Buddhism And Thai Language

[DrBooze]

I don't know which forum this should be in... Buddhism or Thai Language.

People often drop their pronouns when speaking Thai. "I don't like..." becomes "mai chorp..." and so on.

I was wondering if this has any relationship to Buddhist ideas and practices. For example, when making notes in mental notes in meditation the practitioner is discouraged from using personal pronouns.

Any thoughts on this? Is this common to the region - or does this kind of thing happen in other Buddhist countries, such as Sri Lanka?

[meadish_sweetball]

Interesting angle DrBooze, but I'd say probably not.

This feature is common to many East Asian languages (as is the larger number of pronouns to choose between in order to designate your relationship to (respect/lack of respect for, family ties, friendship, official relation etc.), so I think it is something that goes back a long time, even before Buddhist times... not that I am sure, it is just my hunch. Maybe somebody else has more to offer on the subject - Abandon, Sabaijai, Camerata, Richard W... etc.?

Another language that shows a similar lack of pronouns is Spanish, whose cultural base is anything but Buddhist. In Spanish the personal pronouns are not necessary because the verb in itself is always declined to show which person is being referred to.

So I dont think that this practice has to do with Buddhism.

It is notable that this lack of pronouns is normally only used when it is otherwise clear from the context who the statement is referring to. If there is any doubt, a personal pronoun will be inserted - it is just that it isn't obligatory to do so.

[sabaijai]

I agree, I doubt it's related. Monks use pronouns more than laypeople, for one thing (atamaa for 'I' and yom for 'you/he/she').

[bankei]

I think it is common in many Asian languages to omit the topic or subject of a sentence. It is very common in Japanese too.

I too doubt it is related to Buddhism.

Bankei