Abstract

This study examines the origins and semantic evolution of Thai first-person singular pronouns corresponding to the meaning “I.” Drawing on historical-comparative linguistics, theories of semantic change, and cross-linguistic semantic comparison, it investigates how Thai first-person forms developed from different lexical and cultural sources. The analysis suggests that these pronouns may have multiple origins, including body-part terms, kinship terms, animal names, and loanwords from Chinese. Evidence from Chinese, Tai-Kadai languages, and other related linguistic materials is used to clarify the semantic pathways through which ordinary lexical items came to acquire pronominal functions. The findings show that the Thai first-person pronominal system is not the result of a single historical source, but rather of layered processes involving metaphor, social deixis, grammaticalization, and language contact. This study, therefore, contributes to a better understanding of Thai pronoun formation and offers broader insights into semantic change, person reference, and cross-linguistic comparison in Sino-Tibetan and Southeast Asian linguistic contexts.