Linguistic Diversity and National Unity: Language Ecology in Thailand

by William A. Smalley and William Smally

Book Overview

Unlike other multi-ethnic nations, such as Myanmar and India, where official language policy has sparked bloody clashes, Thailand has maintained relative stability despite its eighty languages. In this study of the relations among politics, geography, and language, William A. Smalley shows how Thailand has maintained national unity through an elaborate social and linguistic hierarchy.

Smalley contends that because the people of Thailand perceive...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226762890
• ISBN13: 9780226762890
• Release Date: June 1994
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 452 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.1"