本論文旨在透過以下三個研究問題探討緬甸語中孟語與高棉語借詞的語音與語義特徵及其意涵：(i) 緬甸語中是否同時存在著孟語與高棉語的借詞；(ii) 是否有任何語音特徵可以用來區分緬語中的孟語與高棉語的借詞係來自不同時期的孟語和高棉語；(iii) 孟語和高棉語的借詞涵蓋哪些語義領域以及其所代表的語言與文化接觸上的意涵？
筆者參酌 Shorto (2006)《孟語和高棉語比較詞典》所提供之2,090個詞彙，分析出73 個緬甸語與孟語或高棉語呈現形與意相似的詞彙。在這73 個詞中，有 46 個明顯是孟語借詞、8個明顯是高棉語借詞、6個可能是高棉語或孟語借詞。此外，透過歷史音變我們可以推斷出緬甸語中孟語的借詞分別來自上古孟語時期和中古孟語時期。上古孟語的音韻特徵可以與前古緬語和古緬語有良好的語音對應關係；而中古孟語的音韻又與書寫緬語的轉寫相互呼應。至於高棉語借詞，則會呈現以下元音對應: 書寫緬語/a/:高棉語/a/；書寫緬語/u/:高棉語/u/。
就語義而言，本研究發現，在24個語義領域當中，孟語借詞分布於19個語義領域，而高棉語則分布於7個語義領域內。孟語借詞主要與兩個語義領域有關:（i）房屋（ii）動作和工具。至於高棉語借詞，則主要與農業和植被的語義領域。根據借詞在語義領域的分布我們可以推斷孟語和緬甸語之間存在著長期、強烈的語言接觸。雖然高棉語的借詞數量較少，我們無法否定高棉語對緬甸語影響的存在。因此，未來我們可以進一步深入探討高棉語和緬甸語之間的語言接觸。

This study aims to investigate changes that have taken place when Mon and Khmer words were borrowed into Burmese. Three questions are addressed in this study: (i) whether there are loanwords from both Mon and Khmer in Burmese (ii) whether there are any phonological characteristics that can be used for identifying different layers of Mon and Khmer loanwords in Burmese? (iii) how semantic fields of the loanwords can inform us about the historical contact between Khmer/Mon and Burmese?
Based on a 2090-word list from Shorto’s (2006) A Mon-Khmer Comparative Dictionary, I discovered 73 words with form-meaning similarities between Burmese and Mon and/or Khmer. Among these 73 words, 46 words are considered to be unambiguously from Mon; 8 are considered to be unambiguously from Khmer; 6 only be from either Khmer or Mon.
In the light of historical sound changes, several sound correspondence sets suggest that Mon loanwords were borrowed from two periods of time; namely, Old Mon and Middle Mon. Interestingly, the phonological characteristics of loanwords from Old Mon correspond well to the Pre-Old Burmese and Old Burmese stages. As for loanwords from Middle Mon, Written Burmese transcriptions can obviously be inferred from Middle Mon phonology. As for Khmer loanwords, the presence of the following correspondences of vowels between Burmese and Khmer help identify Khmer as a source language of loans: Burmese /a/: Khmer /a/; Burmese /u/: Khmer /u/.
As for semantic fields, Mon loanwords are found in 19 semantic fields, whereas Khmer loanwords in 7 seamntic fields. The semantic fields with the highest number of loanwords in Mon are: (i) the house, (ii) actions and tool; the semantic fields with the highest number of loanwords in Khmer is Agriculture and vegetation. It is clear that there is intense and long-term language contact between Mon and Burmese. Although the number of Khmer loanwords is small, the influence of Khmer on Burmese cannot be denied. Thus, future research is needed to have a better understanding of linguistic contact between Khmer and Burmese.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ii
摘要 iv
致謝 v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
LIST OF TABLES x
LIST OF FIGURES xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xiv
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION - 1 -
1.1. Background information - 1 -
1.2. Objectives of this research - 5 -
1.3. Data sources - 6 -
1.4. Methodology - 7 -
1.5. Organization of the thesis - 8 -
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW - 9 -
2.1. Indic loans in Burmese - 9 -
2.1.1 Early Indic loans - 10 -
2.1.2 Middle Indic loans - 11 -
2.1.3 Late Indic loans - 12 -
2.2. Mon loans in Burmese - 13 -
2.3. English loans in Burmese - 19 -
2.4. Loans from other languages in Burmese - 19 -
CHAPTER 3. WRITING SYSTEM AND PHONOLOGY - 21 -
3.1. Burmese writing system and phonology - 21 -
3.1.1 Burmese syllable structure - 22 -
3.1.2 Burmese consonants - 23 -
3.1.3 Burmese vowels - 27 -
3.1.4 Burmese tones - 29 -
3.2. Mon writing system and phonology - 30 -
3.2.1 Mon syllable structure - 30 -
3.2.2 Mon consonants - 31 -
3.2.3 Mon vowels - 34 -
3.2.4 Mon Rhymes - 35 -
3.3. Khmer writing system and phonology - 37 -
3.3.1 Khmer syllable structure - 37 -
3.3.2 Khmer consonants - 38 -
3.3.3 Khmer vowels - 40 -
CHAPTER 4. MON AND KHMER LOANWORDS IN BURMESE - 42 -
4.1. Mon loanwords in Burmese - 42 -
4.1.1 Loanwords from Old Mon - 44 -
4.1.2 Loanwords from Middle Mon - 52 -
4.1.3 Loanwords from uncertain stage of Mon - 54 -
4.2. Khmer loanwords in Burmese - 59 -
4.3. Khmer or Mon loanwords in Burmese - 62 -
4.4. Others - 64 -
4.4.1 Loanwords from other sources in Burmese - 64 -
4.4.2 Burmese loanwords in Mon - 67 -
CHAPTER 5. SEMANTIC DOMAINS OF LOANWORDS - 70 -
5.1. Semantic fields of Mon loanwords in Burmese - 70 -
5.2. Semantic fields of Khmer loanwords in Burmese - 73 -
5.3. Interim summary - 75 -
CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION - 76 -
6.1. Summary - 76 -
6.2. Suggestions for further research - 78 -
REFERENCES - 79 -
APPENDIX - 84 -

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