2. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH AND THAI SIMPLE SENTENCE
Many linguists classify the Thai language is a topic-prominent language. The distinctive feature is that a
topic or content of any sentence will be emphasized on surface structure. Some linguists classify Thai as a
discourse-oriented language of which the sentence structure has non-restrictive pattern or form. The
others point out that Thai is a language in which the omission of noun phrase is more common than any
other language types. On the contrary, the English language is subject-prominent and sentence-oriented.
The subject in English is emphasized more than the predicate. In addition, the grammatical pattern of its
surface structure is specific or restrictive. However, it is generally accepted among Thai linguists and
native speakers that the word ordering in a sentence of Thai is very significant. It is so because thedifferent order of each word is able to make a difference in the meaning of that entire sentence or make a