Thematic Progression in Thai Historical Texts = Thematic Progression in Thai Historical Texts

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper aims to examine the thematic progression in Thai historical texts and to compare the thematic development in three periods of Thai historical texts: Sukhothai, Ayudhya, and Rattanakosin. This study found that there are five thematic patterns found in the Thai historical texts: , 1) a Theme reiteration or constant Theme pattern, , 2) a zig-zag Theme pattern, , 3) a multiple Theme or split Rheme pattern, , 4) a thematic progression with derived Theme, and , 5) a concluding Theme pattern. The first four patterns were found in the previous studied, whereas the last one was emerged in the present study. The findings also suggest that the different thematic progression patterns seem to be related to the purposes of different parts of each text. As for the realizations of Themes in the Thai historical texts, they are the main participants involved in the events, including the circumstances and processes of the events. These elements may be picked up as Themes of the clauses in all texts.