II: The Context
The aim of the project is to give the audience, who is a non-Thai language user, an opportunity to experience the space created by Glon Subharp, one of the most popular forms in Thai versification. The poem called Pearng Kwam Kleuan Wai or Mere Movement (Bunnag, 2004), which is written by Naowarat Pongpaiboon, one of the most famous Thai writers and poets, has been chosen to be investigated. To be recognized as Glon Subharp, The poem has been constructed following the specific rules that control the structure of the poem. The result of these rules appears to be the sound of the poem which is as important as the content of the poem for the reader to consider its beauty (Thongloh: 2544, 13). From the research, the rules of Glon Subharp can be divided into four categories, which are:
The Stanza
A stanza of Glon Subharp comprises two groups, each group contains two sentences, and each sentence has eight syllables (7-9 syllables are acceptable). Each stanza connects to each other by the rhyme in a specific position (diagram 03) and become a series telling a message or a story. There is no rule about the number of stanza in each poem, thus it is considered by the writer individually. To make it clear, I shall illustrate the graphic measuring the stanza in Mere Movement:
Diagram 01: The Stanza in Mere Movement
The Rhythm
Each sentence in Glon Subharp consists a series of three phrases of two or three syllables each. These phrases can be phonological or syntactic. The 3-2-3 rhythm is the most popular form.
Diagram 02: The Rhythm in Mere Movement
The Rhyme
There are two types of rhymes appear in Glon Subharp, which are, external rhyme linking sentences together, and internal rhyme which is the connection between the specific syllables in the sentence. The external rhyme is necessary as it is a fixed structure of the verse while the internal one is considered by the writer to create more value for the verse. The rhyme can be divided into two types, which are vowel and consonant rhymes. The external rhyme must be a vowel rhyme, while the internal one can be either a vowel or a consonant rhyme.
Diagram 03: The structure of the Rhyme in Glon Subharp
In Mere Movement, the rhyme can be demonstrated by this diagram:
Diagram 04: The Rhyme in Mere Movement
The Tonality
There are five phonemic tones; middle, low, high, rising and falling in Thai language. These are certain rules for the tonality in each stanza of the verse:
- The last syllable of the first sentence may have any of the five tones, although the mid tone is rarely used;
- The last syllable of the second sentence may have any tone except mid, with the rising tone preferred;
- The last syllable of the third sentence may have any tone except the same tone as the previous sentence, with the mid tone preferred; and
- The last syllable of the forth sentence cannot have the rising tone, the mid tone being the most preferred for this position.
The rules about tonality are very complicated for those who are not familiar with Thai language, as they need to understand how Thai alphabet represents sound. Though, the tone indication can be revealed in these tables:
Table 01: Tone indication in Thai language
To illustrate these rules about tonality in Mere Movement, the sound generated by each syllable has been represented by transforming each tone into colour.
Diagram 05: The phonemic tomes in Thai language represented by colour
Diagram 06: The Tonality in Mere Movement
According to the information about the rules controlling the structure of the poem, I believe that it is almost impossible for a non-Thai language user to appreciate the beauty of the poem since their chance is limited by the lack of understanding the rules. Even though the poem can be translated to another language, from Thai to English for instant, the only information that the reader can gain is the content of the poem. Nevertheless, for Thai people, they do not seem to have any trouble appreciating the poem even if they do not know those rules entirely. That is because the structure of the poem will finally appear in the sound of it. For this reason, as a graphic designer, I would like to propose the method of visualizing this unique sound of Thai poetry, to give back my audience the missing significance of the poem.
A stanza of Glon Subharp comprises two groups, each group contains two sentences, and each sentence has eight syllables (7-9 syllables are acceptable). Each stanza connects to each other by the rhyme in a specific position (diagram 03) and become a series telling a message or a story. There is no rule about the number of stanza in each poem, thus it is considered by the writer individually. To make it clear, I shall illustrate the graphic measuring the stanza in Mere Movement:
Diagram 01: The Stanza in Mere Movement
Each sentence in Glon Subharp consists a series of three phrases of two or three syllables each. These phrases can be phonological or syntactic. The 3-2-3 rhythm is the most popular form.
Diagram 02: The Rhythm in Mere Movement
There are two types of rhymes appear in Glon Subharp, which are, external rhyme linking sentences together, and internal rhyme which is the connection between the specific syllables in the sentence. The external rhyme is necessary as it is a fixed structure of the verse while the internal one is considered by the writer to create more value for the verse. The rhyme can be divided into two types, which are vowel and consonant rhymes. The external rhyme must be a vowel rhyme, while the internal one can be either a vowel or a consonant rhyme.
Diagram 03: The structure of the Rhyme in Glon Subharp
In Mere Movement, the rhyme can be demonstrated by this diagram:
Diagram 04: The Rhyme in Mere Movement
There are five phonemic tones; middle, low, high, rising and falling in Thai language. These are certain rules for the tonality in each stanza of the verse:
- The last syllable of the first sentence may have any of the five tones, although the mid tone is rarely used;
- The last syllable of the second sentence may have any tone except mid, with the rising tone preferred;
- The last syllable of the third sentence may have any tone except the same tone as the previous sentence, with the mid tone preferred; and
- The last syllable of the forth sentence cannot have the rising tone, the mid tone being the most preferred for this position.
The rules about tonality are very complicated for those who are not familiar with Thai language, as they need to understand how Thai alphabet represents sound. Though, the tone indication can be revealed in these tables:
Table 01: Tone indication in Thai language
To illustrate these rules about tonality in Mere Movement, the sound generated by each syllable has been represented by transforming each tone into colour.
Diagram 05: The phonemic tomes in Thai language represented by colour
Diagram 06: The Tonality in Mere Movement
According to the information about the rules controlling the structure of the poem, I believe that it is almost impossible for a non-Thai language user to appreciate the beauty of the poem since their chance is limited by the lack of understanding the rules. Even though the poem can be translated to another language, from Thai to English for instant, the only information that the reader can gain is the content of the poem. Nevertheless, for Thai people, they do not seem to have any trouble appreciating the poem even if they do not know those rules entirely. That is because the structure of the poem will finally appear in the sound of it. For this reason, as a graphic designer, I would like to propose the method of visualizing this unique sound of Thai poetry, to give back my audience the missing significance of the poem.
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