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34-551: Malaysian English may be categorised into three levels: the acrolect , mesolect and basilect . The acrolect is used by those with near-native level of proficiency in English, and only a relatively small percentage of Malaysians are fluent in it. The acrolect is internationally intelligible, and it is used for official purposes or formal occasions and written communications. It conforms to standard British English , but some words that are specific to Malaysia may be used. The mesolect

68-437: A preposition , a noun or pronoun could be in either of these cases, or in the genitive or instrumental cases. With the exception of the genitive (the "apostrophe-s" form ), in nouns this system disappeared entirely, while in personal pronouns it collapsed into a single case, covering the roles of both accusative and dative, as well as all instances after a preposition. That is, the new oblique (object) case came to be used for

102-476: A continuum exists between speakers of a creole language and a related standard language. There are no discrete boundaries between the different varieties, and the situation in which such a continuum exists involves considerable social stratification. The following table (from Bell 1976 ) shows the 18 different ways of rendering the phrase I gave him one in Guyanese English : The continuum shown has

136-592: A form distinct from the basilect Manglish, which tends to ignore English grammar, while others may see the basilect as the "real" Malaysian English. There is also no consensus on what Standard Malaysian English might be. Some regard the mesolect to be substandard English and a local dialect. Manglish refers to the colloquial , informal spoken form of pidgin English in Malaysia that some considered to be distinct from more "correct" forms of Malaysian English. It exists in

170-568: A letter). Other languages divide object pronouns into a larger variety of classes. On the other hand, many languages, for example Persian, do not have distinct object pronouns: Man Farsi balad-am ( I can speak Persian ). Man ra mishenasad. (He knows me ). Object pronouns, in languages where they are distinguished from subject pronouns, are typically a vestige of an older case system. English, for example, once had an extensive declension system that specified distinct accusative and dative case forms for both nouns and pronouns. And after

204-535: A plural form in English – Menteri s Besar. Particles in Malaysian English come from the influence of Chinese and Malay . Some phrases used for emphasis in British or American English are used as particles in Malaysian English, while ignoring the participle or a verb. "I got pay!" "I did pay!" Syntactical differences are few although in colloquial speech 'shall' and 'ought' are wanting, 'must'

238-2099: A strong foothold in international businesses in Malaysia. Malaysian English is also widely used in advertising sectors, especially commercial advertisements aired in private TV stations, primarily Media Prima -owned TV stations. Most of Malaysian people, especially Chinese and Indians have tendencies to speak in English instead of Malay when they are interviewed on television. In terms of education, private universities and colleges in Malaysia mostly use Malaysian English for their identities. Most of Malaysian companies and organisations have started using their official name in English instead of Malay to keep up with modernisation in recent years. In music industry, singers such as Siti Nurhaliza , Yuna and Reshmonu also performs songs in English. There are several English language national daily and business newspapers based in Kuala Lumpur namely The Malaysian Reserve, The Edge , The Star , The Sun , New Straits Times and Malay Mail . There are also many English language national commercial broadcasting radio stations based in Kuala Lumpur such as TraXX FM , Hitz , Mix , Lite (formerly known as Light & Easy) and Fly FM ( Peninsular Malaysia only). However, Malaysia does not have any television station which broadcasts purely in English. The Government National Language policy requires local television stations to air at least 25% Malaysian-made programmes (either Malay or English ). English language nationwide free-to-air terrestrial television stations based in Kuala Lumpur such as TV1 , TV2 , TV Okey , Sukan RTM , Berita RTM (RTM News) , Bernama TV , TV3 , DidikTV KPM ( NTV7 ), PRIMEtime , Showcase Movies , Astro Awani , Astro Arena and Astro Arena 2 do air some English Malaysian-made programmes. A few Malaysian-made television programmes in Malay carry English subtitles and vice versa. Acrolect A post-creole continuum (or simply creole continuum )

272-453: A strong influence of Standard American English onto the speech of Black Americans so that a continuum exists today with Standard English as the acrolect and varieties closest to the original creole as the basilect. In Jamaica , a continuum exists between Jamaican English and Jamaican Patois . In Haiti, the acrolect is Haitian French and the basilect has been standardized as Haitian Creole . Meanwhile, in southern Africa, Afrikaans

306-473: A tendency towards simplification in its pronunciation and grammar, a feature also found in other new Englishes. For example, in pronunciation, diphthongs tend to become monophthongs in Malaysian English, stops may be used instead of dental fricatives and the final consonant clusters often become simplified. There are 6 short monophthongs in Malaysian English, compared to 7 in British English, and

340-635: A wide variety of forms and primarily as a spoken form of English. It is the most common form of spoken English on the street, but it is discouraged in schools, where only Malaysian Standard English is taught. Its lexis is strongly influenced by local languages, with many non-English nouns and verbs commonly used, and it is significantly different grammatically from Standard English. There are colloquialisms in English that are not common outside of Malaysia, which are also used colloquially as substitutes in other languages in Malaysia. In Manglish, Malay or Chinese grammatical structure may be used with English words, which

374-421: Is a dialect continuum of varieties of a creole language between those most and least similar to the superstrate language (that is, a closely related language whose speakers assert or asserted dominance of some sort). Due to social, political, and economic factors, a creole language can decreolize towards one of the languages from which it is descended, aligning its morphology , phonology , and syntax to

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408-463: Is a codified mesolect, or a partial creole, with the acrolect (standard Dutch ) stripped of official status decades ago, having been used for only religious purposes. Object pronoun In linguistics , an object pronoun is a personal pronoun that is used typically as a grammatical object : the direct or indirect object of a verb, or the object of a preposition. Object pronouns contrast with subject pronouns . Object pronouns in English take

442-558: Is a localised form of English that is used by competent speakers of English or as an informal medium of communication between different ethnic groups of Malaysia. It may use some colloquial terms, and its grammar and syntax may show some deviations from standard English. The basilect is used very informally by those with limited proficiency and vocabulary in English, and it has features of an extended pidgin or creole with syntax that deviates substantially from Standard English. The basilect may be hard to understand internationally, and it

476-439: Is descended from British English, largely because of the country's colonisation by Britain from the 18th century. However, influence from American mass media, particularly in the form of television programmes and films has made most Malaysians familiar with many American English words. For instance, both " lift / elevator " and " lorry / truck " are understood, but the British form is preferred. Only in some very limited cases

510-417: Is marginal for obligation and 'may' is rare. Many syntactical features of Malaysian English are found in other forms of English such as British English and North American English: Officially, Malaysian English uses the same pronunciation system as British English. However, most Malaysians speak with a distinctive accent that has recently evolved to become more American by the influx of American TV programmes,

544-478: Is often done quite spontaneously, sometimes for comic effect. Since Malaysian English originates from British English when the British Empire ruled what is now Malaysia, it shares many of the features of British English. However, it also has components of American English , Malay , Chinese , Indian languages , and other languages in its vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Malaysian English shows

578-472: Is often referred to as Manglish . As with other similar situations, a continuum exists between these three varieties, and speakers may code-switch between them, depending on context. Most professionals and other English-educated Malaysians speak mesolect English informally between themselves, but they may also use a basilect depending on the circumstances. All three varieties may be seen as part of Malaysian English, but some prefer to see Malaysian English as

612-479: Is the American English form more widespread: " chips " instead of " crisps ", " fries " instead of " chips " and " diaper " instead of " nappy ". Some words and phrases used in Malaysia have different meanings than in British or American English. Malaysian English has its own vocabulary, which comes from a variety of influences. Typically, for words or phrases that are based on other English words,

646-428: The objective case , sometimes called the oblique case or object case . For example, the English object pronoun me is found in "They see me " (direct object), "He's giving me my book" (indirect object), and "Sit with me " (object of a preposition); this contrasts with the subject pronoun in " I see them," " I am getting my book," and " I am sitting here." The English personal and interrogative pronouns have

680-580: The Scots language , a Germanic language closely related to English which diverged from it during the Early Modern period. In some languages the direct object pronoun and the indirect object pronoun have separate forms. For example, in the Spanish object pronoun system, direct object : Lo mandaron a la escuela (They sent him to school) and indirect object : Le mandaron una carta (They sent him

714-574: The vowel length tend to be the same for long and short vowels. There are, however, slight differences in pronunciation in the states in the central and southern parts of the Malay Peninsula from those in the north and the east of Malaysia. There are also some variations in its vocabulary. The grammar in Malaysian English may become simplified in the mesolectal and basilectal varieties. For example, articles and past-tense markers may sometimes be omitted, question structures may be simplified, and

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748-410: The Malaysian English speaker may be unaware that the word or phrase is not used in British or American English. Such words are also present in the vocabulary of some continuums of Singapore Standard English . Many words of Malay origin have made it into the standard form of Malaysian English used in the media, literature and formal speech. For example, Menteri Besar (Malay for Chief Minister) even has

782-418: The acrolect form as [aɪ ɡeɪv hɪm wʌn] (which is identical with Standard English ) while the basilect form is [mɪ ɡiː æm wan] . Due to code-switching, most speakers have a command of a range in the continuum and, depending on social position, occupation, etc. can implement the different levels with various levels of skill. If a society is so stratified as to have little to no contact between groups who speak

816-448: The continuum) to refer to the phenomenon of code-switching used by some users of creole languages who also have some fluency in the standard language upon which the contact language is based. University of Chicago linguist Salikoko Mufwene explains the phenomenon of creole languages as "basilectalization" away from a standard, often European, language among a mixed European and non-European population. In certain speech communities ,

850-472: The creole and those who speak the superstrate (dominant) language, a situation of diglossia occurs, rather than a continuum. Assigning separate and distinct functions for the two varieties will have the same effect. This is the case in Haiti with Haitian Creole and French . Use of the terms acrolect , mesolect and basilect attempts to avoid the value judgement inherent in earlier terminology, by which

884-436: The distinction between countable and mass nouns may be blurred. In the basilectal variety, omission of the object pronoun or the subject pronoun is common. The modal auxiliary system is also often reduced, and sometimes, a verb may be absent. The colloquial form often has Malay or Chinese grammatical structure. Particles are commonly used in colloquial Malaysian English, a notable one being an enclitic "lah" used at

918-528: The end of a sentence. In the acrolect, which uses standard English vocabulary and is internationally comprehensible, non-English terms are still used. Typically these are words for which there is no direct equivalence in English or those that express local reality; for example, bumiputera , kampong , as well as titles such as Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Tunku . Words from the Chinese or Indian languages may also be used, such as ang pow or dhoti . In

952-516: The following subject and object forms: Historically, Middle English and Early Modern English retained the T–V distinction ; the second person pronoun had separate singular/familiar and plural/formal forms with subject and object forms of both. In standard modern forms of English, all second person forms have been reduced to simply "you". These forms are still retained (sometimes partially) in some dialects of Northern English , Scottish English , and in

986-506: The language spoken by the ruling classes in a capital city was defined as the "correct" or "pure" form while that spoken by the lower classes and inhabitants of outlying provinces was "a dialect" characterised as "incorrect", "impure" or "debased". It has been suggested ( Rickford 1977 ; Dillard 1972 ) that African American Vernacular English is a decreolized form of a slave creole. After emancipation, African-Americans' recognition and exercise of increased opportunities for interaction created

1020-658: The large number of Malaysians pursuing higher education in the United States, and by the large number of English-speaking Malaysians in cities employed in American companies. For example, that increased the emphasis on "r" in words such as "refer" and "world". Even though Malaysian English is not the official language of Malaysia, it is still used among Malaysians in business. About 80% of urban businesses in Malaysia conduct their transactions in English (both Malaysian English and Manglish ). However, American English has quite

1054-500: The local standard of the dominant language but to different degrees depending on a speaker's status. William Stewart , in 1965, proposed the terms acrolect , the highest or most prestigious variety on the continuum, and basilect , the lowest or least prestigious variety, as sociolinguistic labels for the upper and lower boundaries, respectively, of a post-creole speech continuum. In the early 1970s Derek Bickerton popularized these terms (as well as mesolect for intermediate points in

Malaysian English - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-425: The mesolect, local words and phrases for which there are English equivalents may also used, for example, tidak apa ("never mind", "it does not matter") or ulu (or hulu , meaning "head", "upper reaches of a river", "interior of a country"). In the basilect, the use of local terms may be extensive even if most words used are English, and local expressions or exclamations such as alamak (Oh my god) often form part of

1122-710: The official language. The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate continues, however, to set and mark the GCE O-Level English Language "1119" paper, which is a compulsory subject for the Malaysian Certificate of Education (the English Language paper set by the Malaysian Ministry of Education is the same as the English Language "1119" paper for GCE O-Level). To a large extent, Malaysian English

1156-449: The speech. In the first half of the 20th century, Malaysian English was similar to British English but spoken with a Malaysian accent. However, in the postcolonial era (since 1957), the influx of American TV programmes has influenced the usage of Malaysian English. There is no official language board, council or organisation to ensure the correct and standard usage of Malaysian English because after independence, Malay replaced English as

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