Singlish vs Manglish

Question to ponder:
Why did the Singapore government ban Singlish? Do you agree or disagree?
Should Malaysian govenrment ban the use of Manglish too?

"I Eat Already"

Many Malaysian English students get a headache when we come to English tenses. We make all the possible grammar tense mistakes that throw even our fellow Malaysians into a puzzled state.

Today, we shall focus on the usage of 'already' in Manglish and how we can untangle this tense problem.


The use of 'already'. (Source: Wikipedia)

d/dy/ady/edy/ridy/oledi	Derived from the word "already". Often used in online chatroom by the youth in Malaysia, although in speech, speakers will often pronounce as 'ridy'	I eat 'd' 'loh', I eat 'ridy', I eat 'oledi'

When Malaysians use 'already' in sentences, what they usually meant is to show past tense. The word 'already' can be derived from the direct translation of the Malay word usage of 'sudah' to show what happened in the past.

It is not easy for the Malays, Chinese, and Indians to learn the English tense as the Malay, Chinese, and Tamil language do not have any 'tenses' like how it works in English. It is much more simple in Malay, Chinese, and Tamil when one refers to an action according to its time. There isn't any verb conjugation at all in those languages.

So how can one replace the Manglish way of show past tense instead of using 'already'?

Homework: Revise on simple past tense. Give examples of regular verbs and irregular verbs for our next class discussion.

Code-Switching in Malaysia

What is Code-Switching?

Code-Switching refers to the use of two languages (or dialects) within a sentence or discourse. This is a natural process that often occurs between multilingual speakers that share two or more languages in common. Code-switching involves the substitution of a word (or phrase) from one language within a sentence in another language. The ability to produce and comprehend sentences with code-switching is seamless and its use in multilingual communities is widely accepted and often goes unnoticed.

Definition taken from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/psy457_ksmal/home

Question to ponder:
What are the reasons Malaysians do code switching? What affects their choice of code switching?

Assignment:
Listen to the following song. Provide a proper full English translation. Submit in class next week.

Accents in Malaysia

Observe this video. Comment on whether you agree or disagree with it.

Further discussion:
Do you speak with an accent? If yes, what kind of accent do you have?

A Journey of Malaysian English (Part 3)

Question to ponder:
Why is English considered important to climb the socioeconomic ladder?
(Post your answers under comments section of this post)

English in the colonial and post colonial era was a necessity for Malaysians to climb up the socioeconomic ladder. Thus, during that period, many middle to upper class Malays, Chinese, Indians and other minority races sent their children to English medium schools for their education. So in just one generation, English has become the first language of certain Chinese, Indians & Eurasians. (Though only a small percentage)

This division in the language capability has divided the people into English speaking vs non-English speaking, elites vs no-elites, haves vs have-nots. This divisive nature was in tandem with the policy of the British colonial government, divide & rule which resulted in irreconcilable pluralism.

Reference: Cultural Diversity Lecture Notes

Click here to read A Journey of Malaysian English (Part 2).
In Part 4, we'll discuss more on the types of Malaysian English dialects.

Further Reading:
TOM McARTHUR. "MALAYSIAN ENGLISH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com.

A Journey of Malaysian English (Part 2)

In Part 1, We talked about how English was introduced to Malaysia during the British colonialism. Though the Malay Sultanates did not like the idea of rural Malay kids enrolling in English schools because the schools were run by Christian missionaries, it was a different case altogether for the Malay aristocrats.

The Penang Free School is the first English School in Malaysia that was started in 1816 (It's still around!). As the population grows, more schools were built ranging from the Straits Settlement of Penang, Perak, Selangor, Malacca and Singapore. This has benefitted the urban people as they received education from these English schools.

In the rural areas, the government built Malay schools for the local Malays because of different religions. Even though bright Malay children were given scholarships to enter English schools after four years in Malay schools, this privilege did not increase the number of Malay children studying in English schools.

In the 1920s, The Malay College was established in Kuala Kangsar for the sons of Malay aristocrats. Children of commoners were not common sight in this education institution. It was an elite school that further accentuated the division between the elites and non-elites. Only the upper class children receive English medium education.

This elitist trend in education via English language for the Malays was later extended to the Malay Girls College in KL, 1948. The objective of setting up an English school for the Malay girls is to prepare them to be potential partners to the boys as they can match their English language proficiency level. Though these colleges may sound like a place for stucked-up higher class children, the schools proved themselves to have academic excellence.

Thus, in that time, it is not hard to differentiate between the upper and lower class among the Malays, whether they are from the city or from kampungs (villages). We just have to check their English proficiency.

Reference: Cultural Diversity Lecture Notes

Question to ponder:
How things have changed now. Do we still use one’s English proficiency level to judge one's social class?

*Part 3: English affects socioeconomic status.

Assignment

Instructions: Conduct out an interview with a person who went through education during the colonial and post colonial days. Place focus on their English language learning experience. Compare his/her English language learning experience with yours. Share in class next week.

A Journey on Malaysian English (Part 1)

In this post, we will learn about how English was brought into Malaysia during the colonial period.

English is a world wide language that can no longer only be identified with a single race or country. Widely used in international diplomacy and commerce, it is also one of the main language used in cultures and subcultures. As from previous post, I've discussed briefly on how English is brought to Malaysia during the colonialism, trade and Christian missionary activities. Now, I'll bring you on the journey on how English was spread in Malaysia.

Back in the late 18th century, the British East India Company had started trading in Malaysia. The British traded in English with the locals with the help of translators. Seeing how abundant our natural resources and spices were available, the rule of British colonialism came soon after that. Obviously, English was the medium of British colonial administration.


The teaching of English was confined to the specially selected group of Malays who are aristocrats. This difference in education target groups resulted the division of the spread of English according to geographical and racial axes. Some said this was done for the purpose to segregate the different races in aid for the continuation of British colonialism.

Later on, the Christian missionaries set up schools to plant the seeds of knowledge among the general populace. The purpose of Christian conversion among the children was carried out in English. However, the missionary schools were only allowed in urban areas among the Chinese and Indians. The Malay Sultanates forbid the missionaries to conduct their activities among the Muslim Malays who mostly lives in rural areas. Thus, English was not widely spoken in Malaysia.

Another reason that contributed to limited English speakers in Malaysia was the restricted location in urban areas and higher fees. Hence, English speakers among the locals were only limited to the rich Chinese and Indians living in the city and the specially selected Malay aristocrats.

Reference: Cultural Diversity Lecture Notes

Question to ponder:
Why would the Malay Sultanates forbid English schools for Malays who live in rural areas? In that case, how come the Malay aristocrats get to study in English schools?

A Dialogue of 'Nah' Usage

Ali : Aiyo! The weather these days very hot lah. Cannot tahan.
Abu: Nah, drink this! Very refreshing.
Ali : Coconut juice from Uncle Lim?
Abu: Yah, nice and cold with plenty of ice . You owe me 1 Ringgit.
Ali : Nah, take it from my wallet.

The 'Nah' here is used when giving something to another person. In the above dialogue, the 'nah' can be said in a friendly buddy manner.

Ah Seng: You want to die izit?
Ah Kao : No... no... I'll return the money as soon as I can.
Ah Seng: Your soon is not soon enough leh!
Ah Kao : Take my watch first.
Ah Seng: I don't want your watch. No value! Nah, take this! (*punch*)

The 'Nah' here also means 'to give'. It is used in a threatening manner. It often meant to sound rude or impolite.

According to Malay vocabulary, the word 'nah' is commonly used to give things to another person in a impolite manner. Some said that the 'nah' is derived from the Chinese expression "拿", which means 'take'.

Yummilicious ROJAK!

Can you relate the above picture with our Malaysian language?

Previously we talked about the usage of 'lah' in Manglish. Today, we look into the different things that makes Manglish, Manglish.

Above you see a popular Malaysian fruit salad known as 'Rojak". It is a mixed of freshly cut slices of unripe mangoes, pineapple. turnip, cucumber covered in a black sauce dressing with generous sprinkle of crushed peanuts and some chopped spicy chili. The taste is tangy and sweet and simply yummylicious! You can find this dish selling by the road side, at a little stall, at a market, at coffee shops, at cafes, restaurants...

However, there's another favourite 'rojak' among Malaysians. It is our 'rojak' language that we use in everyday conversation. Rojak is a Malay word, which can be translated to 'a mixture of'. In terms of 'rojak' English, it means Malaysians tend to use English by mixing in some Malay words, Chinese and Tamil dialects. To any language purist out there, they might want to scream in exasperation seeing how we abuse the language. Some English native speakers have even commented, "It sounds like English, but I don't quite understand it."

Weird, but speaking 'Rojak' / Manglish has become very much an identity of being a Malaysian. Our neighbour country Singapore, termed their 'rojak' English as 'Singlish'. It is slightly different from Manglish as Singlish is mixed with more Chinese dialects such as Mandarin and Hokkien. This is common deduction as there are more Chinese speaking nationales in Singapore than Malay speaking citizens in Malaysia.

The only difference between the people speaking Manglish and Singlish is, Singapore government tries to deter people from speaking Singlish while Malaysians are proud of our Rojak English! Even books are written to specially help our foreigners adapt to our Manglish.

I think it is quirkly and amusing. In such a multi-lingual environment, it does add more flavours to the English language that creates a creole with our own lexicon, phonology and even grammar, just like all of our fellow Malaysians, in a rojak environment.

To learn a little more about our local Malaysian rojak culture, view this video.

Based on the video, post your comments on how Malaysians from all walks of life use English in different setting. Give examples.

The "Lah" Word

Let's us talk lah! By the end of this post, you might even surprise yourself by the extend of 'lah' usage in your daily conversations.

When I was in US, I made an effort to consciously use Standard English. I wanted to let people know that Malaysians are well educated people who can speak proper English, not some rojak English that confuses people. But it was really hard to not let the “Lah” word slip out of my mouth. More than once, I’d have native English speakers around me asking me what I meant when I unconsciously added ‘–lah’ onto words, which made them thought it’s a new vocabulary. They were quite indeed quite baffled by it.

Indeed the infamous “Lah” is so ingrained into every Malaysian’s spoken language; we involuntarily insert this suffix whenever opportunity arises. This happens at almost every other occasion depending on how we want to express ourselves.

The “lah”, according to Malay application, is appended to the end of a word. It is not a separate word by itself. However, according to Chinese usage of “lah”, it can appear solitarily at the end of the sentence, usually followed with an exclamation mark (!). It is said “lah” is derived from the Chinese word ‘啦’. Some even said that “lah” might have Tamil origin as it is commonly used in Southern Tamil Nadu in the same way.

The “Lah” word is very much versatile in its usage. Here are some various usages of “lah” and its meaning:

Eat lah Come lah!	“lah” here is used to soften the tone of a command. However, if the “lah” is said with a brusque manner, it can sound quite rude.
Yes lah! Go away lah!	“lah” is used in a brusque, short, negative manner to show annoyance or impatience.
It’s ok lah.	“lah” here is said in a reassuring manner to give comfort.
Got Coke lah, Sprite lah, Orange lah…	“lah” is used to emphasize the number of variety in a list.
Please help lah!	“lah” is used in a pleading tone here.
See lah! See lah!	“lah” is used to mock. This phrase is often heard when a mother lectures a child when the child messes something up.
You no fun lah!	It translates to “You’re no fun at all”. “lah” is used to show

“Lah” is so widely used that it can show up anywhere in everywhere in Manglish. Each can add a certain expression or it can mean nothing at all.

For foreigners who want to pretend that they can speak Manglish just by adding “lah”. It’s actually not as easy as one would need to use it in just the right tone, inserted at the right place.

Check out more 'lah' usage here.

Assignment: Record a random conversation among your friends (Natural setting). Analyze the conversation in terms of its 'lah' usage and correct them to standard English.

What is Manglish?

image: parenbonjour.com

In this post, we talk in general on some examples of Manglish and how it started.

English has been spoken in Malaysia since the colonial days. When the British set up schools around Malaysia, everything was taught based on the Queen’s way.

Language is dynamic. As much as the British would like Malaysians to speak English the ‘proper’ way, English did not remain pure amidst the multi-racial Malaysians. With Malay, Chinese, Tamil and other ingenuous languages, the queen’s language got quickly jumbled up with Malaysian’s native languages, creating what we call ‘Manglish’.

Malay, the country’s official language has lent the notorious suffix –lah which can be heard at the end of almost every sentence uttered. The Chinese would fight to claim the suffix –lah as theirs too as Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, and all the other Chinese dialects also have the abundant use of –lah.

Besides the infamous suffix –lah, Malaysians added numerous vocabulary items which send native English speakers puzzling over our Manglish. It is not hard for the average Malaysians to use words such as ‘outstation’, ‘handphone’, ‘gostan’, ‘blur’ and understand the meaning immediately. However, these simple words to us very much sounded like a total alien language to the native English speakers.

With almost all Malaysians being multi-lingual, it is common to hear interjections of their mother tongues in English. Malaysians can easily switch from one language to another without a pause – which is also known as code-switching.

The development of Manglish does not stop where it began, but surely, as time goes by, the younger generation of Malaysians will surely add more spices that will make Manglish even spicier.

Discussion: Look at the flow charts above and discuss with your group on how our current 'Rojak Language' came about. Present an example in our next class.

Tangled Mangled Manglish?

Oh, Manglish is so confusing! Someone please strangle me!

When it comes to English (the lingua franca of the world), it is spoken commonly in a small little Southeast Asia country called Malaysia in a slightly different manner. English isn't quite English as other people speak it in different parts of the world. Malaysians have made the English language their very own in a unique way confusing to other native users.

Malaysians use English proudly in a Tangled Mangled manner. It is known as MANGLISH!

At this blog, we try to untangle all these mangled English, and hopefully make some sense to you.

As for some confused Malaysian English students, I hope you're not using Manglish in writing your assignments. It's amusing, but not if you're trying for an A in your paper. May you untangle yourself here to a better future using proper English. =)

Homework: Find excerpts of your chats/emails/writings where it contains 'Manglish'.