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18 Language and Ethnicity
In this book so far we have not defined or discussed the nature of eth- nicity, as though it were an obvious concept, whereas actually it is complex and variable. Neither have we directly dis- extraordinarily cussed the relation between ethnicity and nationalism in Thailand (Ed- wards 1985:5, 23-46). So we need now to ask what it means to call someone a Thai, or Khmer or Malay or a member of any ethnic group. How can a member of such a group be identified? How does someone change from belonging to a minority group to becoming Thai? What part does language play in all of this?
Cultural identit
The basic model of ethnicity used here of a people who identify with each other in having a common culture because they perceive themselves to be descended from common ancestors and/or to have a common teritorial "homeland. They likewise perceive other ethnic groups as having different ancestry and/or territoriality, and believe that some of the differences between themselves and the others are due to their different histories. To amplify a bit, culture consists of the shared foundational ways which people think and feel, the learned cognitive and emotional bases on which they pattern their behavior, including their use of lan- guage. People carry their culture within themselves, but reveal it in their behavior, including their talk about it. It is a group phenomenon because they share much of their cultural norms within their group and transmit them to their children. Individuals vary within such groups to some degree, of course, but too much variation (however the group defines that) is not tolerated. The culture of any group nevertheless always changing, although some aspects are more impervious to change than others, and individuals vary in how much change they can tolerate.