on a standard vernacular—or the closest approximation

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available. One text stands out due to its consistent English: the King James Bible (KJB); with the advent of the printing press, ‘English’ gaining high status in areas such as politics, court language and politics, as well as the power struggle between the Vatican and English kings, the pieces of the historic jigsaw were in place to develop a standardized national English: the KJB. And, within the greater text, the Lord’s Prayer, specifically interests us because of its manageable size and regular usage throughout the last 400 years, offering a great opportunity for comparison.

King James Version/Middle English Version (MEV): these are the words from the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13, taken from the King James Bible (authorized version of the scriptures; King James Version - 1611) Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.

Amen.

Present Day English Version (PDEV): adopted by the Church of England in 1977 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours. Now and for ever.

Amen.

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Language Change: a Cognitive Linguistic Approach

No

Function Word

Verb Phrase

Noun Phrase

Prepositional Phrase

Punctuation

which art-0

1 2

thy-your

3

Thy-Your

4

Thy-your

in earth-on earth

5 6

Thy-your in earth,-,on earth

it is-0

7

this-today

8

And-0

9

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J. Reeve

debts-sins our debtorsthose who sin against us And-0

12

from evil:from evil.

13

0-(new line) thine is-0

15

16

18

and-0 (embedded) and the glory(compound) 0-are yours (new line)0now and

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,for ever.-now and forever.

Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

Cognitive linguistic analysis of language change

Below, a table details the differences between the MEV and the PDEV; the MEV is the prototype. (Note: The prototypical six lines have been extended to seven lines in the PDEV.) The Dominant: function words

The sheer number of function word revisions (over 40% of changes identified), and their commonly held subject position (3 out of the 5 MEV sentences begin with words highlighted in this section: Thy, And, And), cognitively determines them as the preeminent textual alteration; the dominant.

The three instances of thy can be considered a standard sociolinguistic change which heavily impacts the sense of the prayer.

Freeborn notes in A Course Book in English Grammar (1995:77) that ‘the older forms of the 2nd person pronoun were once used to mark social relationships between speakers’ (original bolding). Thy/thine were the highest status terms with thou/thee as high status terms while ye/you/your/yours were the standard status terms. Thou/thee (although ‘thou’ was considered archaic by the seventeenth century) are still used in a few dialects, but thy/thine (which would be used to address Gods, Kings and Lords) fell out of use by the end of the middle English period—this convergence of pronouns falls in-line with the historic development of democratic institutions and social equality, and as such demonstrates how society and language naturally mirror one-another; the impact for the prayer is that Our Father loses status, linguistically speaking, in the PDEV.

Additionally, Thy from the middle clause in the second line is very powerful in the MEV/EME where the word form status and capitalization both spotlight and refigure Our Father. The PDEV moves towards grounding this effect by removing both spotlights; replacing Thy with a basic your.

The deicic weakening device of changing this day, where the deicic this spotlights the deicic centre very much at the moment of

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speaking, to today where the far less emotive generic adverbial is occluded by the verb give, has the effect of removing the immediacy and intimacy of the request/utterance.

The two Ands in sentence initially position ground the sentences, thus enabling this day to further hold the deicic centre and figured position; highlighting the intimacy and directness of communication with Our Father; removing them in the PDEV diminishes the strength of the bond to Our Father. Removing and from For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, deconstructs the equilibrium between kingdom/power/glory with kingdom being occluded by power and glory.

Considered as a whole, the function word alterations produce the effect of cognitively detaching the reader’s affinity with God and heaven (present in the MEV) whilst augmenting the more worldly appeal of power and glory (in the PDEV).

Figure and Ground: verb phrases

Even though only one verb phrase change takes place between the two prayer versions, being associated with the very first noun phrase, which is the focus of the entire prayer, it naturally obtains special significance. The MEV immediately spotlights and figures Our Father because of the initial subject positioning which is maintained throughout the prayer. The subject, Our Father, is followed by an embedded phrase which art in heaven (where the modern translation of which art becomes ‘who is’) that acts as an attractor further figuring Our Father; a very powerful initial subject position figuring.

In contrast, the PDEV removes the embedded verb phrase, leaving a much weaker preposition phrase: Our Father in heaven.

Whilst we can’t say that the alteration fully grounds Our Father, it certainly detracts from the force exhibited by the MEV/EME; thus, being in initial noun phrase position, limiting the force which Our Father holds upon the entire prayer—Our Father, God, has been linguistically relegated in the PDEV.

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Figure and Ground: noun phrases

It is refers to and spotlights (foregrounding) God’s will (Thy will be done); by removing it is, the PDEV occludes Thy will with on earth—a textual movement away from God towards mankind.

The next noun phrase changes are superficially apparent: debts/our debtors in the MEV to sins/those who sin against us in the PDEV, where a physical entity, debt, is replaced by a moral entity, sin; foregrounding man’s spirituality, rather than the worldly of the MEV.

The final clause in the penultimate line of the MEV/EME starts with [For] thine is, but it’s replaced in the PDE version by are yours which is situated at the end of the clause. Both the status of Thine and holding subject position are foregrounding devices whereas a standard possessive pronoun/determiner and holding final clausal position are not—once again the PDEV removes linguistic devices which foreground Our Father.

The above effect (For thine is) of spotlighting Our Father in the MEV/EME is magnified, re-spotlighted (re-foregrounded), by compounding (,and the power, and the glory) which refers to thine is on each occasion. The PDEV’s For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours doesn’t spotlight yours (our father’s) at all.

The addition of Now in the last line of the PDEV adds a propinquity of time that the MEV, which focuses on Our Father for whom time is immaterial, doesn’t exhibit. The general shift away from God as the foregrounded subject of the MEV towards man as the theme of the PDEV designates time, Now, as pertinent.

Image Schema: preposition phrases

In earth is a CONTAINMENT image schema where the ‘trajector’ (our father’s kingdom) is contained and thus restricted within the ‘landmark’ earth. The PDEV version uses a different image schema where on earth has the same ‘trajector’ (our father’s kingdom) and the same ‘landmark’, but the PATH image schema on is, as the name suggests, a single point within a much wider context—a 77

Language Change: a Cognitive Linguistic Approach

J. Reeve

journey. When considered in unison with the next phrase which is also a CONTAINMENT image schema (in heaven), the MEV/EME shows two distinct CONTAINMENT image schemas whereas the PDEV contruals one image schema leading into another; a PATH leading to a CONTAINMENT/earth leading to heaven—a journey ending in heaven; the motivation of the journey is ‘man’s plight/path’ whereas the MEV emphasizes Our Father’s kingdoms.

Image Schema: punctuation

The example immediately above is also supported by the change in punctuation, where the MEV uses standard comma usage for compounding two independent clauses, but the PDEV removes the comma which created a dependency; indeed ‘on earth as in heaven’ could almost be understood as a noun phrase (NP+PP=NP).

The penultimate line of the EME/MEV’s ‘from evil:’ is changed to ‘from evil.’ in the present day English version, and this has two effects: the prayer is extended by one line in the PDEV; the colon in the EME/MEV acts as an ENABLEMENT image schema which is completely disregarded in the PDEV, with the effect that Our Father who enables our deliverance in the EME/MEV no longer does so in the PDEV—it is left to us; God’s power is diminished in the PDEV (a consistent pattern). The author’s desire to detach the correlation of Our Father with the enabler of deliverance is so keen that they are prepared to add an new line to the prayer—the singly most visible change.

The MEV/EME ends the prayer with a CONTAINMENT image schema, for ever, which limits man’s potential—we are contained/ we are limited. But, the PDEV changes to a PART_WHOLE image schema, Now and for ever, which also exhibit a PATH and SCALE image schema qualities; these image schemas empower man as being part of a whole, the figured element on a path and a member of a scale.

Additionally, in the PDEV the immediacy of Now is figured by initial sentence position, punctuation and subject position, a striking change from the MEV/EME—now (time) has no meaning for an eternal God,

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but is very relevant for mankind.

Interestingly, the different cognitive linguistic tools show similar language change effects:

- The dominant shows Our Father losing status in the PDEV.

- Figure and ground shows a textual-theme movement away from God towards mankind in the PDEV.

- Image schema shows a movement away from the MEV’s focus on God’s enablement towards the PDEV’s focus on Man’s plight.

Future implication for a cognitive linguistic approach to language change

This paper proposed examining cognitive linguistic evidence for language change in order to shed light on how texts ‘think’, or more correctly: how texts direct construal.

This analysis of the Lord’s prayer has demonstrated the power of cognitive linguistic tools to illuminate meaning and understanding in a way that traditional grammar/lexical centric techniques don’t address because they are focused on form and functions rather than our cognitive processes and meaning creation. As such, cognitive linguistics offers excellent potential to supplement existing techniques and reach beyond our current understanding of language change.

Moving beyond this paper, salience and entrenchment are two further cognitive linguistic primaries which should be added to our analytical arsenal to help explain word choices and construals through socio-linguistic and cognitive processes; I believe at this point we would have begun to deeply understand language change and what texts think.

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References Baugh, A. C., and T. Cable. (2002) A History of the English Language, 5th edition. London: Routledge.

Burke, M. (2003) Literature as parable. In: Gavins, J. and Steen, G. Cognitive Poetics in Practice. New York: Routledge, pp.

115-128.

Bybee, J. (2007) Diachronic Linguistics. In: Geeraerts, H., and Cuyckens, H. The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics.

Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.945-987.

Canning, P. (2008) ‘the bodie and the letters both’: ‘blending’ the rules of early modern religion’, Language and Literature, 17: 187-204.

Fauconnier, G and Turner, M. (2002) The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities. New York: Basic Books.

Freeborn, D. (2006) From Old English to Standard English, 3rd edition.

Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Gavins, J. (2003) An exploration of the text worlds of Donald Barthelme’s Snow White. In: Gavins, J. and Steen, G. Cognitive Poetics in Practice. New York: Routledge, pp.129-144.

Gibbs, R. (2003) Prototypes in dynamic meaning construal. In: Gavins, J. and Steen, G. Cognitive Poetics in Practice. New York: Routledge, pp.27-40.

Hogg, R., and Denison, D. (2006) A History of the English Language.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jakobson, R. (1960) Closing statement: linguistics and poetics. In:, pp.48-54.

Johnson, M. (1987) The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Lakoff, G., and Johnson, M. (1999) Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Pres.

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Langacker, R. W. (1986) ‘An Introduction to Cognitive Grammer’, Cognitive Science, 10: 1-40.

Langacker, R. W. (1987) Foundations of Cognitive Grammar i.

California: Stanford University Press.

Langacker, R. W. (1991) Foundations of Cognitive Grammar ii.

California: Stanford University Press.

McMahon, A. M. S. (1994) Understanding Language Change.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Stockwell, P. (2002) Cognitive Poetics: An Introduction. London: Routledge.

Talmy, L. (1978) Figure and ground in complex sentences. In: Greenberg, J. (ed.) Universals of Human Language (vol.4).

Standford: Stanford University Press, pp.627-649.

Turner, M. (2006) ‘Compression and Representation’, Language and Literature, 15(1): 17-27.

Ungerer, F., and Schmid, H-J. (1996) An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. London: Longman.

Verhagen, A. (2007) Construal and Perspectivization. In: Geeraerts, H., and Cuyckens, H. The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.48-81.

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Book Review 50 Years of Archaeology in Southeast Asia: Essays in Honour of Ian Glover, edited by Bérénice Bellina, Elisabeth A. Bacus, Thomas Oliver Pryce & Jan Wisseman Christie, River Books 2010 Stephen A Murphy 1* Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: stepheninasia@hotmail.com

This compact and well illustrated volume celebrates the career of one of Southeast Asia’s best known archaeologists, Ian C. Glover. Over the past 50 years he has carried out research on a wide range of topics, periods and regions of Southeast Asia, including East Timor (for his doctoral research), Vietnam (at the Cham site of Tra Kieu) and Central Thailand (at the Iron Age site of Ban Don Ta Phet). After being based initially at the Australian National University in Canberra, he moved to the Institute of Archaeology at the University of London in 1970. From here he became not only one of the main researchers on Southeast Asian archaeology, but perhaps more importantly one of the leading teachers of this sometimes neglected subject area in the discipline of archaeology.

The proof of Ian’s teaching prowess can be seen in the make-up of this book with many of the contributors being his former students.

The book is divided into five parts, which reflects both Ian Glover’s research interests and those of his students who have built and developed further our knowledge of these areas. Part I is an overview of Ian’s work by David Bulbeck and Charles Higham. Part II takes us back to Ian’s earliest research interests, that is, hunter-gatherer societies with chapters from Rasmi Shoocongdej, Ryan Rabbett and Graeme Barker, and Nuno Vasco Oliveira providing a good overview of this subject Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts Vol.11 (1) : 82-84, 2011

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matter. Part III looks at an area in which Ian focused most of his research on, that is, the origins of complex societies and early states. Chapters in this section focus on Ban Don Ta Phet in Thailand and Tra Kieu in Vietnam as well as contributions from Island Southeast Asia. Students and researchers of Southeast Asian archaeology and history should find this section useful as it provides a good example of how archaeologists have attempted to research and find answers to questions regarding social complexity and early state formation in a Southeast Asian context.

Part IV, “Craft production and exchange” explores issues of technology and production in Southeast Asia. Hsiao-Chun Hung and Peter Bellwood’s article highlights some interesting issues in regard to the extent of trade networks after 500 BCE while Srinivassan’s paper provides a welcome ethnographic component in her attempts to explain high-tin bronze production in India. High-tin bronze bowls were one of the most important finds from Ian Glover’s Ban Don Ta Phet excavations. Other chapters in this section, while significant, may prove too technical in some aspects to readers who are not experts in these fields and the editors could perhaps have asked the contributors to have pitched them at a somewhat more accessible level. Part V “Colonialism and Archaeology” while containing two thought-provoking essays on the subject, unfortunately feels like a somewhat token gesture due to its brevity. This section really needed at least two more chapters to do this important area of archaeology the justice it deserves. The editors could have reduced Part III from eight chapters to six or perhaps five and increased Part V to four or five. This would have given the volume as a whole a more balanced feel while allowing for a more in depth discussion of the effects and role of non-Southeast Asian archaeologists working in this region in both a colonial and post colonial context.

This book should be of use to students and researchers of not only Southeast Asia archaeology, but it chapters, particularly those on technical subjects (such as Castillo and Fuller’s contribution on archaeobotany), should provide useful case-studies for archaeology at large. River Books is to be complimented for its design and production

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Book Review

values resulting in the book not only being academically rigorous, but also visually appealing.

50 Years of Archaeology in Southeast Asia: Essays in Honour of Ian Glover is a significant and important addition to not only the archaeological literature of Southeast Asia, but to the discipline of archaeology at large and is a fitting tribute to the career of Ian Glover.

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