Manglish and its Cina Particles

"The ubiquitous word lah ([lɑ́] or [lɑ̂]), used at the end of a sentence, can also be described as a particle that simultaneously asserts a position and entices solidarity. Note that 'lah' is often written after a space for clarity, but there is never a pause before it. This is because originally in Malay, 'lah' is appended to the end of the word and is not a separate word by itself."

SNEAKING SUSPICION: "lah" was originally from the Cantonese practicing south of China. The land of Malaya had relations with China since the Ming dynasty, when China was the protector of the Malaccan Sultanate (maybe even from the 5th-6th century), and the use of la as a sentence-suffix particle got integrated into the Malay language its formation, probably during the second phase is Early Modern Malay (1500-ca. 1850) that witnessed the indigenization of Arabic loan words, changes in the affix system, and a rather liberal word order. 

Confirmation alternatives: "Ya Allah">"Yalah"=>Islamisation>是啦

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Historical change 

In old British Malaya, English was the language of the British administration whilst Malay was the lingua franca of the street. Even ethnic Chinese would speak Malay when addressing other Chinese people who did not speak the same Chinese dialect.

We can tentatively agree that the use of English became widespread through the internationalisation of the boom of mass media, and was further anchored following the dotcom bubble burst.

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English voices, Modernity, English as a national language, and broken standardisation of english.

topic statement: A Chinese perspective on Manglish particles and how it influences the learning and usage of standard English in Malaysia

Introduction

Preceding Malaysia’s independence, British forces helped initiate English schools in Malaysia as a response to the English language taking on the role of national integration in a multi-ethnic society (Sugimura 2021: 311). Post-independence, standard English in Malaysia came into full contact with the uniqueness of each adoptive culture and started developing colloquial forms, resulting in the exponential growth of challenges to maintain its standardised quality (Graddol 2007: 124). In regard to Malaysian colloquial English, this essay aims to specifically discuss the Chinese influences on the forms and functions of its sentence-suffixing discourse particles while unpacking its consequential relation to the standardisation of Malaysian English.

Background

A possible reason for a decline of standard English in Malaysia can be due to the fact that traditional English schools had been superseded by vernacular schools in accordance with the Razak Report (1956). Subsequently, English became secondary to Malay, which was officially reinstated as the national language and decreed in the following year to be the primary medium of education. This was further established as the total conversion of English-medium schools to Malay-medium schools was successfully implemented by 1983 (Chee 1979: 321). It was then, with English gone from the prime spotlight, when Malaysia’s dwindling usage of standard English commenced, giving a culminating opportunity for the rise of Manglish, which began entering true stages of growth and acceptance.

Manglish, a basilectalized form of Malaysian standard English that can be observed for its abundance of discourse particles, has become more popular than ever since its recent pidginization from the 1970s (Khaw 2006 :64). While Manglish particles are derived from multiple languages (to syntactically complete the meaning of a sentence), a significant portion can be directly traced to Chinese origins. This stands true, as we consider that building blocks of Manglish particles are incepted when learners incorporate the structure of native-Chinese expressions into their rudimentary knowledge of English. Besides, Manglish-ized particles were also spread and preserved through constant use within pocket-cultures in the Chinese community, which primarily proliferates in educational fields; in 2019, roughly 82,000 Malaysians study in one of the 61 self-funded Chinese independent high schools in Malaysia (Tan & Tho 2019).

In retrospect, the aforementioned cycle of language is a manifestation of what is often neglected; cultural competency, that is a kind of knowledge accumulating system of ideas and beliefs, shared by members of a community, transmitted through language and preserved through time (Bentahila & Davies 1989). Accordingly, the unbreaking tradition of cultural syntax is instrumental for the concatenation (the interlinkages of language use) and proliferation of Chinese discourse particles in Manglish, where they serve a variety of implicative functions and reduce the need for English elaborative devices (Albury 2017: 574). This propensity for vocabular limitation is a stark contrast to the lexis used in the standard form of language, as it simplifies while attaching meanings not found in standard English. Although prescriptive linguists such as Robert Louth would claim Manglish to be ‘a degrading decay of English and its present prestige’, its innovative properties and cultural competency does stimulate solidarity (as noted by Young, 2017) while establishing an identity of nationalism unique to Malaysia.

with this in mind, On the perspective of (xxprescriptive), Standard English is already challenged by Manglish in its textual medium (Norizam, 2014), and the threat of Manglish’s influential mutation leads to its redundancy in a pragmatic and explicit scale of standard English speech, where learners of English cannot communicate 

 This can be seen in 

-international degradation of coherent use 

-not understood by foreigners, which can cause unnecessary communication gaps

Linguistic complacency: Will a global language eliminate the

motivation for adults to learn other languages? Here too the prob-

lem is real enough. Clear signs of linguistic complacency, common

observation suggests, are already present in the archetypal British

or American tourist who travels the world assuming that everyone

speaks English, and that it is somehow the fault of the local peo-

ple if they do not. The stereotype of an English tourist repeatedly

asking a foreign waiter for tea in a loud ‘read my lips’ voice is too

near the reality to be comfortable. There seems already to be a

genuine, widespread lack of motivation to learn other languages,

fuelled partly by lack of money and opportunity, but also by lack of

interest, and this might well be fostered by the increasing presence

of English as a global language

 ^reversing effect of linguistic complacency in Malaysians: some of us get comfortable with Manglish, which is only applicable within a limited social bubble, and  are lazy to pursue an actual study of English, 

~ redundancy of Manglish, which is incomprehensible in the international field.

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Abundantly used in local advertising, vlogs, blogs.

"the literature collected for this chapter has also shown that web logging or blog is one of the types of CMC which has been gaining an increasing amount of interest among people from all around the world nowadays. This is due to the characteristics of the blog itself that requires no editing process from third party before it can be published online. As a consequence, many colloquial forms of English in Malaysia and Singapore (Manglish and Singlish) could be found in these blogs."

and my points will mainly revolve around

1. possible derivations and

2. popular usage of Manglish particles

while discussing its place in the linguistical decline of English in a wide spectrum of ze Chinese Malaysian community

spread and development of sentence suffixes in Manglish (specifically informal Chinese expressions)

so it becomes Malaysian   Colloquial English   or   Manglish   (totes not understood  by foreigners, which can cause a Communication gap)

"On the other hand the syntactic structures of CME 63 shows that question tags such as ‘ah’, the use of ‘got’ and particles such as ‘lah’ are typical in the radio advertisements. At the end of their study, Pillai and Fauziah (2006) concluded that the influence of CME in radio advertisements was significant as raised by some public people figures. CME is frequently used as the attraction factor to draw listeners’ attention to the advertised content aired on the radio station besides other factors such as comic effect, representation of multi-ethnic Malaysia and to show the sense of 'Malaysianess' (Pillai and Fauziah, 2006).sa"

A possible reason for a decline in standard English can be due to the fact that traditional English schools have been replaced by vernacular schools localised to each race, in accordance with the Razak Report (1956). In the following year, English became secondary to Malay, the national language, which was then officially made to be the medium of teaching in schools. Manglish particles are then spread and preserved through constant use within pocket-cultures in the Chinese community, which primarily proliferates in educational fields; in 2019, roughly 82,000 Malaysians study in one of the 61 self-funded Chinese independent high schools in Malaysia. 

•  

Pragmatics-very much illocutionary devices (Non-locals may very well find the force of verbiage totally incomprehensible ) 

Grice, Politeness principle

What is often neglected is cultural competency, that is a kind of knowledge of all the other systems of ideas and beliefs shared by members of a community and transmitted through language (Bentahila & Davies, 1989)

Mitchell and Myles (2004) argue that “language and culture are not separate but acquired together, with each providing support for the development of the other” (p. 235). 

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Categorize it as speech act theories:  interrogative, exclamative, imperative etc          

4.2.7 (Predominantly Chinese Malaysian) Particles. Suffixes to the end of sentences.

 

Particles do not possess any specific meaning by their own in Manglish, but they are.

However this type of lexical item is commonly used by Malaysians and Singaporeans in certain situations or contexts. Commonly, the attachment of particles in Manglish and Singlish is to syntactically complete sentences. Particles in Manglish and Singlish are not something that is learned by rules or grammars such as Standard English, but they are a part of Malaysian and Singaporean cultures which have been long embedded in both conversation and writings.
In the field of Pragmatics (the study of words of discourse in context), particles are very much indicators for illocutionary devices embedded in the text (Non-locals may very well find the force of verbiage totally incomprehensible ) 

The notion is that rather than Malaysians mixing different languages in any predictable way, Bahasa Rojak is strategic, flexible, and resourceful communication that em- phasises meaning-making above form. (Albury 2017)

Discourse particles are optional items because their inclusion or omission does not affect the grammatical ‘correctness’ (Ler 2006) or the propositional content of an utterance. (But I argue that they do, in fact change the implicative direction of the sentence) Hassan and Hashim (2009:43–4) assert that the particles function to convey emotions and attitudes, such as ‘to soften a directive, place emphasis on a statement or word, and affirm a statement or turn a statement into a question’.

SAMPLE SOURCE:

https://www.facebook.com/mymgag/videos/1588940587845028/1) 

1) meh?

Usually question based, Used as more of a sarcastic and doubtful negation to reverse and challenge the point made in the sentence. (“Meh” is only commonly used in question forms. “Meh” is probably the influence of Cantonese dialect which is frequently used by the Chinese in both Malaysia and Singapore in general.) 

This is really good (meh?)

You won't be jealous (meh?)

Manda did her homework herself (meh?)

The weather has been very bad (meh?)

2) Ah 

One might able to guess the function of the lexical item “ah” during conversation from the intonation that the speaker produces when using the lexical item, but in blog writing such in this study, “ah” might be simply used to portray the elements of Manglish and Singlish to their readers. The samples for the use of the lexical item “ah” are demonstrated as Figure 4.25. 

Sample of the usage of lexical item ‘ah’ 

With more than one function in its use, it is also similar to meh, as it is also usually question based, though it can be more neutral (on the fence) in its popular use, and thereby used as a request/check for confirmation: 

Things only Malaysians will understand : https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=761305564485099

0:05-How much is this (ah?)

0:11-Huh? No water again (ah?)

00:10 (Eh) Haven't die yet (ah)

00:15 (Eh) You siao (ah)___Oh my God, are you crazy?

00:18 (Eh) Don't potong-stim can (ah)___Can you please don't interrupt me?

01:26 Like this can (ah)___Can we do it this way?
01:28 Ey ten qiu (ah)___Thank you so much.

a1) Why like that wan (áh)_____imbues aspect of irritation/perplexion in the question

a2) Like that wan (ãh)

b) I do it Like this (ãh/áh)_____probably 

c) You sure he cannot come (ãh/áh)

Can sometimes be an equal and interchangeable with "no?":

d) This should be done differently (áh)/ no?_______used as a challenge/ invitation for response

3) La/ lah 了啊～啦

 “La” or “lah” is the infamous particle that one can find in Malaysia and Singapore which probably originates from Malay or Chinese dialects. It does not carry any specific meaning but is widely used for various purposes. Usually “la” or “lah” is used for emphasis and to soften a message. Another reason for the use of “la” or “lah” could be to add some sense of casualness as shown by the bloggers in Figure 4.26 as below 

ah is indeed typical in Malaysian conversation with its meaning depending on context, ranging from creating emphasis, showing light-heartedness, or display- ing ill-temperedness (Goddard 1994)
Goddard, Cliff (1994). The meaning of lah: Understanding ‘emphasis’ in Malay (Bahasa Melayu). Oceanic Linguistics 33(1):145–65. 

incorporation of lah into contemporary Malaysian literature: Salleh bin Joned

"say this/ say that lah, our English not strong"_ emphasis on derogatory treatment, meaning "and more"

“we say ‘cool’ eeben wen it’s hot lah” (stanza two)___used as an indicator for flowing continuation
“talk this law lah, that law lah” (stanza six)__used to represent flippancy in regard to examples
“ebritime talk English lah” (stanza thirteen)

As state in examples above, suffixing sentences with lah, as in, “we say ‘cool’ eeben wen it’s hot lah”, which is usually used to present a sentence as rather light-going and not so serious, the suffix has no specific meaning, but sometimes it’s use to affirm a statement, similar to "of course". Frequently used at the end of sentences and usually ends with an exclamation mark (!). It is derived from and has the same meaning as the Chinese expression when saying something more informal. However, Chinese dialects also make abundant use of the suffix lah and there is some disagreement as to which language it was originally borrowed from. There is also a strong influence from Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, and Tamil, which are other major dialects and languages spoken in Malaysia.

In addition, the ‘lah’ word used at the end of a sentence can also be described as a particle that simultaneously asserts a position and entices solidarity. We took note that 'lah' is often written after a comma for clarity, but there is never a pause before it. This is because in the original Malay, 'lah' is appended to the end of the word and is not a separate word by itself. In Malay, the 'lah' word is used to change a verb into a command or to soften its tone, particularly when usage of the verb may seem impolite. For example, "to drink" is "minum", but "Here, drink!" is "minumlah". Similarly, 'lah' is frequently used with imperatives in Singlish, such as the command, "Drink, lah!" (Come on, drink!). The 'lah' word also occurs frequently with "Yah" and "No" (hence "Yah lah" and "No lah"), resulting in a less brusque sound, thus facilitating the flow of conversation. This form is more used by Chinese in Malaysia. The poem “Malchin Testament” itself shows how the ‘lah’ word being used over and over again. The ‘lah’ word is often used with brusque, short, negative responses, and used for reassurance.

Although the ‘lah’ word can appear nearly anywhere, it cannot appear with a yes-no question. Another particle should be used instead. For example:
“Where are you ar?” (This is especially of Chinese origin.)
Most of the Manglish grammar described here is of Chinese origin since Malays do not converse in English daily, while the Indians use a different form of Manglish. The Chinese influence in Manglish, however, can be seen among other races in Malaysia, especially when conversing with Chinese-speaking people. This principle can be generally applied to all forms of non-standard English spoken in Malaysia.

00:25 Terrer (la)___You're really good at this

00:33 Action (la) the fella___He's really arrogant
00:40 Eh Relek (la)____Whoa...calm down.

00:42 Confirm cannot one (la)___I don't think that's possible.
00:58 See how (la)___I'll think about it and let you know?
01:33 You kautim (la)___You go ahead and finish the job.
01:43 (Eh) Cheaper (la)___Can you give me a discount?
02:14 Cincai (la)___I'm okay with anything.

4) Liao

 Liao is another lexical item that is found to appear in both Malaysian and Singaporean blogs that originate from a Hokkien word. 

Figure 4.28 Sample of the usage of lexical item ‘liao’ 

“Liao” could mean or has the sense of words such as “already” and “over” (referring to a completed past action) which in the above Figure 4.28 “liao” is often used at the end of sentences. For example, ‘I’m almost 40 liao has the sense ‘I’m almost 40 already’. Besides 108 that, “liao” also carries the sense of ‘this is considered not bad liao’ where the blogger wrote “I’m almost 40 liao’.

Things only Malaysians will understand : https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=761305564485099

0:54-One left turn reach liao (already reaching the destination with just a left turn)

00:21 Ey I pokai liao___I'm broke

5) Eh-leh
Mostly observed in expressions of confusion, doubt, which attaches a negative connotation to its use. It can also work with a repetition that brackets the sentence to capture attention and reinforce the weight of the articulation.

00:05 (Eh) faster come see (eh)___ quickly come here and take a look at this!
00:10 (Eh) Haven't die yet (ah)___It's been so long, how are you?

(Eh) I'm not sure if this can be done (eh)

(Eh) You should ask first (eh)
(Eh) I cannot stand his attitude (eh)

6) leh-eh

Confirmation
02:42 Burberry (leh)____Flaunting and confirmation

7) Lo/lor
02:04 (Wah) die (lor)___There is a little bit of a problem?
02:39 Sorry (lor)___Fine, I'm sorry.

There can be a sense of indifference and resignation:
Q: "How have you been?"

A: "like this lor"/ "it's like this lòr"
Translated from Mandarin, which in turn derived it from Cantonese: 

就这样咯：就喺咁咯，发音大致是这样的”早还gam 咯”，咯音大致不变， 调子上扬一点。

8) Wan

哪里有人学manglish的哦
where have ppl learn manglish wan oh?

9) weih
00:28 This one damn nice (weih)___This is Amazing.
00:53 Today damn jam (weih)___Traffic today was really bad.
01:45 (Wah) hamn hot (weih)___The weather today is really hot.

(01)+J KtiulMNnJOPiQ +anR'/+here ha,ee*lelearn'anglish *neR

哪里有 人 学

'anglish

的？

''n li TurUn>uU'anglish B/LR

How could anybody be learning Manglish? 

(a) :e hrase +here g*t is the direct e?ui,alent *

哪里有

(n liTuR) +hich is idi*atic *r the s8etical reutati*n * an assu-ti*n. (4) Siilarl Vg*t e*leV +*uld ean Vthere are e*leV andagain

有人

(Tu rUn lit. ha,e e*le) +*uld 4e the hinese e?ui-,alent. (c) Further*re +e =nd a serial ,er4 c*nstructi*n (SC)+ith*ut Wunct*rs +hich is a hinese (n*t /n.) sntactical a6ern. (d)Finall the sentence-=nal V*neV is regularl e?ui,alent t* the hi-nese sentence-=nal B/L ar8er

的

(de) +hich relaces either +hat+*uld 4e a relati,e clause in /nglish *r a n*n-n*ral t*ic-c*entstructure lit. here ha,e e*le 7! learn 'anglishRHctuall the 'andarin translati*n is an e>ale *

MalaysianMandarin

 ('') the hinese s*8en in 'alasia (c. 'd.

怎么会有人学

'anglish

呢

R *r

哪有人学

'anglish

的呢

R). :is '/ structureis thus 4etter aed *n S*uth hinese languages such as 7*88ien(7!) ant*nese (E) *r 7a88a (7@)

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=search&v=1588940587845028&external_log_id=6b97bd25-232d-4406-94aa-24a683ef8628&q=manglish%20vs%20english%20mgag 

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Standard English also differs from Malaysian English in terms of grammar. There are many Manglish grammatical structures taken from Chinese dialects and many claim that the structure is also borrowed from the malay language. For example, the phrase “Why you so like that one?” in standard English it means “Why are you behaving in that way”. In Cantonese, a similar phrase would be rendered as “Dímgáai néih gám ge?” or literally “Why you like that?” The “one” in the sample phrase does not literally mean the numeral one; instead it is used more as a suffix device. It is also sometimes rendered as “wan.”

One other characteristic is anastrophe and omission of certain prepositions and articles. For example “I haven’t seen you in a long time” in standard English becomes “Long time no see” in Malaysian English. Not only are those, even to the certain extent the words used in Standard English and Malaysian English also different. With the variety of influences Malaysian English is gradually forming its own vocabulary. Typically, these words are based on other English words but most of the time the Malaysian speaker is unaware that these words are not the words from the standard use of English or even from British or American English. For example, one of the most used words in Malaysia is hand phone but it is actually a mobile phone or a cell phone. Malaysian use brinjal, but the right use of that vegetable is eggplant or Aubergine, the standard word for MC is actually sick note and gostan which is used in Malaysia is actually reverse or to go backwards in Standard English. Moreover, some of the same words found in Standard English and Malaysian English have different meaning. For example, bungalow. In Standard English it means a small house or cottage usually having a single storey and sometimes an additional attic story that is free standing, i.e. not conjoined with another unit. But in Malaysian English it means a mansion for the rich and/or famous; or a fully detached house, regardless of the number of floors it has. (absolute astronomy).

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Interestingly, many people here in Malaysia are fluent in two different forms of English – Malaysian Standard English (close to the English spoken by native speakers worldwide) and Malaysian Colloquial English or Manglish (not understood by foreigners) – and are able to switch between them depending on the social situation. In fact, Manglish is widespread throughout all social classes in Malaysia including bank managers, teachers and doctors.

Even though Malaysian English is no longer the official language in independent Malaysia, it is still used widely among Malaysians and is recognised as Business Language in Malaysia. Almost 80% of business premises and urban places in Malaysia use English (both Malaysian English and Manglish) as medium language.


In Malaysia, there are several major English newspapers namely The Star, The Sun, New Straits Times, Malay Mail and The Edge. There are also English radio stations such as Hitz.FM, Mix FM, Light & Easy, Fly FM, *** FM and Red FM. However, there is no pure 100% English TV stations due to Government National Language policy on TV stations that requires all local TV stations to air at least 25% Malaysian-made programmes either in English or Malaysian Language (Bahasa Malaysia). Credits can be given to private TV stations that air Malaysian-made programmes mainly in English. They are TV3, NT7, Hitz.TV and 8TV. Today, all Malaysian TV programmes in Malaysian Language come with English subtitles and vice-versa.

 Today's Malaysian English can be categorised into two : the original Malaysian English which is the Malaysian Standard English and the other one; Malaysian Local English (once again not be confused with Manglish) which is the combination of Malaysian English and local languages. Malaysians using Malaysian Local Language usually speak Manglish and they use words such as 'kampung' instead of 'village', 'sin-seh' instead of doctor', 'mamah' instead of 'father-in-law', 'Selamat Hari Raya' instead of 'Happy Eid (Eid Ul-fitr)' and 'Gong Xi Fa Chai' instead of 'Happy Chinese New Year'.

To a large extent, standard Malaysian English is descended from British English, largely due to the country's colonisation by Britain beginning from the 18th century. But because of influence from American mass media, particularly in the form of television programmes and movies, Malaysians are also usually familiar with many American English words. For instance, both lift/elevator and lorry/truck are understood, although the British form is preferred. Only in some very limited cases is the American English form more widespread, e.g. chips instead of crisps, fries instead of chips.

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Words or phrases only used in Malaysian English

 Malaysian English is gradually forming its own vocabulary, these words come from a variety of influences. Typically, for words or phrases that are based on other English words, the Malaysian English speaker may be unaware that the word or phrase is not present in British or American English. 

Malaysian   

Handphone (often abbreviated to HP)

Malaysian Chinese / Malaysian Indian (despite being grammatically incorrect, these terms are considered correct in Malaysian English)
    KIV (keep in view)
outstation
MC (medical certificate). Often used in this context, e.g. 'He is on MC today'

can

cannot

photostat

one hundred over

British / American

Mobile phone or Cell phone 

Chinese Malaysian /Indian Malaysian 

    kept on file

Out of town/ abroad/ overseas

sick note

yes, alright

no

photocopy, xerox

over one hundred

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259675483_Malaysian_English_Versus_Standard_English_Which_Is_Favored

 opinions about the use of English in local circumstances vary widely. Both public policies and personal opinions are influenced in complex ways by colonial and postcolonial history, economic development, ethnic and linguistic diversity and access to education.-p504
Using an international variety of English not only does things for you, it does things to you. The pragmatics of English speakers in the Inner Circle diverges widely from the pragmatics of Outer Circle English, and the differences can cause crosscultural misunderstandings. In other words, people from different parts of the world use different varieties of English in different ways to construct identities for themselves. Using language is not just a means of representing meanings that are commonly understood, it is a way of creating meanings. In this respect, language is not a noun-like thing, instead languaging is a verb-like process, a means of action.

Young, Richard F, 2017. World languages, world Englishes and local identities. World Englishes, 36(4), pp.488–508.
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Linguist: It’s okay to speak Manglish

Do we feel that Malaysian English is ‘sub-standard’? It takes a Mat Salleh linguist to tell us why it’s OK to speak (but not write) this way!

I was interested in a recent contribution to the Mind Our English (MOE) section by Peggy Tan entitled Malaysian Oddities, in which she listed certain words and phrases under “Local use” or “Wrong” (i.e. Malaysian English) and a corresponding list entitled “Standard English” or “Right”, the implication being that Malaysian English is sub-standard, or, in some way, non-standard. Thus, the term Standard Malaysian English would be considered an anomaly.

Yet, in countries as different as India and Jamaica, the respective terms Standard Indian English and Standard Jamaican English are fully recognized. Malaysia is also home to indigenized versions of English, but no doubt Peggy Tan and many other Malaysians would not consider it to be up to “standard”.

What is Standard English anyway? Queen’s English? Hardly! Almost nobody, other than the Queen herself, speaks like the Queen, if one is referring to accent, that is (and over the past 60 years, even the monarch’s accent has become less “cut glass” and more “common”, as the MOE article More Democratic English on Nov 20 pointed out).

Standard British English?

The vast number of varieties of English, even among native speakers, is legendary. I am from Scotland, where, as everyone knows, the best English is spoken, notwithstanding Henry Higgins’ defamatory quip in My Fair Lady: Oh, Why can’t the English learn to set, A good example to people whose English is painful to your ears? The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears. There even are places where English completely disappears. In America, they haven’t used it for years! Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?

A good example to people whose English is painful to your ears?

The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears.

There even are places where English completely disappears.

In America, they haven’t used it for years!

I am sometimes seriously challenged when seeking to communicate with my fellow Britons in other regions of the UK. Please don’t think of British English as being of one variety; there are many. Which is “standard”?

The main differences here are in pronunciation; accent rather than vocabulary, but, even at this level, differences are great. The differences are greater when we consider the varieties of mother-tongue English throughout the world.

I remember a bizarre experience when I lived in Vienna. I was in the company of a Texan, whom I had immense difficulty to understand. He told me that my accent was “too British” for him.

We then abandoned the mother tongue and spent the rest of the evening communicating in Austrian German, which, fortunately, we both knew well!

Back to Peggy’s lists of non-standard Malaysian English terms. Perhaps the list should be entitled Not Fully Recognized Internationally.

In Malaysia, when we go “marketing” (one of the terms which Peggy notes to be Wrong), it means we go to the pasar malam to buy uncooked food, often to last the family several days.

Yet in the world of business, marketing means something different and Malaysians know the difference. A native speaker would probably work it out too, so there’s no big issue.

Sociolinguistics has three terms: Acrolect (high language), Mesolect (middle language) and Basilect (low language).

These terms are used greatly by linguists studying the linguistic kaleidoscope of the Caribbean, with its standard and creole (rojak) versions of English (and also French, Spanish and Dutch).

While some linguists see the Standard-Creole spectrum as a continuum, others like Wardhaugh and Devonish (both writing in 1986) see each level of language as having its particular function.

Let’s look at Malaysian English. At one end, there is Acrolect and at the other Basilect, with Mesolect somewhere in between. This might be seen as a continuum from “slightly Malaysian” to “very Malaysian”.

I prefer to see each as distinct, with its respective role. That is, Acrolect, Mesolect and Basilect forms of Malaysian English are functionally separate and distinct.

Fake American accents

How do we recognize Acrolect? This variety is internationally comprehensible, the main distinguishing feature being (a more native form of) pronunciation.

How pathetic it is to hear Malaysians faking an accent (in the case of radio DJs, it is almost invariably a phony caricature of an American accent, with listeners frequently being addressed as “you guys out there” or even “y’all”) because they erroneously believe that is more acceptable than sounding “local”.

But there’s nothing “wrong” at all when Acrolect speakers sound Malaysian; they can express themselves articulately with proper grammar and can even confidently present a paper at an international conference, despite not having an American accent.

In addition, they walk on the five-foot-way because that means something different from pavement or sidewalk.

They code-switch to pay at the pondok, play football on the padang and tah pau from the stalls, but they also know when they should say kiosk, playing field and take-away.

They probably also do the weekly marketing, since they do it at the market rather than a shop. Many Acrolect speakers have English as their primary means of communication.

Mesolect speakers use a form of English which displays particular features. There is some grammatical reduction, which is occasioned more by mother-tongue influence than by lack of awareness.

Complexities of tense are dispensed with, thus He arrive(d) already. Redundancy of prepositions is rife, thus I want to request for a replacement; Can you repeat again? Certain words are used differently from native speaker usage, thus Can I follow you home?; I’ll send you to the hotel; Please pass up your homework.

Mesolect is freely used by people in their offices, at meetings, on the phone, but should not be used in formal documents in business presentations or in international correspondence.

And then we come to Basilect, which is REAL Malaysian English! On my first visit to Malaysia, I enquired at an office whether a course of action could be followed.

Several people in the office enthusiastically chorused “Can-Can! Can-Can!” For a moment, I had visions of the Moulin Rouge and high-flying skirts! It took me a moment to realize that this was an emphatic assertion of possibility!

During the Kuala Lumpur International Marathon a few years ago, a runner suddenly streaked past me and then overtook his friend, who was running directly in front of me. The friend exclaimed, “Aiyaaa, you one-kind-one! What for you run so fast-fast one? Only want to cut me, is it?”

My all-time prize-winner Basilect example is one that I always share with my participants when I conduct our Speak Like a Professional training. It goes like this:

I was once seeking to purchase shoes in a shop in Petaling Jaya. I am a vegetarian out of compassion, so prefer not to wear leather, but since plastic shoes don’t last long, I do buy leather shoes, always asking first what kind of leather it is. I had selected two potential purchases and asked of what they were made.

The sales lady indicated the cheap pair: “This one cow” and the expensive pair: “This one deer”. Sometimes compassion is selective; emotionally I can handle wearing a piece of bovine skin better than deer. So I told the sales lady that I couldn’t wear the deer but could wear the cow. Evidently, she did not discern much integrity in my reasoning and asked: “Deer cannot-ah? How come cow can?”

Now that is REAL Malaysian English! Don’t tell me that it is bad English! That lady communicated in a way that left me speechless with admiration! “HOW COME COW CAN?” – the alliteration and the economy of the utterance ... so Malaysian and so communicative!

Intimate English

Basilect is wonderful in its colour and precision. But it should be used only in the most informal of oral situations and never with an uninitiated foreigner!

To see Malaysian English in terms of good or bad, right or wrong is to miss the realities of expediency and the extensive process of assimilation and adaptation.

In a society where there is little that might be termed indigenous, Malaysian English, though not home-sown, is certainly home-cultivated, indigenized, though not indigenous.

Thus, any evaluative statement about Malaysian English must be guarded from being over-simplistic. The good-bad, right-wrong, standard-deviant paradigm should give way to the appropriate-inappropriate spectrum.

Sometimes a term is used for Malaysian English, as if it were a definable and recognized term – Manglish, a ghastly word that makes me, as a Linguist, cringe.

If you seek this word in Wikipedia, you will read that Manglish is a creole. It is not. The term pidgin or pidginized version may be applied to Basilect Malaysian English, but not creole.

A pidgin and a creole share certain characteristics, since the former is generally the forerunner of the latter; but a creole is a stable variety which may be claimed as the/a mother tongue of a community, as is the case in Haiti (creole of French), Guyana and Jamaica (creole of English), parts of the Austronesian archipelago (creole of Malay), Malacca and Goa (creole of Portuguese).

Basilect is the only form of Malaysian English which may be termed pidgin due to the idiosyncratic usage of English words and the simplification and reduction of grammar, so that the syntax of Basilect has more in common with Cantonese, Hokkien or Malay than with native-speaker English.

Frequently thrown in are lexical items from the contributing local languages, as in:

“You know ah, she very kay poh one. Always look-look in other people house. No wonder she got fall inside longkang!”

“No lah! Don’t talk bad lah! Where got kay poh? She always wish so nicely.” (as overheard near Kajang, Selangor).

Sometimes, as a mark of intimacy or common identity, Acrolect speakers choose to lapse into Basilect as it is more colourful and meaningful to say that someone is sombong rather than proud, kay poh rather than nosey, pandai rather than smart! And, of course, even Acrolect speakers fall into the longkang rather than the drain!

None of this, however, establishes Basilect as a creole. While Basilect has come into being through a process of indigenization or localization it has not reached the point of nativization, which would render it a creole. That is, Malaysian children are reared principally with a mother tongue or with Acrolect/Mesolect English. Basilect exposure is secondary.

I am frequently approached by parents anxious that their children should learn “correct” English, doubtful that the present school system can deliver. They want their children to be competitive as globalisation becomes less of an option and more of a reality.

To effect this, the methodological emphasis should not be on somehow stamping out (bad/wrong) Malaysian English, but recognizing the place and the usefulness of Basilect and Mesolect, while extending the repertoire to include Acrolect, a standard variety which is internationally accepted and still Malaysian.

Malaysian English should not be seen as one single entity, intrinsically sub-standard, as opposed to some vaguely defined and barely attainable Standard English.

Dr Alistair King is an Applied Linguist and Corporate Training Consultant with clients throughout the region, the Middle East and Southern Africa. He would value feedback to: alistair@aksb.com.my or http://www.aksb.com.my Tuesday, 27 Nov 2012
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Title

Manglish’s Chinese sentence-suffixing particles: How they influence the understanding of politeness in Malaysian colloquial English. 

Introduction 

Preceding Malaysia’s independence, British forces initiated English schools in Malaysia — a somewhat pragmatic albeit prescriptive response to the English language taking on the role of national integration in a multi-ethnic society (Sugimura 2021). Post-independence, standard English came into full contact with the uniqueness of each adoptive culture in Malaysia, kicking off the exponential growth of colloquial language varieties under the flourishing umbrella termed as Manglish (Graddol 2007). In regard to Manglish, this essay aims to specifically discuss the Chinese influences on the forms and functions of its sentence-suffixing discourse particles while unpacking the socially positive properties they possess in contextually appropriate situations.

Background

Opportunities for Manglish

There are multiple possibilities stimulating ‘perceived declines’ of standard English in Malaysia as stated by the National Union of Teaching Profession (Nor Ain 2019). For one,  vernacular schools were superseding traditional English schools in accordance with the Razak Report (1956). Also, English became secondary to Malay which was officially reinstated as the national language and decreed in the following year to be the primary medium of education. Subsequently, the total conversion of English-medium schools to Malay-medium schools was successfully implemented by 1983 (Chee 1979). Thus, though standard English education was still available, the post-colonial, nationalistic environment had affected its reception by being less harsh on new strains of English, which then culminated opportunities for Manglish to enter true stages of growth and acceptance.

Acknowledging Chinese Particles 

Manglish, a basilectalized form of Malaysian standard English that can be observed for its abundance of discourse particles, has become more popular than ever since the 1970s (Khaw 2006). While Manglish particles are derived from multiple languages, a significant portion can be directly traced to Chinese origins. This stands true as we consider the inception of Manglish building blocks when ESL (English as a Second Language) learners incorporate tonal structures of Chinese particles into English. Furthermore, Manglish-ised particles is preserved through constant use—overlapping subcultural Chinese communities, predominantly via vernacular education; in 2019, roughly 82,000 Malaysians study in one of the 61 local Chinese independent high-schools (Tan & Tho 2019).

Functions of Particles in Language (politeness) 

In retrospect, the aforementioned cycle of language is a manifestation of what is often neglected; cultural competency i.e. a kind of knowledge accumulating system of ideas and beliefs, shared by members of a community, transmitted through language and preserved through time (Bentahila & Davies 1989). Accordingly, the unbreaking tradition of cultural syntax is instrumental for the concatenation (the interlinkages of language use) and proliferation of Chinese discourse particles in Manglish, where they serve a variety of implicative functions, usually replacing English elaboration (Albury 2017). This propensity for “sentence abbreviation” with the use of discourse particles is a stark contrast to the lexis expected in English’s standard form, as it attaches an alternative principle of politeness to Brown and Levinson’s model (1987); the theory of faces or public self-image, in which we mainly focusing on the particles’ effect on positive face (the desire to be liked, admired or needed). To clarify, the use of colloquial particles is a form of politeness unique to Malaysians, usually indicating strength in friendship. Hence, politeness here is ascribed to informality and promotes a sense of harmony within the cultural community of Malaysia.

Analysis and Observations 

Tabular information

Referring back to the cultural syntax of Chinese-influenced particles in Manglish, this segment comprises select particles that differ greatly to standardised English regarding its concepts of politeness. The chosen data is primarily built on a qualitative approach in Table 1.1, which analyses purposive speech samples from multiple interlocutors in a Facebook post (video and comments as representatives of Manglish speakers) while outlining the usage of discourse particles exclusively shared within the Manglish community. Keeping in view of study limitations, the data gathered only refers to one sample set from MGAG (2017) out of the selection of candidates sourced for a triangulation of research.

Table 1.1

Particle,

Origin* Forms, Functions Transcript  (IPA)

Ah/啊

Mandarin

More mellow in sound and tone when compared to /la/. 

Tones /ǎ/&/à/ turn statements into questions. 

Utilises all 4 Chinese tones for different functions. e.g. Incorporation into “OK”:

High-level tone: [OK /á/];genial agreement, conventionally indicating moderate satisfaction.

Rising tone: [OK /ǎ/]; a question/statement expecting agreement, evident in transcript c, which denotes thanks. Can act as an additive conjunction, signalling continuation.

Dipping tone: [OK /à/]; an interrogative expecting response (see transcript a, a question based greeting that is rhetorical, laced with irony and jovial informality to lighten the mood, and b, a request/check for confirmation).

Falling tone: [OK /â/]; an offhand exclamation of agreement. a) [00:10] 

Haven't die yet (/àh/)

b) [01:26] 

Like this can (/àh/)

c) [01:28] 

Ey ten qiu (/ǎh/)

La/啦

Mandarin,

Hokkien, Cantonese Emphatic marker, most commonly used for an indication of solidarity with acquaintances and close friends alike in Malaysia.

High-level tone: /lá/ appeals to the positive face of listener by flattening the original tone of assertion, as used in transcript d. 

Can be used as a device for the continuum of speech, especially noted in listing; [this /lá/, that /lá/, etc].

Rising tone: [NO /lǎ/]; indicates doubt and/or a continuation of speech. 

Falling tone: /lâ/ Accentuates mood, could point to finality in speech.

The addition of /la/ (in both the high-level and falling tone) to a statement can downplay the conversational tone to a trivial, less formal, and less intense level, as shown in both transcripts d & e. d) [00:43] 

Confirm cannot one (/lá/)

e) [00:59] 

See how (/lâ/)

Weih/喂

Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew Using high-level tone, /weíh/ is used as an exclamation or incremental device for most expressions, as noted in transcripts f (satisfaction) & g (frustration). 

Unlike /la/, it is more used for appealing to the positive face of familiars, signifying comfortable informality.

  f) [00:28] 

This one damn nice (/weíh/)

g) [00:53] 

Today damn jam (/weíh/)

Mêh/嚒

Cantonese Similar to /ah/, turning statements into questions, /mêh/ only utilises the fourth tone. 

An ironic interrogative, usually laced with scepticism and/or sarcasm, comfortably used in rhetorical questions that jokingly challenge the positive face of friends, as seen in the comment transcripts. h) AA: 

So simple and short (/mêh/ )

i) YL:

Funny (/mêh/)?

*long and intimate contact between the substrates and similarity of lexical-grammatical features makes it near impossible to tease out exact origins for Chinese-based particles in Manglish (Lim 2007)

Importance of Discourse Particles

Vivian Soon’s study asserts that discourse particles are optional because their inclusion or omission does not affect the grammatical ‘correctness’ or the propositional content of an utterance (2016). Although this concept works in theory, macro-research show that particles do, in fact hold great impact to the conveyance of meaning in a sentence, especially when people utilise them as a means to mitigate hostility in terms of pragmatics (e.g. the particle /ah/ found in Table 1.1.). Certain particles, like /àh/ and /mêh/ can even reverse the implicative direction of the sentence! In essence, particles function to convey appropriate emotions and attitudes, ‘to soften a directive, place emphasis on a statement or word, affirm a statement or turn a statement into a question’ (Hassan & Hashim 2009).

Discussion and Conclusion 

Addressing the Multiplicity of Politeness 

Manglish’s Chinese sentence-suffixing particles directly challenge the concept of politeness prescribed by standardised English through its unconventional use of seemingly unnecessary emphatics and irony embedded in its application. 

In parallel, Brown & Levinson capitalises on the cognitive aspect of face, but this essay focuses more on the social aspect of politeness. To reiterate the former, positive politeness (as present in standard English) attends to the hearer’s positive face by sugaring the pill: e.g. “Wow! It’s been a long time since we met, how are you?”, while the Manglish utilised in transcript a “Haven't die yet /àh/” (re:Table 1.1) does not. Nonetheless, the latter achieves a similar effect on the positive face as it does imbue jocundity into the greeting. This further proves that the views on social norms differ from society to society, which reflects itself in alternative rules on politeness we perceive. While the standardized form of English is associated with formal settings, the usage of particles lean into informality, trailing into more localised relational speech. These tones correlate with a lack of formality, usually signalling others that one is comfortable and casual with them by addressing them as friends and appealing to their positive face. 

Another example shows that an interlocutor employing Manglish particles in conversations with Bazaar-vendors would be considered polite. However, such strategies would be counterproductive in an international board meeting where the solidarity in Manglish cannot be applied.

Concluding Particles and its Pragmatics

It is a real fear for language prescriptivists that Manglish’s influential mutation of language leads to an unnecessary redundancy, where monolingual Manglish speakers rely on Manglish’s use of sentence-suffixing particles, potentially triggering shockwaves of decay in the coherent use of internationally understood English. Nevertheless, we should keep in mind that these discourse particles are locutionary devices that help maximise the efficiency of implication through a succinct layering of intonation and categorisation of speech indicators—though non-locals may find the compact force of verbiage incomprehensible at best. Besides, though acclaimed prescriptive linguists such as Robert Louth would claim this expansion in the variety of language to be ‘a degrading decay of standard English’, the particles’ cultural competency and innovative properties to politeness establishes an identity of nationalism and stimulates solidarity unique to Malaysia (Young, 2017). 

While they can, at times, seem insignificant in discourse, these particles play an important part in nurturing nationalism, forging a sense of community as locals are able to freely embrace their own voices and converse using shared colloquial speech that belongs to them, regardless of how they may sound.

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thestar.com.my/lifestyle/viewpoints/mind-our-english/2012/11/27/linguist-its-okay-to-speak-manglish