English spoken in Malaysia (Maki)
English spoken in Malaysia
BY
Azumi Maki
A SHORT PAPER
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE OF
SEMINAR 1 (World Englishes)
Kumamoto Gakuen University Foreign Language Department
English course
SUPERVISOR: Judy Yoneoka
Kumamoto Gakuen University
Oe 2-5-1 Kumamoto
Japan
12/24/2005
This paper consists of approximately 1150 words
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English spoken in Malaysia (Maki)
Abstract
Thus, when we go to Malaysia, we may hear many languages.1 Why did it
happen? It comes from Malaysian history and circumstance, which heavily influences
Malay English. This paper reviews English in Malaysian history in Section 2, and looks
at English pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary of Malaysian people, in Section 3.
The United Kingdom has a great effect on Malaysia. Malaysia was once
occupied by the UK and people knew that people who could speak English could get a
good job. So, English spread very fast and widely among them. After Malaysia became
independent from the UK, the British English remained there, changed the form a little
and their own English, “Manglish” was born. Now, the British English can be often seen
in Malaysia.
1. Introduction
Today, English has a lot of varieties and has become essential for the international
community. In Asia, it is also one of the ways that we communicate internationally.
Some countries regard it as their official or second language. In Malaysia, the official
language is Malay, but Malaysia used to be a British colony, so some of the people speak
Malaysian English, called “Manglish.” Also, people from various countries live together
there. Now, Malaysia has over 10 languages.
Thus, when we go to Malaysia, we may hear many languages.2 Why did it
happen? It comes from Malaysian history and circumstance, which heavily influences
Malay English. This paper reviews English in Malaysian history in Section 2, and looks
at English pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary of Malaysian people, in Section 3.
2. History of English in Malaysia
In the late 18th century, the United Kingdom colonized the Malay Peninsula, and
encouraged the private schools which took classes in English to train the secretaries
and the translators who worked for the colonial government. But it was not only this
but the Chinese and the Indian immigrants and the Malay upper classes that helped
English spread there. This is because they knew that they could get a high salary if they
could be a government official, and as such English spread widely until the early 20th
century.
After World WarⅡ, the UK founded Malaya, which is an older name, and made
Actually, when I went there, I heard people speaking various languages, in which
Malay, Chinese and English are mixed. It sometimes made me confused.
2 Actually, when I went there, I heard people speaking various languages, in which
Malay, Chinese and English are mixed. It sometimes made me confused.
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English spoken in Malaysia (Maki)
her a British protectorate. At the same time, people began to consider democracy and
other ideas for Malaya. In 1957, Malaya became independent, and their national
language was recognized as Malay.
But their constitution stated that the official
language was English. In 1967, at last, Malay was regarded as the only Malaysian
official language. The language in school was also shifted from English to Malay. In
1971, the Malaysian government adopted “the Bumiputra Policy”, which treated the
Malaysian people well and favored them in education and business. However, the use of
English did not completely disappear. Now, English dramas and novels are fixed as a
genre.
The proportion of ethnic populations in Malaysia is listed below. Each group
speaks its own language. Because of this, there are over 10 languages in Malaysia.
The proportion of ethnic populations in Malaysia
Malay
Chinese
Indian
Others
58%
26%
7%
9%
3. Malaysian English
3-1 Pronunciation
Malaysia was occupied by the UK, so we often hear the British pronunciation on
TV, in the radio, even in official places and speeches. Some announcers speak the
British English fluently. Here are two characteristics of Malaysian pronunciation.
(1)Glottal stop
On Malaysian English, when consonants, such as /p/, /t/, /k/, /d/, /g/, and /b/ appear
at the end of words, people sometimes don’t pronounce them. It is the glottal stop. This
tendency also appears in Fujian and Cantonese English. For example: “desks” desks is
des, “script” skript is scrip and “guests” gests is ges.
(2)Vocalized /s/
Malaysian people often pronounce “December”dɪsembɚ as dizemba:. In reverse,
[ʒ] and [ʃ] are sometimes mixed. For example:
“diversion”daɪvɚ:ʒən
is
daɪvə:ʃn,
“excursion”ɪkskɚ:ʒən
is
ɪkskə:ʃn
and
“decision”dɪsɪʒən is dɪsɪʃn.
3-2 Grammar
(1)Omitting the subject and the verb “be”
Malaysian people sometimes omit the subject, especially “I”. They don’t say it
because they understand what the subject is from the conversational context. It is said
that this is common in Malay, Cantonese and Chinese. This also occurs in Japanese, so
we can also make it out easily. Also, they sometimes don’t say the verb “be”. Here is an
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English spoken in Malaysia (Maki)
example conversation:
A: “Don’t want to work today.”
B: “Why?”
A: “I tired, lah, because yesterday do work until 3 o’clock.”
In the third line, “lah” is an interjection and it used very often when the speaker
wants to get the listener’s agreement; it is used to add emphasis and make sure
something. This also appears in Singapore English.
(2)Using the present despite tense
You might find another strange thing in the above example. People don’t often use
the past tense. They are often weak in tense. This is because Malay doesn’t express
tense by verb. This makes it difficult for them to understand the way of thinking in the
different English tenses.
3-3 Vocabulary
As well as the pronunciation, the British spellings for English words can be seen
in the restaurants, newspapers, magazines and almost everywhere in Malaysia. If you
used American spelling in your report, the teachers might not be able to understand and
you might get a lower score. This is because British English is very familiar to
Malaysian people.
English used in Malaysia:
British English
American English
Q(queue)
be in the line
ground floor
first floor
lift
elevator
centre
center
petrol
gasoline
cheque
check
Also, some vocabulary words change the original meanings into their own
meanings. Here are some examples:
vocabulary
The original meaning
The Malaysian meaning
dinner
A splendid meal which
A meal which people eat at
contains various courses
night
A person who sells house to
A moveable booth (calls
house
hawker center)
A person you like or love
just a friend
hawker
girlfriend/boyfriend
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English spoken in Malaysia (Maki)
student
A person goes to university
A person who goes to school
over elementary school
level
Besides these characteristics, in Malaysia some words are spelled just as they are
pronounced. Also, there are some pictures of them. For example:
restaurant → restoran
express → ekspres
telephone → telefon
bus → bas
taxi → taksi
clinic → klinik
police → polis
4. Conclusion
Now, Malay is not very well-known famous to Japanese people, so English is
essential for us to communicate with Malaysian people. Their English has many
characteristics, aside from the ones cited above. An interesting one is that they
sometimes say the same word twice. For example, if someone asks you “Can you play
the guitar?” and you can do it, you say “Can, can” only. This can be also used when you
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English spoken in Malaysia (Maki)
say “OK” or “All right.” In Malay, “jalan” means “road” and “jalan-jalan” means “go for a
walk.” Also, the English spoken by Malaysian people has almost the same word order as
Japanese, and they say only necessary words. If you say “Can I exchange money now or
do I have to wait till tomorrow?” Malaysian people say “Can exchange now, but now also
can” only.
Malaysian English has a lot of characteristics. It makes me think that it is similar
to Japanese English. Especially, they use the British pronunciation, so they don’t often
pronounce “r” sounds. It is easy for Japanese people to understand. If I have the
opportunity to visit there again, I want to study more.
5. Bibliography
Honna, Nobuyuki. (1990) Asia no eigo (Varieties of English in Asia, in Japanese). Tokyo;
Kuroshio shuppan.
Honna, Nobuyuki. (1999) Asia wo tsunagu eigo- Eigo no atarashii kokusaiteki yakuwari
(English which connects up Asia-The new international roles of English, in Japanese).
Tokyo; Kabushikigaisha Aruku
Konshu no Malaysia. (This week’s Malaysia, in Japanese) Available at;
http://www.big.or.jp/~aochan/column/thisweek.html (July and August, 1998)
Malaysia. Available at;
http://www.eastedge.com/malaysia/people.html (6/2/2005)
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