A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN SINGAPOREAN AND MALAYSIAN IN ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION STYLE ABOUT ENGLISH IS SECOND LANGUAGE
THESIS
Alvani Abdillah 06410038
FACULTY OF LETTERS
GAJAYANA UNIVERSITY OF MALANG
2009
ABSTRACT
Language used by people in various parts of the world have own characteristics that are different from others. On the other hand, people in different geographical region have their own languages that are characteristically different from others. These languages are called regional language.
Among the regional languages, there are similarities and differences in pronunciation of the words; it may be caused by historical background that influences each others. It occurs, for instance, between Singaporean and Malaysian English. Some words of them are similar and different in the forms of oral and written. Both also have speech levels that each has different function.
The main purpose of this study is to analyze the differences of the pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian English. This analyze is essentially used to answer the research problems of the study. Those are: 1. What Singaporean and Malaysian English have difference? 2. What a characteristics of the difference of the pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian English? 3. Are there any similarities between Singaporean and Malaysian English? 4. What aspect is similar and different?
This analysis is descriptive method. The listed words are the data taken randomly from the population of Singaporean and Malaysian speech communities. They consist of the differences of the Singaporean and Malaysian English that happen naturally in communicative event. However, the informants are asked to state the English given into Singaporean and Malaysian.
The results of this study indicate that there are some similarities between Singaporean and Malaysian English. The aspect of similarities occurs in the pronunciation. There are some Singaporean and Malaysian English have different characteristics. The other Singaporean and Malaysian English have different individual spelling, and Singaporean and Malaysian English use compound words.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study:
I interest to connect participants’ bilingual practices to their developing understandings of a member language. Dual-language by native languages and cultures as resources study and by creating enriching, high-quality academic for speech communities backgrounds. I conducted my research provides an ideal reason for the study of the language between multilingualism and social life.
The researcher facts from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds have demonstrated in multiple ways to explore the power and efficiency of their multiple languages and dialects, as well as test the sociolinguistic boundaries associated with particular linguistic forms.
In contrast, are based on an additive conceptual of bilingualism. Additive bilingual communities to add English on to their linguistic repertoire, while maintaining and developing skills in their mother tongue. In the other Region also tend to have social goals related to tolerance and cultural pluralism.
I have a reason to focuses on the connections between participants’ use of linguistic forms and their beliefs about bilingualism and biculturalism. I argue that the communities prevailing ideology of equality, in some ways, conceives of English language learning and foreign language learning as essentially the same.
In there, both foreign language-dominant and English-dominant people have the opportunity to be models and experts for one another in different situations. Thus, this study are designed to provide high-quality, research-based practice for English language speakers, as well as foreign language instruction for monolingual English people.
Problem of the study:
Based on the description, the problem of this research can be formulated as follows:
Are they any similarities between Singaporean and Malaysian English?
Are they any differences between Singaporean and Malaysian English?
When there are some similarities and differences, what aspects are?
What a characteristics features of the similarities and the differences between them?
Purpose of the study:
The main purpose of this study is to analyze the differences of the pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian English. This analyze is essentially used to answer the research problems of the study. Those are: 1. What Singaporean and Malaysian English have difference? 2. What a characteristics of the difference of the pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian English? 3. Are there any similarities between Singaporean and Malaysian English? 4. What aspect is similar and different?
What do you want to do with your thesis?
The research is aimed to contribute some findings especially the differences between Singaporean and Malaysian English that arte useful for English and Indonesian learners. It is aimed also to answer the questions mentioned in the problems above. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the differences of the pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian English. This analyze is essentially used to answer the research problems of the study. They consist of the differences of the Singaporean and Malaysian English that happen naturally in communicative event. However, I am asked to state the English given into Singaporean and Malaysian.
Assumption of the study:
Dealing with history of a relationship between the Singaporean and Malaysian English, and It is assumed that there are some similarities between them. They may be found in the pronunciation, spelling and meaning.
Significance of the study:
The result of this research is hoped to give something valuable for the study of sociolinguistics. It is also aimed to get knowledge about the use of oral Singaporean and Malaysian English. By knowing the correct English pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian speech communities, it is hoped that this thesis will be useful to students and teacher who want to know some about the differences between Singaporean and Malaysian English. By knowing the sociolinguistic representation of a linguistic form, we can comprehend the difference. In addition, this study will be a helpful model for further researchers in stating the linguistic forms. This study also introduces the innovative tool. This study is expected to give a meaningful contribution to the linguistic study especially in the field of sociolinguistic.
Scope and limitation:
Scope
The scope of this research is the analysis of Singaporean and Malaysian English pronunciation that have differences and similarities, and the words that have the same meaning.
Limitation
The limitation of this study is that the pronunciations are taken from parts of Singaporean and Malaysian dialects as the representative of them English. Therefore, the study do not reflected them language as a whole. It enables occurrences of missed data and is not analyzed from point of view of why difference occurs.
Theoretical Framework:
There are some theories that can be used as guidelines to analyze the differences of Singaporean and Malaysian English.
“In the geographies of the language mentioned, the principles of pronunciation are to that any normal speakers learns the complete language system by the end of the second language. The basic of the geographic by the stage is virtually evidence of subnormal mentality in American, English, Spain, etc.” (Robert A. Hall, 1964).
“The process of change of the languages can be linked to major social changes by wars, invasions and other upheaval, the most pervasive source of change in language seems to be in the continual process of cultural transmission. Each new generation has to find a way of using a language of the previous generation. In this unending process whereby each new language user has to recreate for him or himself the language of the community, there is an unavoidable propensity to pick up some elements exactly and others only approximately. There is also occasional desire to be different.” (Yule, 1985:176-177).
Organization of key terms:
To give the readers a general idea and simple guidance. It is necessary to explain the organization of the study. The study is divided into five chapters, introduction, review of related literature, research methodology, analysis and discussion, conclusion and suggestion
The first chapter, introduction, consist of the background of the study, problems of the study, purpose of the study, assumption, significance of the study, scope and limitation, theoretical framework, and organization of the study.
The second chapter, review of related literature, consists of the theories. They will support the analysis of the data.
The third chapter, research methodology, consists of design of the research, approach of the study, data collection and data analysis.
The fourth chapter is the analysis and discussion, which puts forward the findings. The last is the fifth chapter; it is about the conclusion and suggestion.
CHAPTER II
Review of Related Literature
Language
Everyone needs at least language. Language has an important role in human life as it is one of communication devices.
Gumpers describes a language as a medium of communication that is posessed by human groups (1971:114). Moreover, language is the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbol (Hall in Crystal, 1987:396). Considering the definition, a language has function as a medium of device of communication. Being a medium of communication, a language plays an important role in daily activities, such as politic, education, technology, etc.
Singlish is an English-based creoles used in Singapore. It is the first language of many Singaporeans, and the second language of nearly all the rest of the country's citizens. However, educated Singaporeans are able to code-switch between Singlish and Standard English.
The vocabulary of Singlish consists of words originating from English, Malay (mainly Bahasa Melayu rather than Indonesian), Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi and to a lesser extent various other European, Indic and Sinitic languages, while Singlish syntax resembles southern varieties of Chinese. Also, elements of American and Australian slang have come through from imported television series and films. Recently, because Mandarin Chinese is taught to most Singaporean Chinese students in school, Mandarin words have also found their way into Singlish. Singlish is very similar to Manglish, the creoles of neighboring Malaysia.
The Singaporean government currently discourages the use of Singlish in favors of formal "official" English, as it believes in the need for Singaporeans to be able to effectively communicate with the other English users in the world. The government runs the Speak Good English Movement to emphasis the point.
Once Singapore had become independent from Britain, "the Queen's English" was gradually replaced by a more Singapore-accented form of English among the young.
As the entire British civil service and Education Ministry were withdrawn from Singapore, the civil service and Education Ministry were replaced by British subjects born in Singapore, who became less stringent in correcting local variants of English to conform with Standard English. Singlish began to evolve among the working classes who learned English without formal schooling, and it was increasingly used as a lingua franca.
Singlish originated with the arrival of the British and the establishment of English language schools in Singapore. Soon, English filtered out of schools and on to the streets, to be picked up by non-English-speakers in a pidgin-like form for communication purposes. After some time, this new form of English, now loaded with substantial influences from Indian English, Baba, Malay, and the southern varieties of Chinese, became the language of the streets and began to be learned "natively" in its own right. Creolization occurred, and Singlish then became a fully formed, stabilized, and independent English Creole.
In British Singapore, however, as the seat of the colonial government and international commerce, English was both the language of administration and the lingua franca.
Malaysian English (MyE), formally known as Malaysian Standard English (MySE), is a form of English used and spoken in Malaysia as a second language. Malaysian English should not be confused with Malaysian Colloquial English which is famously known as Manglish or Street English, a portmanteau of the word Malay and English.
The acrolect is near-native, and not many Malaysians fall into this category - only those educated in core English-speaking countries from early schooling up to university may be found to speak the acrolect variety, so only tiny percentage of Malaysians are proficient in it. As with other similar situations, a continuum exists between these three varieties and speakers may code-switch between them depending on context.
Most academics, professionals and other English-educated Malaysians, speak mesolect English. Malaysian English belongs to mesolect, and it is Malaysian English that is used in daily interaction.
However, in truth most Malaysians on the street speak Manglish on a daily basis. Therefore this means Manglish is actually short for Malaysian English. Manglish can be spoken almost using completely English words alone just that they are used differently. Imported words are actually minimal except for just a handful of common non-English nouns and verbs in Malaysia. Manglish or Malaysian English is therefore a matter of style of usage.
There are indeed colloquial words not common outside of Malaysia but that does not render them a part of English. They are used colloquially as substitutes in other languages in Malaysia as well.
At other times, using Malay grammar on English words, speaking English using Chinese grammar, or mixing grammar and words that don't belong together can be done quite spontaneously and be quite amusing. Hence, it would not be accurate to list down all words and meanings and package them as a new form of language as is sometimes done by authors to have enough content for a coffee table book.
Historical Approach
The name Anglo-Malay has been used to describe the variety that emerged during colonial times among expatriates and a local élite, serving as the vehicle through which such words as compound/kampong, durian, orang utan, and sarong have passed into GENERAL ENGLISH.
Some English-medium schools were established in the 19c (in Penang in 1816, Singapore 1823, Malacca 1826, and Kuala Lumpur 1894), at the same time as Malay, Chinese, and Tamil schools were encouraged.
Those members of the various ethnic groups who were educated in the English-medium schools came to use English increasingly in their occupations and their daily life; the 1957 census reported 400,000 people (some 6% of the population) as claiming to be literate in the language. When the British began to withdraw in the late 1950s, English had become the dominant language of the non-European élite, and with independence became with Malay the ‘alternate official language’.
However, the National Language Act of 1967 established Malay (renamed Bahasa Malaysia in 1963) as the sole official language, with some exceptions in such areas as medicine, banking, and business.
Among Malaysians, the term Malaysian English tends to refer to a more or less controversial variety that centers on the colloquialisms of those educated at the English-medium schools. Its essence is distilled in the cartoons of K. H. Boon in the Malaysian Post: ‘Myself so thin don't eat, can die one, you know?’
English-medium education expanded after independence; there were close to 400,000 students in such schools when, in 1969, the Ministry of Education decided that all English-medium schools would become Malay-medium. By the early 1980s, the process through which Bahasa Malaysia has become the national language of education was virtually complete, but the shift prompted widespread concern that general proficiency in English would decline.
To prevent this, English has been retained as the compulsory second language in primary and secondary schools. Some 20% of the present population (c.3.4m) understands English and some 25% of city dwellers use it for some purposes in everyday life. It is widely used in the media and as a reading language in higher education.
There are seven English-language daily newspapers (combined circulation over 500,000) and three newspapers in Sabah published partly in English (circulation over 60,000). English is essentially an urban middle-class language, virtually all its users are bilingual, and CODE-SWITCHING is commonplace.
Ever since Sir Stamford Raffles claimed the island of Singapore for the East India Company in 1819, English has had a place in Singapore. As more and more of its people experienced learning English at school, English became widely spoken, alongside Singapore's many other languages. Since Singapore became an independent Republic in 1965, the use of English has increased still further, and since 1987 all Singaporean children have their education through the medium of English (they must also study another language at school). For many Singaporeans, English is the main language. Many families speak English at home and it is one of the first languages learnt by about half of the current pre-school children.
Nearly everyone in Singapore speaks more than one language, with many people speaking three or four. Most children grow up bilingual from infancy and learn more languages as they grow up. Naturally the presence of other languages (especially various varieties of Malay and of Chinese) has influenced the English of Singapore. The influence is especially apparent in a kind of English that is used informally, which is popularly called Singlish. Singlish is a badge of identity for many Singaporeans, and, as you can see from Talkingcock.com, there are some websites that are written in it. Many bloggers use a good deal of Singlish in their writing too. As is the case with many contact varieties, however, Singapore English is often seen as wrong. In 1999 an official campaign began to encourage Singaporeans to use Standard English rather than Singlish.
Since the 1960s linguists and sociologists have studied the features and the functions of English in Singapore from a number of perspectives. Those who would like to know about studies of Singapore English should look at our annotated list of the major works on Singapore English. You might also like to look at the articles which I wrote on Singapore English for Speech Therapists, which will give you some idea what Singapore English is like.
Over the past few decades, Singapore English has been emerging as an independent variety of English with its own distinct style of pronunciation, grammar and word usage. An overview of this variety in straightforward, non-technical language, including coverage of: its pronunciation, including comparisons with the pronunciation of English in other countries in South-East Asia; its morphology and grammar; the words that are used, including instances where the meaning is distinct from other varieties of English; the discourse patterns that are found, including use of particles such as lah; and, its history and current developments.
All the findings presented in the book are illustrated with extensive examples from one hour of recorded conversational data from the Lim Siew Hwee Corpus of Informal Singapore Speech, as well as some extracts from the NIE Corpus of Spoken Singapore Speech and recent blogs. In addition, usage patterns found in the data are summarized, to provide a solid foundation for the reported occurrence of various features of the language.
Sociological Approach
Due to its origins, Singlish shares many similarities with pidgin varieties of English, and can easily give the impression of "broken English" or "bad English" to a speaker of some other, less divergent variety of English. In addition, the profusion of Singlish features, especially loanwords from Asian languages, mood, particles, and topic-prominent structure, can easily make Singlish incomprehensible to a speaker of Standard English.
As a result, the use of Singlish is greatly frowned on by the government, and two former prime ministers, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, have publicly declaredthat Singlish is a substandard English that handicaps Singaporeans, presents an obstacle to learning proper English, and renders the speaker incomprehensible to everyone except another Singlish speaker.
Current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has also said that Singlish should not be part of Singapore's identity. In the interests of promoting equality and better communication with the rest of the world, in 2000 the government launched the Speak Good English Movement to eradicate it, at least from formal usage. In spite of this, in recent years the use of Singlish on television and radio has proliferated as localized Singlish continues to be popular among Singaporeans, especially in comedies. Singlish comedies have scored higher viewer ratings in the Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asian market, than BBC comedies such as Black Adder.[citation needed]
Singlish is strongly discouraged in Singaporean schools at a governmental level as it is believed to hinder the proper learning of Standard English, and so faces a situation of diglossia. The use of Singlish when speaking in classes or to teachers, however officially frowned upon, is rather inevitable given that many teachers themselves are comfortable with the variety. For many students, using Singlish is also inevitable when interacting with their peers, siblings, parents and elders. The government continues to wage an uphill battle in discouraging students from developing a Singlish-speaking habit.
In most workplaces, Singlish is avoided in formal settings, especially at job interviews, meetings with clients, presentations or meetings Nevertheless, select Singlish phrases are sometimes injected into discussions to build rapport or for a humorous effect, especially when the audience consists mainly of locals.
In other informal settings, such as during conversation with friends, or transactions in kopi tiams (coffee shops) and shopping malls, Singlish is used without restriction. The only exception is that it may be considered impolite to speak Singlish when a foreigner is present, as it is likely that he or she will find it difficult to understand. However, many Swedish, German, Dutch, Swiss, American, Canadian and even British expatriates have begun to learn Singlish and enjoy responding to interviews in a badly learned Singlish.
It should also be noted that Singlish itself consists of a diverse continuum ranging from an acrolect that is very similar to British or American English, to a mesolect that is more divergent, to a basilect that is nearly incomprehensible to the average native speaker of English. In a formal situation, the acrolect may be acceptable, while the basilect would be unacceptable; in an informal situation, the situation may be reversed with the acrolect being too stiff and the basilect more acceptable.
Students in Malaysian schools are taught only basic and simpler conversational English using British grammar and spelling. Unfortunately, due to the multi-language environment the local teachers are not high up on pronunciations and intonations.
There is no reference to the English being used in Malaysia, as Malaysian English, even from the English daily newspapers. Naturally there are some differences of contemporary words used between Malaysia and the United Kingdom as they are continents apart each have their own media. However, they are not so distinctly apart and established that English in Malaysia needs to be recognized as Malaysian English. Malaysia continually strives to refer to authorities of British English but also accepts that American English influence is becoming increasingly apparent. Hence, Malaysia has no intention of formulating its own English or coming up with its own dictionary unlike some English-speaking Commonwealth states like Australia.
There is no such term as Malaysian English in any official context except for the ever-changing school curriculum modules in attempts to improve the command of English but without going into advanced lessons. Call it English 112, English for Primary Students, Malaysian English, and Conversational English etc but "Malaysian English" is not an official dialect of English. On the streets, Manglish is just "Malaysian English" shortened as Singlish is Singaporean English shortened i.e. bad broken English that it originally was.
CHAPTER III
Research Methodology
The Research Design
This study is a descriptive-qualitative study that describes the aspects of the similarities and the differences of Singaporean and Malaysian English that happens naturally in the communicative event. The observation is done to collect the data that will be used as the source of the study.
The analysis of this study is based on the inductive approach, which is the phenomena found in the study will be analyzed and the final findings will be confirmed with related general theoretical framework.
Source of the Data
The population of this study is the Singaporean and Malaysian speech community regardless of age, sex, social status, and educational background.
Data Collection
The procedure of the data collection is recording some language produced by the native of Singaporean and Malaysian. The informants are asked to state the English language given into Singaporean for the native of Singaporean, and into Malaysian for the native of Malaysian. Besides, the writer also notes what the speakers produced just to prevent the unclear result of the recording.
Data Analysis
The techniques of the data analysis are as the follows:
a. the collected data are transcribed,
b. They are classified. The classification is based on the similarities, and the differences in pronunciation,
c. They are analyzed based on the characteristic features of the similarities and the differences between them.
CHAPTER IV
Analysis and Discussion
Language, Culture and Society
Initially, "Singlish" and "Manglish" were essentially the same dialect evolving from the British Malaya economy, born in the trading ports of Singapore, Malacca and Penang when Singapore and peninsular Malaysia were for many purposes a de facto single entity.
In Singapore, English was the language of administration, which the British used, with the assistance of English-educated Straits-born Chinese, to control the administration in Malaya and governance of trading routes such as the British East Indies spice routes with China, Japan, Europe and America in those ports and colonies of Singapore, Malacca and Penang through the colonial governing seat in Singapore.
In British Malaya, English was the language of the British administration whilst Malay was spoken as the lingua franca of the street, as the British did not wish to antagonize the native Malays.
In British Singapore, however, as the seat of the colonial government and international commerce, English was both the language of administration and the lingua franca.
Thus, in Malaysia, even the Chinese would revert to Malay when speaking to Chinese who did not speak the same Chinese varieties. However, in British Singapore, the Chinese would use English when speaking to other Chinese of a different dialect.
In Malaya, the Chinese varieties themselves also contained many loan-words from Malay, and more Chinese loan-words from the Cantonese, rather than the Hokkien languages e.g. Cantonese: Cantonese-influenced "baa sat" instead of the Hokkien-influenced "baa saak" in Singapore, lo di (from Malay 'pasar', 'roti' meaning 'market', 'bread'), Hokkien gu li, jam bban (from Malay 'guli', 'jamban' meaning 'marble', 'latrine'/WC).
In Singlish, "eating bread" would be translated as "jiak bread", jiak being the Hokkien verb for "to eat", whereas in Malaysia, "eating bread" would be translated as "makan lodi" (Malay verb for "eat" + Hokkien transliteration of the Malay word for "bread"). Many signs in Singapore include all four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
What is common between the two is the way local language terms, intonations, exclamations and grammar are fused with English. Manglish however is fused more with Malay nouns and verbs as all Malaysians learned Malay in school whereas Singlish is more fused with Chinese terms as most Singaporeans do not learn Malay in school and the island republic has an overwhelming majority of chinese speakers.
"Manglish" was coined right after "Singlish" was coined when Singapore attempted to stop such language being accepted on public media. For some reason however, it has turned out to be a quirky and amusing language to foreigners and some write about it to help foreigners adapt instead. And Malaysia wanted its own identity to the broken English language instead of a term that refers to sibling rival Singapore.
Singlish shares substantial linguistic similarities with Malaysian English (Manglish) in Malaysia, although distinctions can be made, particularly in vocabulary. Manglish generally now receives more Malay influence and Singlish more Chinese (Mandarin, Hokkien, etc.) influence. In addition, the Singlish dialect has a set grammar and particular phonological and grammatical rules, whereas Manglish does not follow any grammatical rules, and is not mutually intelligible within different variants of Manglish, even disparate regions in Malaysia itself.[citation needed]
Each of the following means the same thing, but the basilectal and mesolectal versions incorporate some colloquial additions for illustrative purposes.Basilect ("Singlish")
The phenomenon of code switching, or the alternation between multiple languages within the same conversation, further complicates the linguistic situation in Singapore, where due to international commerce in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, many well-educated Singaporeans aged 40 and below can speak, in addition to Standard English or American English, French, Japanese, German and Mandarin Chinese.
For example, a local Singaporean professor might speak in a Singlish consisting of English, Hokkien, Malay, Cantonese, Indian and French loan-words, when explaining aesthetic theories in a university lecture.
It is however, possible to speak Manglish/Singlish without substituting English words with that from another language. By just changing the pronunciation, intonation, over-simplifying the grammar, redefining the use of certain english words, give meaning to phrases and using simple exlamations common to the region as well as paying attention to the expression and tones will have anyone speaking Manglish/Singlish.
Wat la yu? (What lah you?) spoken in a rising disappointing tone means How could you? or How stupid can you get?
Wat la yu.. (What lah you) spoken in lowering sheepish softening comforting tone means You shouldn't have or You should have been more careful but I still like you
Got or not? spoken is rising tone means Did that happen? or Do you have it?
Wear got? (Where got) spoken in rising exclamation means No such thing or I don't believe you
Sure ah? spoken in rising question tone means Are you sure?
O.K. wat? (OK what?) spoken in rising questioning OK and lowering assuring tone means Isn't this good enough? (with intent to assure that it is good enough) or This should be acceptable, isn't it?
Like dat cannot la! (Like that cannot lah!) spoken with serious expression means I cannot accept it this way or in this condition
How can? spoken in rising exclamation means How could this happen or How can this happen
Die lah! spoken in somber or exclamation means I'm in deep shit or I would be in deep shit, both figuratively speaking
..is it? end any sentence with this question ignoring the grammar will mean Is this/that correct? or Is the statement true?
When ah? Who ah? How ah? Why ah? Where ah? in rising ahs mean When? Who? How? Why? Where? respectively
Eh hello! (hey hello!) or just hello! spoken in the middle of a conversation means That does not sound right or you don't seem alright. You are not paying attention, please stay alert!
Of course there needs to be some inclusion of common simple words in Malay or Chinese like Alamak! or Aiyo! (both mean Oh no!!) but by no means would the list of non-English verbs and nouns take pages. Many writers who teach Manglish and Singlish do so with reference to earlier light-hearted books that would have needed to be at least 20 to 50 pages long. Anything less might not sell. In truth, they have less to do with imported words but more with style.
(1) Malaysian English and SINGAPORE ENGLISH have much in common, with the main exception that English in Malaysia is more subject to influence from Malay. (2) Pronunciation is marked by: a strong tendency to syllable-timed rhythm, and a simplification of word-final consonant clusters, as in /lɪv/ for lived. (3) Syntactic characteristics include: the countable use of some usually uncountable nouns (Pick up your chalks; A consideration for others is important); innovations in phrasal verbs (such as cope up with rather than cope with); the use of reflexive pronouns to form emphatic pronouns (Myself sick I am sick; Himself funny He is funny); and the multi-purpose particle lah, a token especially of informal intimacy (Sorry, can't come lah). (4) Local vocabulary includes: such borrowings from Malay as bumiputera (originally SANSKRIT, son of the soil) a Malay or other indigenous person, dadah illegal drugs, rakyat the people, citizens, Majlis (from ARABIC) Parliament, makan food; such special usages as banana leaf restaurant a South Indian restaurant where food is served on banana leaves, chop a rubber stamp or seal, crocodile a womanizer, girlie barber shop a hairdressing salon that doubles as a massage parlour or brothel, sensitive issues (as defined in the Constitution) issues that must not be raised in public, such as the status of the various languages used in Malaysia and the rights and privileges of the different communities; such colloquialisms as bes (from best) great, fantastic, relac (from relax) take it easy; and such hybrids as bumiputera status indigenous status, and dadah addict drug addict.
CHAPTER V
The Results of the Analysis
Conclusion:
Having analyzed the differences of Singaporean and Malaysian English and in which context each meaning is used; I draw a conclusion as follows:
There are some Singaporean and Malaysian English that have different pronunciation, and they’ve the characteristics, and both Singaporean and Malaysian English use compound word.
Suggestions for further researchers:
This thesis cannot be said as a perfect researcher. There are so many things that have not been discussed, the suggestion are as follows:
Besides the similarities and the differences, there are some aspects of language that can be analyzed, such as syntax and lexical process, because those also appear the characteristics features.
For the educational field, the writer hopes the educational institutions should improve students’ linguistic ability through learning-teaching process especially in phonology and semantic branch.
Based on the above suggestion, it is hoped that the next researcher will consider the troubles which are found in this study.
THESIS
Alvani Abdillah 06410038
FACULTY OF LETTERS
GAJAYANA UNIVERSITY OF MALANG
2009
ABSTRACT
Language used by people in various parts of the world have own characteristics that are different from others. On the other hand, people in different geographical region have their own languages that are characteristically different from others. These languages are called regional language.
Among the regional languages, there are similarities and differences in pronunciation of the words; it may be caused by historical background that influences each others. It occurs, for instance, between Singaporean and Malaysian English. Some words of them are similar and different in the forms of oral and written. Both also have speech levels that each has different function.
The main purpose of this study is to analyze the differences of the pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian English. This analyze is essentially used to answer the research problems of the study. Those are: 1. What Singaporean and Malaysian English have difference? 2. What a characteristics of the difference of the pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian English? 3. Are there any similarities between Singaporean and Malaysian English? 4. What aspect is similar and different?
This analysis is descriptive method. The listed words are the data taken randomly from the population of Singaporean and Malaysian speech communities. They consist of the differences of the Singaporean and Malaysian English that happen naturally in communicative event. However, the informants are asked to state the English given into Singaporean and Malaysian.
The results of this study indicate that there are some similarities between Singaporean and Malaysian English. The aspect of similarities occurs in the pronunciation. There are some Singaporean and Malaysian English have different characteristics. The other Singaporean and Malaysian English have different individual spelling, and Singaporean and Malaysian English use compound words.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study:
I interest to connect participants’ bilingual practices to their developing understandings of a member language. Dual-language by native languages and cultures as resources study and by creating enriching, high-quality academic for speech communities backgrounds. I conducted my research provides an ideal reason for the study of the language between multilingualism and social life.
The researcher facts from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds have demonstrated in multiple ways to explore the power and efficiency of their multiple languages and dialects, as well as test the sociolinguistic boundaries associated with particular linguistic forms.
In contrast, are based on an additive conceptual of bilingualism. Additive bilingual communities to add English on to their linguistic repertoire, while maintaining and developing skills in their mother tongue. In the other Region also tend to have social goals related to tolerance and cultural pluralism.
I have a reason to focuses on the connections between participants’ use of linguistic forms and their beliefs about bilingualism and biculturalism. I argue that the communities prevailing ideology of equality, in some ways, conceives of English language learning and foreign language learning as essentially the same.
In there, both foreign language-dominant and English-dominant people have the opportunity to be models and experts for one another in different situations. Thus, this study are designed to provide high-quality, research-based practice for English language speakers, as well as foreign language instruction for monolingual English people.
Problem of the study:
Based on the description, the problem of this research can be formulated as follows:
Are they any similarities between Singaporean and Malaysian English?
Are they any differences between Singaporean and Malaysian English?
When there are some similarities and differences, what aspects are?
What a characteristics features of the similarities and the differences between them?
Purpose of the study:
The main purpose of this study is to analyze the differences of the pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian English. This analyze is essentially used to answer the research problems of the study. Those are: 1. What Singaporean and Malaysian English have difference? 2. What a characteristics of the difference of the pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian English? 3. Are there any similarities between Singaporean and Malaysian English? 4. What aspect is similar and different?
What do you want to do with your thesis?
The research is aimed to contribute some findings especially the differences between Singaporean and Malaysian English that arte useful for English and Indonesian learners. It is aimed also to answer the questions mentioned in the problems above. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the differences of the pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian English. This analyze is essentially used to answer the research problems of the study. They consist of the differences of the Singaporean and Malaysian English that happen naturally in communicative event. However, I am asked to state the English given into Singaporean and Malaysian.
Assumption of the study:
Dealing with history of a relationship between the Singaporean and Malaysian English, and It is assumed that there are some similarities between them. They may be found in the pronunciation, spelling and meaning.
Significance of the study:
The result of this research is hoped to give something valuable for the study of sociolinguistics. It is also aimed to get knowledge about the use of oral Singaporean and Malaysian English. By knowing the correct English pronunciation of Singaporean and Malaysian speech communities, it is hoped that this thesis will be useful to students and teacher who want to know some about the differences between Singaporean and Malaysian English. By knowing the sociolinguistic representation of a linguistic form, we can comprehend the difference. In addition, this study will be a helpful model for further researchers in stating the linguistic forms. This study also introduces the innovative tool. This study is expected to give a meaningful contribution to the linguistic study especially in the field of sociolinguistic.
Scope and limitation:
Scope
The scope of this research is the analysis of Singaporean and Malaysian English pronunciation that have differences and similarities, and the words that have the same meaning.
Limitation
The limitation of this study is that the pronunciations are taken from parts of Singaporean and Malaysian dialects as the representative of them English. Therefore, the study do not reflected them language as a whole. It enables occurrences of missed data and is not analyzed from point of view of why difference occurs.
Theoretical Framework:
There are some theories that can be used as guidelines to analyze the differences of Singaporean and Malaysian English.
“In the geographies of the language mentioned, the principles of pronunciation are to that any normal speakers learns the complete language system by the end of the second language. The basic of the geographic by the stage is virtually evidence of subnormal mentality in American, English, Spain, etc.” (Robert A. Hall, 1964).
“The process of change of the languages can be linked to major social changes by wars, invasions and other upheaval, the most pervasive source of change in language seems to be in the continual process of cultural transmission. Each new generation has to find a way of using a language of the previous generation. In this unending process whereby each new language user has to recreate for him or himself the language of the community, there is an unavoidable propensity to pick up some elements exactly and others only approximately. There is also occasional desire to be different.” (Yule, 1985:176-177).
Organization of key terms:
To give the readers a general idea and simple guidance. It is necessary to explain the organization of the study. The study is divided into five chapters, introduction, review of related literature, research methodology, analysis and discussion, conclusion and suggestion
The first chapter, introduction, consist of the background of the study, problems of the study, purpose of the study, assumption, significance of the study, scope and limitation, theoretical framework, and organization of the study.
The second chapter, review of related literature, consists of the theories. They will support the analysis of the data.
The third chapter, research methodology, consists of design of the research, approach of the study, data collection and data analysis.
The fourth chapter is the analysis and discussion, which puts forward the findings. The last is the fifth chapter; it is about the conclusion and suggestion.
CHAPTER II
Review of Related Literature
Language
Everyone needs at least language. Language has an important role in human life as it is one of communication devices.
Gumpers describes a language as a medium of communication that is posessed by human groups (1971:114). Moreover, language is the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbol (Hall in Crystal, 1987:396). Considering the definition, a language has function as a medium of device of communication. Being a medium of communication, a language plays an important role in daily activities, such as politic, education, technology, etc.
Singlish is an English-based creoles used in Singapore. It is the first language of many Singaporeans, and the second language of nearly all the rest of the country's citizens. However, educated Singaporeans are able to code-switch between Singlish and Standard English.
The vocabulary of Singlish consists of words originating from English, Malay (mainly Bahasa Melayu rather than Indonesian), Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi and to a lesser extent various other European, Indic and Sinitic languages, while Singlish syntax resembles southern varieties of Chinese. Also, elements of American and Australian slang have come through from imported television series and films. Recently, because Mandarin Chinese is taught to most Singaporean Chinese students in school, Mandarin words have also found their way into Singlish. Singlish is very similar to Manglish, the creoles of neighboring Malaysia.
The Singaporean government currently discourages the use of Singlish in favors of formal "official" English, as it believes in the need for Singaporeans to be able to effectively communicate with the other English users in the world. The government runs the Speak Good English Movement to emphasis the point.
Once Singapore had become independent from Britain, "the Queen's English" was gradually replaced by a more Singapore-accented form of English among the young.
As the entire British civil service and Education Ministry were withdrawn from Singapore, the civil service and Education Ministry were replaced by British subjects born in Singapore, who became less stringent in correcting local variants of English to conform with Standard English. Singlish began to evolve among the working classes who learned English without formal schooling, and it was increasingly used as a lingua franca.
Singlish originated with the arrival of the British and the establishment of English language schools in Singapore. Soon, English filtered out of schools and on to the streets, to be picked up by non-English-speakers in a pidgin-like form for communication purposes. After some time, this new form of English, now loaded with substantial influences from Indian English, Baba, Malay, and the southern varieties of Chinese, became the language of the streets and began to be learned "natively" in its own right. Creolization occurred, and Singlish then became a fully formed, stabilized, and independent English Creole.
In British Singapore, however, as the seat of the colonial government and international commerce, English was both the language of administration and the lingua franca.
Malaysian English (MyE), formally known as Malaysian Standard English (MySE), is a form of English used and spoken in Malaysia as a second language. Malaysian English should not be confused with Malaysian Colloquial English which is famously known as Manglish or Street English, a portmanteau of the word Malay and English.
The acrolect is near-native, and not many Malaysians fall into this category - only those educated in core English-speaking countries from early schooling up to university may be found to speak the acrolect variety, so only tiny percentage of Malaysians are proficient in it. As with other similar situations, a continuum exists between these three varieties and speakers may code-switch between them depending on context.
Most academics, professionals and other English-educated Malaysians, speak mesolect English. Malaysian English belongs to mesolect, and it is Malaysian English that is used in daily interaction.
However, in truth most Malaysians on the street speak Manglish on a daily basis. Therefore this means Manglish is actually short for Malaysian English. Manglish can be spoken almost using completely English words alone just that they are used differently. Imported words are actually minimal except for just a handful of common non-English nouns and verbs in Malaysia. Manglish or Malaysian English is therefore a matter of style of usage.
There are indeed colloquial words not common outside of Malaysia but that does not render them a part of English. They are used colloquially as substitutes in other languages in Malaysia as well.
At other times, using Malay grammar on English words, speaking English using Chinese grammar, or mixing grammar and words that don't belong together can be done quite spontaneously and be quite amusing. Hence, it would not be accurate to list down all words and meanings and package them as a new form of language as is sometimes done by authors to have enough content for a coffee table book.
Historical Approach
The name Anglo-Malay has been used to describe the variety that emerged during colonial times among expatriates and a local élite, serving as the vehicle through which such words as compound/kampong, durian, orang utan, and sarong have passed into GENERAL ENGLISH.
Some English-medium schools were established in the 19c (in Penang in 1816, Singapore 1823, Malacca 1826, and Kuala Lumpur 1894), at the same time as Malay, Chinese, and Tamil schools were encouraged.
Those members of the various ethnic groups who were educated in the English-medium schools came to use English increasingly in their occupations and their daily life; the 1957 census reported 400,000 people (some 6% of the population) as claiming to be literate in the language. When the British began to withdraw in the late 1950s, English had become the dominant language of the non-European élite, and with independence became with Malay the ‘alternate official language’.
However, the National Language Act of 1967 established Malay (renamed Bahasa Malaysia in 1963) as the sole official language, with some exceptions in such areas as medicine, banking, and business.
Among Malaysians, the term Malaysian English tends to refer to a more or less controversial variety that centers on the colloquialisms of those educated at the English-medium schools. Its essence is distilled in the cartoons of K. H. Boon in the Malaysian Post: ‘Myself so thin don't eat, can die one, you know?’
English-medium education expanded after independence; there were close to 400,000 students in such schools when, in 1969, the Ministry of Education decided that all English-medium schools would become Malay-medium. By the early 1980s, the process through which Bahasa Malaysia has become the national language of education was virtually complete, but the shift prompted widespread concern that general proficiency in English would decline.
To prevent this, English has been retained as the compulsory second language in primary and secondary schools. Some 20% of the present population (c.3.4m) understands English and some 25% of city dwellers use it for some purposes in everyday life. It is widely used in the media and as a reading language in higher education.
There are seven English-language daily newspapers (combined circulation over 500,000) and three newspapers in Sabah published partly in English (circulation over 60,000). English is essentially an urban middle-class language, virtually all its users are bilingual, and CODE-SWITCHING is commonplace.
Ever since Sir Stamford Raffles claimed the island of Singapore for the East India Company in 1819, English has had a place in Singapore. As more and more of its people experienced learning English at school, English became widely spoken, alongside Singapore's many other languages. Since Singapore became an independent Republic in 1965, the use of English has increased still further, and since 1987 all Singaporean children have their education through the medium of English (they must also study another language at school). For many Singaporeans, English is the main language. Many families speak English at home and it is one of the first languages learnt by about half of the current pre-school children.
Nearly everyone in Singapore speaks more than one language, with many people speaking three or four. Most children grow up bilingual from infancy and learn more languages as they grow up. Naturally the presence of other languages (especially various varieties of Malay and of Chinese) has influenced the English of Singapore. The influence is especially apparent in a kind of English that is used informally, which is popularly called Singlish. Singlish is a badge of identity for many Singaporeans, and, as you can see from Talkingcock.com, there are some websites that are written in it. Many bloggers use a good deal of Singlish in their writing too. As is the case with many contact varieties, however, Singapore English is often seen as wrong. In 1999 an official campaign began to encourage Singaporeans to use Standard English rather than Singlish.
Since the 1960s linguists and sociologists have studied the features and the functions of English in Singapore from a number of perspectives. Those who would like to know about studies of Singapore English should look at our annotated list of the major works on Singapore English. You might also like to look at the articles which I wrote on Singapore English for Speech Therapists, which will give you some idea what Singapore English is like.
Over the past few decades, Singapore English has been emerging as an independent variety of English with its own distinct style of pronunciation, grammar and word usage. An overview of this variety in straightforward, non-technical language, including coverage of: its pronunciation, including comparisons with the pronunciation of English in other countries in South-East Asia; its morphology and grammar; the words that are used, including instances where the meaning is distinct from other varieties of English; the discourse patterns that are found, including use of particles such as lah; and, its history and current developments.
All the findings presented in the book are illustrated with extensive examples from one hour of recorded conversational data from the Lim Siew Hwee Corpus of Informal Singapore Speech, as well as some extracts from the NIE Corpus of Spoken Singapore Speech and recent blogs. In addition, usage patterns found in the data are summarized, to provide a solid foundation for the reported occurrence of various features of the language.
Sociological Approach
Due to its origins, Singlish shares many similarities with pidgin varieties of English, and can easily give the impression of "broken English" or "bad English" to a speaker of some other, less divergent variety of English. In addition, the profusion of Singlish features, especially loanwords from Asian languages, mood, particles, and topic-prominent structure, can easily make Singlish incomprehensible to a speaker of Standard English.
As a result, the use of Singlish is greatly frowned on by the government, and two former prime ministers, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, have publicly declaredthat Singlish is a substandard English that handicaps Singaporeans, presents an obstacle to learning proper English, and renders the speaker incomprehensible to everyone except another Singlish speaker.
Current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has also said that Singlish should not be part of Singapore's identity. In the interests of promoting equality and better communication with the rest of the world, in 2000 the government launched the Speak Good English Movement to eradicate it, at least from formal usage. In spite of this, in recent years the use of Singlish on television and radio has proliferated as localized Singlish continues to be popular among Singaporeans, especially in comedies. Singlish comedies have scored higher viewer ratings in the Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asian market, than BBC comedies such as Black Adder.[citation needed]
Singlish is strongly discouraged in Singaporean schools at a governmental level as it is believed to hinder the proper learning of Standard English, and so faces a situation of diglossia. The use of Singlish when speaking in classes or to teachers, however officially frowned upon, is rather inevitable given that many teachers themselves are comfortable with the variety. For many students, using Singlish is also inevitable when interacting with their peers, siblings, parents and elders. The government continues to wage an uphill battle in discouraging students from developing a Singlish-speaking habit.
In most workplaces, Singlish is avoided in formal settings, especially at job interviews, meetings with clients, presentations or meetings Nevertheless, select Singlish phrases are sometimes injected into discussions to build rapport or for a humorous effect, especially when the audience consists mainly of locals.
In other informal settings, such as during conversation with friends, or transactions in kopi tiams (coffee shops) and shopping malls, Singlish is used without restriction. The only exception is that it may be considered impolite to speak Singlish when a foreigner is present, as it is likely that he or she will find it difficult to understand. However, many Swedish, German, Dutch, Swiss, American, Canadian and even British expatriates have begun to learn Singlish and enjoy responding to interviews in a badly learned Singlish.
It should also be noted that Singlish itself consists of a diverse continuum ranging from an acrolect that is very similar to British or American English, to a mesolect that is more divergent, to a basilect that is nearly incomprehensible to the average native speaker of English. In a formal situation, the acrolect may be acceptable, while the basilect would be unacceptable; in an informal situation, the situation may be reversed with the acrolect being too stiff and the basilect more acceptable.
Students in Malaysian schools are taught only basic and simpler conversational English using British grammar and spelling. Unfortunately, due to the multi-language environment the local teachers are not high up on pronunciations and intonations.
There is no reference to the English being used in Malaysia, as Malaysian English, even from the English daily newspapers. Naturally there are some differences of contemporary words used between Malaysia and the United Kingdom as they are continents apart each have their own media. However, they are not so distinctly apart and established that English in Malaysia needs to be recognized as Malaysian English. Malaysia continually strives to refer to authorities of British English but also accepts that American English influence is becoming increasingly apparent. Hence, Malaysia has no intention of formulating its own English or coming up with its own dictionary unlike some English-speaking Commonwealth states like Australia.
There is no such term as Malaysian English in any official context except for the ever-changing school curriculum modules in attempts to improve the command of English but without going into advanced lessons. Call it English 112, English for Primary Students, Malaysian English, and Conversational English etc but "Malaysian English" is not an official dialect of English. On the streets, Manglish is just "Malaysian English" shortened as Singlish is Singaporean English shortened i.e. bad broken English that it originally was.
CHAPTER III
Research Methodology
The Research Design
This study is a descriptive-qualitative study that describes the aspects of the similarities and the differences of Singaporean and Malaysian English that happens naturally in the communicative event. The observation is done to collect the data that will be used as the source of the study.
The analysis of this study is based on the inductive approach, which is the phenomena found in the study will be analyzed and the final findings will be confirmed with related general theoretical framework.
Source of the Data
The population of this study is the Singaporean and Malaysian speech community regardless of age, sex, social status, and educational background.
Data Collection
The procedure of the data collection is recording some language produced by the native of Singaporean and Malaysian. The informants are asked to state the English language given into Singaporean for the native of Singaporean, and into Malaysian for the native of Malaysian. Besides, the writer also notes what the speakers produced just to prevent the unclear result of the recording.
Data Analysis
The techniques of the data analysis are as the follows:
a. the collected data are transcribed,
b. They are classified. The classification is based on the similarities, and the differences in pronunciation,
c. They are analyzed based on the characteristic features of the similarities and the differences between them.
CHAPTER IV
Analysis and Discussion
Language, Culture and Society
Initially, "Singlish" and "Manglish" were essentially the same dialect evolving from the British Malaya economy, born in the trading ports of Singapore, Malacca and Penang when Singapore and peninsular Malaysia were for many purposes a de facto single entity.
In Singapore, English was the language of administration, which the British used, with the assistance of English-educated Straits-born Chinese, to control the administration in Malaya and governance of trading routes such as the British East Indies spice routes with China, Japan, Europe and America in those ports and colonies of Singapore, Malacca and Penang through the colonial governing seat in Singapore.
In British Malaya, English was the language of the British administration whilst Malay was spoken as the lingua franca of the street, as the British did not wish to antagonize the native Malays.
In British Singapore, however, as the seat of the colonial government and international commerce, English was both the language of administration and the lingua franca.
Thus, in Malaysia, even the Chinese would revert to Malay when speaking to Chinese who did not speak the same Chinese varieties. However, in British Singapore, the Chinese would use English when speaking to other Chinese of a different dialect.
In Malaya, the Chinese varieties themselves also contained many loan-words from Malay, and more Chinese loan-words from the Cantonese, rather than the Hokkien languages e.g. Cantonese: Cantonese-influenced "baa sat" instead of the Hokkien-influenced "baa saak" in Singapore, lo di (from Malay 'pasar', 'roti' meaning 'market', 'bread'), Hokkien gu li, jam bban (from Malay 'guli', 'jamban' meaning 'marble', 'latrine'/WC).
In Singlish, "eating bread" would be translated as "jiak bread", jiak being the Hokkien verb for "to eat", whereas in Malaysia, "eating bread" would be translated as "makan lodi" (Malay verb for "eat" + Hokkien transliteration of the Malay word for "bread"). Many signs in Singapore include all four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
What is common between the two is the way local language terms, intonations, exclamations and grammar are fused with English. Manglish however is fused more with Malay nouns and verbs as all Malaysians learned Malay in school whereas Singlish is more fused with Chinese terms as most Singaporeans do not learn Malay in school and the island republic has an overwhelming majority of chinese speakers.
"Manglish" was coined right after "Singlish" was coined when Singapore attempted to stop such language being accepted on public media. For some reason however, it has turned out to be a quirky and amusing language to foreigners and some write about it to help foreigners adapt instead. And Malaysia wanted its own identity to the broken English language instead of a term that refers to sibling rival Singapore.
Singlish shares substantial linguistic similarities with Malaysian English (Manglish) in Malaysia, although distinctions can be made, particularly in vocabulary. Manglish generally now receives more Malay influence and Singlish more Chinese (Mandarin, Hokkien, etc.) influence. In addition, the Singlish dialect has a set grammar and particular phonological and grammatical rules, whereas Manglish does not follow any grammatical rules, and is not mutually intelligible within different variants of Manglish, even disparate regions in Malaysia itself.[citation needed]
Each of the following means the same thing, but the basilectal and mesolectal versions incorporate some colloquial additions for illustrative purposes.Basilect ("Singlish")
The phenomenon of code switching, or the alternation between multiple languages within the same conversation, further complicates the linguistic situation in Singapore, where due to international commerce in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, many well-educated Singaporeans aged 40 and below can speak, in addition to Standard English or American English, French, Japanese, German and Mandarin Chinese.
For example, a local Singaporean professor might speak in a Singlish consisting of English, Hokkien, Malay, Cantonese, Indian and French loan-words, when explaining aesthetic theories in a university lecture.
It is however, possible to speak Manglish/Singlish without substituting English words with that from another language. By just changing the pronunciation, intonation, over-simplifying the grammar, redefining the use of certain english words, give meaning to phrases and using simple exlamations common to the region as well as paying attention to the expression and tones will have anyone speaking Manglish/Singlish.
Wat la yu? (What lah you?) spoken in a rising disappointing tone means How could you? or How stupid can you get?
Wat la yu.. (What lah you) spoken in lowering sheepish softening comforting tone means You shouldn't have or You should have been more careful but I still like you
Got or not? spoken is rising tone means Did that happen? or Do you have it?
Wear got? (Where got) spoken in rising exclamation means No such thing or I don't believe you
Sure ah? spoken in rising question tone means Are you sure?
O.K. wat? (OK what?) spoken in rising questioning OK and lowering assuring tone means Isn't this good enough? (with intent to assure that it is good enough) or This should be acceptable, isn't it?
Like dat cannot la! (Like that cannot lah!) spoken with serious expression means I cannot accept it this way or in this condition
How can? spoken in rising exclamation means How could this happen or How can this happen
Die lah! spoken in somber or exclamation means I'm in deep shit or I would be in deep shit, both figuratively speaking
..is it? end any sentence with this question ignoring the grammar will mean Is this/that correct? or Is the statement true?
When ah? Who ah? How ah? Why ah? Where ah? in rising ahs mean When? Who? How? Why? Where? respectively
Eh hello! (hey hello!) or just hello! spoken in the middle of a conversation means That does not sound right or you don't seem alright. You are not paying attention, please stay alert!
Of course there needs to be some inclusion of common simple words in Malay or Chinese like Alamak! or Aiyo! (both mean Oh no!!) but by no means would the list of non-English verbs and nouns take pages. Many writers who teach Manglish and Singlish do so with reference to earlier light-hearted books that would have needed to be at least 20 to 50 pages long. Anything less might not sell. In truth, they have less to do with imported words but more with style.
(1) Malaysian English and SINGAPORE ENGLISH have much in common, with the main exception that English in Malaysia is more subject to influence from Malay. (2) Pronunciation is marked by: a strong tendency to syllable-timed rhythm, and a simplification of word-final consonant clusters, as in /lɪv/ for lived. (3) Syntactic characteristics include: the countable use of some usually uncountable nouns (Pick up your chalks; A consideration for others is important); innovations in phrasal verbs (such as cope up with rather than cope with); the use of reflexive pronouns to form emphatic pronouns (Myself sick I am sick; Himself funny He is funny); and the multi-purpose particle lah, a token especially of informal intimacy (Sorry, can't come lah). (4) Local vocabulary includes: such borrowings from Malay as bumiputera (originally SANSKRIT, son of the soil) a Malay or other indigenous person, dadah illegal drugs, rakyat the people, citizens, Majlis (from ARABIC) Parliament, makan food; such special usages as banana leaf restaurant a South Indian restaurant where food is served on banana leaves, chop a rubber stamp or seal, crocodile a womanizer, girlie barber shop a hairdressing salon that doubles as a massage parlour or brothel, sensitive issues (as defined in the Constitution) issues that must not be raised in public, such as the status of the various languages used in Malaysia and the rights and privileges of the different communities; such colloquialisms as bes (from best) great, fantastic, relac (from relax) take it easy; and such hybrids as bumiputera status indigenous status, and dadah addict drug addict.
CHAPTER V
The Results of the Analysis
Conclusion:
Having analyzed the differences of Singaporean and Malaysian English and in which context each meaning is used; I draw a conclusion as follows:
There are some Singaporean and Malaysian English that have different pronunciation, and they’ve the characteristics, and both Singaporean and Malaysian English use compound word.
Suggestions for further researchers:
This thesis cannot be said as a perfect researcher. There are so many things that have not been discussed, the suggestion are as follows:
Besides the similarities and the differences, there are some aspects of language that can be analyzed, such as syntax and lexical process, because those also appear the characteristics features.
For the educational field, the writer hopes the educational institutions should improve students’ linguistic ability through learning-teaching process especially in phonology and semantic branch.
Based on the above suggestion, it is hoped that the next researcher will consider the troubles which are found in this study.
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