Lecture 7

HXE 318
(English in Malaysia)

Linguistic Profile of Malaysia

At least 80 different languages spoken in Malaysia

Indigenous
Arabic
English
Thai languages
Creoles (e.g. Baba Malay, Kristang)

The Malays

Different regional Malay dialects (strongly marked in their phonological and lexical uses)
o the North-Western group (e.g. the Kedah and Penang dialects)
o the North-Eastern group (e.g. the Kelantan dialect),
o the Eastern group (e.g. the Trengganu dialect)
o the Southern group (e.g. the Perak and Melaka dialects).
o the Negeri Sembilan group

The Chinese

The Hokkiens (the largest subgroup in Malaysia), the Hakkas, the Cantonese, the
Teochews, the Hainanese
Several languages used among the Chinese in Malaysia (e.g. Hokkien, Cantonese,
Mandarin, Hakka, etc.)

The Indians

Use several distinct languages when they are interacting within their own speech community

The largest subgroup of Indians in Malaysia speak Tamil

The second largest subgroup uses Malayalam
Other languages spoken are Telugu, Bengali, Gujerati, Marathi,Punjabi, etc.

The Aslian languages

 Temiar, Jah Hut and Mah Meri are three of the indigenous languages spoken in
Peninsular Malaysia
Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau, Murut, Kadazan, Bajau and Penan are several that are used in
Sabah and Sarawak.
Temiar seems to be the lingua franca among the orang asli groups

English in Malaysia

McArthur (2003, p. 41) categorises the status of English in Malaysia as a non-official

language, but with a distinctive secondary status due to Malay being the official
language of the country.
The status of English in Malaysia has undergone significant changes over the years.
The linguistic development of English in Malaysia can be classified into three major
phases.
o the exonormative phase
o the liberation and expansion phase
o the endonormative phase

Exonormative Phase

Is the period of colonialism where there was inherent dependence on the colonial
masters.
Kirkpatrick (2007, p. 30) mentions that the exonormative model (or transported variety
or imported variety), refers to the English spoken by the settlers that arrived in a
particular country.
During this phase, the native-speaker standard (British English) was the standard that
the Outer Circle countries referred to.
The National Language Policy in 1957: English would remain an official language of
Malaya until 1967 in order to facilitate smooth transition from English (colonial) into the
national language (postcolonial).
Historical events between 1957 and 1967 also directly reinforced the state of language
use in Malaysia.

Liberation & Expansion Phase

 Is the phase where many of the Outer Circle countries adopted English as their
language of communication.
English developed into different varieties for intranational and international
communication.
The new varieties of English were richly diversified and heterogeneous according to the
sociocultural environment they belonged to.
o the second diaspora of English
o a language of international communication and economic survival
During the early nineties, English in Malaysia functioned as:
o the language of science and knowledge
o an international language
o a marker of social identification
(particularly) as a symbol of urbanisation
Speakers from the Malay, Chinese and Indian speech communities shared common
linguistic features through the use of a more localised variety of English.
o a means of communication among the educated people
Some Chinese and Indian families, for example, were found to use English as their first
language -- Bilingualism, multilingualism
One of the drawbacks: Students were not able to access texts and references in English
- limited proficiency in the language.
Mid 1990s
o Change in medium of instruction in teaching mathematics and science in all schools
was implemented
o Education Act of 1996 was implemented.
o By the late 1990s, it was found that the standard of English in Malaysia was
declining.

Endonormative Phase

Is the most important phase of linguistic development for English in Malaysia

English is considered the international language for numerous functions around the
world.
English is important in facing challenges and competing with other nations in the world.
The principles of linguistic pragmatism and attitudinal change (B. Kachru, 1985)
o a pragmatic attitude in the issue of appropriateness and acceptability of the sub-
varieties of English for different situations
o standard that is considered appropriate or acceptable for the sociocultural contexts
Declining level of proficiency:
 In 2003 the Malaysian government confirmed that English was to be re-introduced as
the medium of instruction in the teaching of science and mathematics in schools. Why?

1) influence of globalisation and the knowledge economy on selection of English in

the domain of science and technology

2) knowledge economy and the implications for human resource capability

3) knowledge and information explosion

4) lack of language legislation in the domain of business and industry

5) weakened employment base for graduates from public universities

Gill (2005, p. 250-258)

English was also allowed in technical areas (e.g. medicine, dentistry, engineering and
sciences) although Malay remained the language of instruction in public universities
(government-funded).
In many private colleges and universities, English was chosen as the main medium of
instruction.

Lectal Levels of Malaysian English

In a number of studies on new varieties of English, the lectal continuum is usually

divided into three levels:
o A basilect -- shows a grammatical system maximally distant from the superstrate
(or colonial European) language that it drew its vocabulary from.
o The mesolect -- refers to the subvarieties that exist between the basilect and the
acrolect.
o The acrolect -- is one that is minimally different when compared to the superstate
or the target language.

In the context of MalE, the nativised variety has different features of pronunciation,
vocabulary, grammar and pragmatics.

Malay, being the most widely spoken language in Malaysia, has been quoted by many
researchers as having significant effects on the aspects of MalE.
MalE consists of three different sociolectal categories or lectal levels:
 MalE speakers are able to style shift within the lectal continuum in accordance to the
needs of different language contexts.

Other proposed lectal range continuum of MalE:

Platt et al. (1983)

Two types of MalE

o Type I -- is becoming less in usage due to Malay as the medium of instruction in
schools with English as the second language
o Type II -- is the localised variety of English that is on the increase (i.e. claimed to
be used by Malay-medium educated Malaysians)
Within the sociolectal range, variation also exists as a result of the educational and
socioeconomic background of the speakers.

Gill (1999)

An additional range

The acro-mesolectal
o acrolect ------- acro-mesolect ------- mesolect
o represents educated speakers of sub-varieties of formal MalE in the workplace
o specifically speakers who have a marked Malay accent and a medium variation of
syntactical features

Lexical Features

First semantic relationship (i.e. Substrate language referents)

o the use of institutionalised concepts
gotong-royong, khalwat, rukun-tetangga
o emotional and cultural loading
kampung, dusun, bomoh, penghulu
semantic restriction
o dadah (drugs in general vs. illicit use of drugs )
o toddy (fermented coconut-water different from fresh coconut water sold as
refreshment toddy-shop
cultural/culinary terms
o sambal, satay, durian
 hyponymous collocation
o nobat drums, bersanding ceremony, path da bog ceremony, orang asli people
campus/student coinages
o leceh, teruk, doongu
Linguistically, the borrowed lexical items are characterised through the use of:
o compounding
(e.g. police-pondok, satay-house and kwali-cooking)
o affixation
(e.g. datukship, anti-dadah and ulufied)
o conversion
(e.g. makan, ulu and kacang)
o pluralisation
(e.g bomohs, penghulus and dhobis)
o tense inflection
(e.g. jagaed)
o gerundalising
(e.g., jagaing, angkating and kaypoing)

Second semantic relationship (i.e. Standard English Lexicalistion)

o Six different characteristics that identify lexical variation in terms of English
lexemes with MalE usage.
polysemic variation
o English lexemes that keep their original meaning and takes on an extended
semantic range
o cut -- to beat an opponent by points/marks or to reduce an amount of money/to
overtake; windy, heaty -- excess of food that results in flatulence, discomfort
and gastric problems
informalisation
o Lexemes indicating a more informal style & register
o Flick steal; Line profession; Fellow person (male / female); Follow
accompany
formalisation
o The tendency of using more formal words in an informal context
o furnish me instead of provide me or send me
directional reversal
 o Usage of words in reverse direction (esp. verbs)
o go/come & borrow/lend
college colloquialism
o sabo -- sabotage
o frus frustrated
o cheap-skate -- someone who is willing to do anything in achieving his/her goals)

Phonological Features

Lack of distinction between long and short vowels (both are produced due to similar
tongue positions)
o (e.g.: leave and live, bat and bet, cot and caught or pat and pet)
Omission or reduction of consonant clusters, most frequently the final and some medial
clusters
o MalE pronuniciation is also often associated with the use of glottalised or absent /k/
sounds of the ed endings of regular past simple tense
o (e.g. walk-ed).
Diphthongs may be reduced to single vowel sounds
o (e.g.: take and so)
Diphthongs found in words such as sure, poor, our and sour are realised with a w
inserted between two vowels
Initial fricatives // and // are often realised in an affricated form --speakers tend to
replace word-initial and medial th sounds with /t/ and /d/ sounds.
o the voiceless th sound (e.g. think) was replaced by t
o the voiced one (e.g. father) and with d
o Other examples: mother, brother, these, this and that.

Syntactic Features

Noun Phrase Structure

Article Ellipsis
o Ben was most popular student last year.
o
Pronoun Concord (i.e. no singular/plural distinction)
o Those journals are very informative. It can be obtained at the library.
 o Rosemary bought ten oranges from the market, but forgot and left it in the car.
Individuation
o mass nouns are treated as count nouns
There are many stationeries in the shop.
o Pluralisation of mass nouns
There were no vacant on-campus accommodations for the new students

Verb Phrase Structure

Stative verbs in the progressive

o I am smelling curry in this room.
Lack of auxilliary inversion in wh- questions
o What we have here?
Indirect wh- questions inversion
o I wonder where is Harriet?
Wh- questions in sentence final position
o You are going where?
Yes or not and or not as tagged interrogatives:
o Barbara can sing or not?
o Barbara can sing, yes or not?
Can or not, isnt it and is it as interrogative tags
o Gordon wants to come, can or not?
o Williams parents are coming, isnt it?
o Dorothy can play the piano, is it?
Yes-no questions without inversion
o Olivias boyfriend was fat or thin?
Other features:
o Pronoun-copying: My sister; she is an astronaut.
o Pronoun-ellipsis: Fiona wrote the letter but forgot to post
o The use of the ah particle in their conversations to mark a question: Still doing
your homework ah?
o Existential / Locative got to substitute there and be
You got money or not? Got.
Got no ice cream in the fridge.
o The use of completive aspect marker ( i.e. the use of adverbs of time such as
already and sudah instead of tense)
o Lecture finish ah? Finish already.
Discoursal Features

Topic, setting and linguistic motivations are influential factors that lead to the switches.
o to avoid the complex tense, mood and aspectual choices as well as the inflections of
English verbs
Other possible conditions in which code switching can take place, aside from expressing
group solidarity include:

[i] lack of one word in either language;

[ii] some activities have only been experienced in one of the languages;

[iii] some concepts are easier to express in one of the languages;

[iv] some words are easier, more distinguishable and easier to use in one of the
languages;

[v] a misunderstanding has to be clarified;

[vi] one wishes to create a certain communication effect;

[vii] one wants to make a point;

[viii] one wishes to exclude another person from the dialog

The nature of MalE also very much depends on factors such as: educational
background, class, region, level of formality and medium in which MalE is used.

As in most cases, code switching in MalE also indicates changes in pragmatic intentions.

Borrowed interjections in MalE:

o are found to have a few different spellings
o are mostly positioned at the beginning of the respective sentences
o aiyah and hiyah are usually used to express anger
o wah is used to show surprise, amazement and appreciation & to express awe and
admiration.
o aiyo and aiyoh, as used colloquially, most often indicate surprise and irritation.
o alamak, cheh and alah are used to mark an alarmed or a panicky state. The
alamak interjection can also be connotes mocking or sarcastic state.
 o cheh is used most frequently in accusing or disappointed manner or to grudgingly
describe the state of an item in discussion.

Lecture 9
HXE 318
(Bilinguals Creativity & Innovation in Contact Literatures)

Strategies of Appropriation

In discussing the use of new varieties of English in literatures, Ashcroft et al. (2008) claim
that there are a few strategies of appropriation.

The use of glossing or parenthetic translations of individual words

o the most common strategy
o can function as a sign of culture in cross-cultural texts
o can also be considered as a marker of ethnographic discourse associated with
colloquial or vernacular speech
o The use of syntactic fusion
a technique of appropriation in writings
In appropriating the language of their writing, writers are inclined to use direct
borrowing from vernacular languages.
Includes the use of mixed linguistic structures involving two languages
Should be viewed as a part of a genuine linguistic system instead of
language deviants or mistakes.
One example of syntactic fusion involves the development of neologisms.
The use of untranslated words in the text
provides the significance of cultural distinctiveness found in the literary
writings
acts to signify the difference between cultures
illustrates the importance of discourse in interpreting cultural concepts
The use of code-switching and vernacular transcription
One of the strategies of language appropriation in postcolonial
texts.
Several of the ways cultural distinctiveness is embedded into the
writings include :
variable orthography to make dialect more accessible
double glossing
 code-switching

Contact Literatures

According to B. Kachru (1990, p. 161), contact literatures can be defined as :

[] literatures in English written by the users of English as a second language to delineate

contexts which generally do not form part of what may be labeled the traditions of English
literature (African, Malaysian, and Indian and so on).

Contact literatures can be identified nationally, as well as linguistically.

Nativisation Strategies

Kachru (1990)

1. Nativisation of context

Contextual nativisation of texts context of setting

o (i.e. place, time, participants)
o Cultural interpretation is much influenced by cultural deductions found in the
respective text
At this level, the involved interpretation is very culturally inclined, based on the
use of special lexical and contextual cues.

2. Nativisation of cohesion and cohesiveness

Dependent on the meaning of the underlying language

o surface meaning of the second language (English)
o underlying meaning of the first (or dominant) language
o Includes the use of:
Collocational extension
Grammatical forms
Lexical shift
 direct lexical transfer
hybridisation
loan translation

3. Nativisation of rhetorical strategies

(i.e. the use of contextually appropriate figures of speech)

Strategies according to the patterns of interaction in the native culture, which are
transferred into English
o For e.g.:
Africa-evoking expressions: like a bush fire in the harmattan; like a yam
tendril in the rainy season
PhE expressions: pythons as big as coconut trunks, veins like the ever-
reaching growing vines of rattan
Vernacular style --
Linguistically deviant from a native speakers perspective
Culturally it introduces into English a dimension alien to the canons of
English literature
Kachru (1990) also states that in providing authenticity (such as
Africanness, Indianness) in the speech acts or discourse types, several
linguistic realisations can be considered:
The use of native similes and metaphors (e.g. Yoruba, Malay)
provides cultural roots to English particularly the vernacular style
in Asian and African contexts
The use of translation (transcreation) of proverbs and idioms
Sets the text in its cultural framework
To nativise abuses, curses, blessings, flattery
The use of culturally-dependent speech styles and syntactic devices
Sets the text in a particular cultural context to depict authentic context
and to convince the reader

Reading Contact Literatures

2 sets of criteria in reading unfamiliar types of text:

o Be aware of the linguistic criteria
Lexicon
Grammar
 Semantics
Make effort to cross the barriers due to monoculturalism / monolingualism
Be aware of the socio-semantic and pragmatic system of Outer Circle
authors
The literature reflect regional and national identities specific and context
bound.
Excellent resources for culture learning through literature

Malaysian English in Malaysian Literature in English

Malaysian Literature in English

One of the developing independent literatures - represented by the appropriation of

language and writing for new and distinctive usages
The use of Malay & Chinese dialects (during immediate post-independent years)
o local colour (De Souza, 1984)
o representative of the local context (e.g. Ahmad by Wang Gung Wu)

Hybrid Language @ Engmalcin

English + Malay + Chinese

o Aim: to unite the multiracial society in Malaya & Spore
o Not favourable Why?
did not represent the true multiracial ethnics
Abandoned in the mid 1950s

The Use of Localised Variety of English

pidgin English / nativisation of English in Edward Doralls play (Arise, O Youth!)

o use colloquial Msian speech effectively to distinguish the different races, social
classes, ages, gender and moods for the different characters
o Ee Tiang Hong one of the pioneers the usage of indigenous elements in his
works
contextual & stylistic innovations distinctively Malaysian
K. S. Maniam works influenced by language appropriation
 liberal usage of untranslated lexical items
a product of a writers desire to make writing accessible and rooted to local
culture

Lexical Features

To mark identity in poetry and prose

o Direct borrowing
(char siew, samfoo, thali, puasa, kampong, orang puteh)
Translated expressions
similes, metaphors, proverbs (culturally specific)

(the rice has turned into broth)

Morphologically marked
o (biji saga red, rambutan tree, ungedeber, gedeberly speaking, gedeberish
tendencies)

Lexical Borrowing

Local vocabulary with some degree of morphological / phonological integration into the
matrix language (Dako, 2002)
words with a more or less foreign flavour and can be recognised by most people, who
can even identify where the words originate from (Hudson, 1996)
Lexical Borrowing in Malaysian Lit in English
o consists of words borrowed from local source languages Malay, Chinese and Tamil
o acts in accordance with the morphosyntactic rules of the language into which it has
been borrowed
o includes only a single lexical item

Morphological Forms of Lexical Borrowing in Malaysian Short Stories

(Inflectional Suffixation)

Progressive Inflectional Suffixation

 Borrowed base + Present Participle Morpheme <-ing>

For example:
o What do you think will happen? a reporter asked a beautiful girl lepaking and
smoking outside the Starbucks in Bukit Bintang Plaza. (Sudden Khatulistiwa - p.
189)
o Mahmud was dispensing greetings like a politician: salaaming quickly and firmly,
smiling benignly all the while. (The Inheritance - p. 57)

Genitive Inflectional Suffixation

Borrowed base + Genitive Noun Morpheme <s>, <s>

For example:
o Fools work, not Syaitans as my ustaz would say. (Heroes - p. 31)
o but she tolerated Jeng Cheng as the niece whose successful marriage to a
rich towkays son she had arranged ten years before. (Native Daughter - p. 160)

Plural Inflectional Suffixation

Borrowed base + Plural Noun Morpheme <s>, <-es>

For example:
o Nicky and I spread out the tikars and put the comics where they wouldnt get
stepped on or spilled on. (The Geology of Malaysia - p. 92)
o When I say weapons I mean swords, kerises, axes and other death-causing
artifacts. (Pak De Samads Cinema - p. 101)

Noun Modifiers

Borrowed Noun / Verb / Adj / Acronym / Initialism + Noun

Examples:

Mamak stalls, tua pek kong shrine, kondai buns, balik kampung trip, bersanding ceremony,
tipu-tipu merchants, gilahospital, DBKL wastebin, Sukom gold, FELDA settlers

Compounding
 Borrowed Base + English Base

Examples: Beruk-attack, kebaya-like, tudung-clad

Borrowed Base + [English Base + {Suffixation}]

Examples: Pelesit-consumption, attap-roofed, sari-veiled, kolah-drenching

Borrowed Base + [ [English Base + [{Suffixation} + {Suffixation}] ]

Examples: Padi-planters, mee-sellers

Terms of Address

Examples:

Peria akka! Uncle Thiruchelvam has come to see you! Peria akka! Hes waiting for you
in the hall! (A Question of Dowry p. 28)
Quiet! You must show proper respect for the dead. Your kong-kong is just dead one
day and youre already acting like monkeys. (The Good Old Days p. 106)
He felt angry too at the thought of his Pak Long refusing to sell the hen he wanted so
much. (A Quid of Sirih, A Bowl of Water p. 93)

Customs (Marriage)

Examples:

The job of a Mother Andam is to guarantee that a bride appears as the most beautiful
lady in the village on her wedding day, usually as she is seated on
the pemajangan (wedding dais). (Mek Teh, Mother Andam p. 112)
Hema could see the thali (marriage string) on the tray surrounded by fruits and rice. In
moments, the thali would be secured around her neck in three knots. (The Unmarried
Widow p. 38)

Beliefs

Examples:
 Somehow, she will be mine. Ill go to a bomoh. A bomoh, a shaman, a magic-
man? asked Cindy with eyebrows raised. (The Laughing Buddha - p. 16)
What would happen if the turtle refused to carry the Universe because it was tired or
preferred to do something else? Tua Peh Kong, the Supreme Deity Himself, would no
longer be safe. ( The Good Old days - p. 111)
Vickneswari struck a light for her pooja to Lord Ganesha as she spread thirunur across
her forehead. (Victoria and Her Kimono p. 139)

Food

Examples:

Oh, the usual signs like additional choice of chicken bits in my roti jala chicken curry,
extra portions of ikan bilis in mynasi lemak and all that. (The Wedgwood Ladies Football
Club p. 15)
Thats why we have different sauces for different things. See, with konlo mee, you
eat green chilli pickled in vinegar. With hokkien mee, you eat fresh red chilli and raw
garlic in thick soy sauce, although some people like it withsambal belacan And she
rattled on. (Seventh Uncle - p. 41)
The festive air was laden with the spicy smell of curries and wads sizzled in the kwali
saucepan. (A Question of Dowry p. 25)