马来西亚英语的特征分析

摘要在当今经济全球化的趋势下，国际间交流和合作十分频繁。

英语作为一门全球性语言，发挥着极其重要的作用。

而随着英语在世界各地的传播,形成了各种具有浓厚地域特色的新英语,即英语的区域性变体。

马来西亚英语作为其中的一种变体，它的产生有其自身的历史背景，同时有其独特的政治、经济、民族文化特色。

本文从马来西亚自身的政治、经济、文化历史背景出发，以标准英语为参照，研究马来西亚英语在语音、句法及词汇方面的特征；归纳从而阐明马来西亚英语对本国的作用；在清晰马来西亚英语与世界英语之间的关系后，说明其在世界英语的全球化过程中占有重要的地位，并具有现实意义和作用。

关键词：马来西亚英语；特征；英语全球化ABSTRACTIn the current trend of economic globalization, there are frequent international exchanges and cooperation between nations. As a global language, English plays an extremely important role. With the spread of English around the world, it has formed many different Englishes of strong geographic features, that is, varieties of English. Malaysian English is one of the varieties, which has its own historical background of causes, and has its own unique political, economic, and culture characteristics. This paper will research the differences between Standard English and Malaysian English on the sound, syntax and the vocabulary from Malaysia's own political, economic, cultural and historical background; clarify the role of English on their own country; after clearing the relationship between Malaysian English and World English, illustrates Malaysian English has a place in the promotion of the globalization of English and has practical significance and function.Keywords：Malaysian English; characteristics; English globalizationContents1．Introduction (5)2. Background of Malaysian English (6)2.1 The History of Malaysian English (6)2.2 The Influencing Factors on Malaysian English (7)2.2.1 The Economical Factor (7)2.2.2 The Ethnic Cultural Factor (7)2.2.3 The Education and Language Policy Factor (8)3. The Characteristics of Malaysian English (10)3.1 Pronunciation (10)3.1.1 Final Consonants (10)3.1.2 V owels (11)3.2 Syntax (12)3.2.1 Features Connected with the Verb (12)3.2.2 The Noun Phrase (12)3.2.3 Lexical Items (13)3.3 V ocabulary (14)3.3.1 The “Lah” Word (14)3.3.2 The other Words of Malaysian English (15)4. The Status and Influence of Malaysian English (16)Acknowledgements (20)References (21)1．IntroductionWith the development of economic globalization, English has become one of the most important and useful language in the world, and we should not ignore the importance of it.In this global context, English is widely used in different country and some countries have formed its unique English with its local color. Malaysian English is one of established world Englishes and shows its significant role in the globalization of English language. But the study at home or abroad still hasn‟t done much rearch on it, therefore, My degree paper makes an analysis of Malaysia English with an aim of promoting understand of varieties of English. The paper consists of three parts. The first one is about the background of the Malaysian English, and the influence factors on ME. The second part is to compare the differences between Standard English and Malaysian English on the pronunciation, syntax and vocabulary, and get the characteristics of Malaysian English. The third is to sum up the influence and functions of Malaysian English the hope of offering the readers a correct attitude towards the globalizaition of English.2. Background of Malaysian EnglishIn theory, English as spoken in Malaysia called Malaysian English (ME) and is based on British English. Malaysian English generally followed British spelling, but it influenced by American English (AE), for instance, the expression and slang of American English is strong, especially among Malaysian youth. While Malaysian English is strongly influenced by Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Tamil, which are other major dialects and languages spoken in Malaysia.2.1 The History of Malaysian EnglishMalaysia is a multinational country with about thirty ethic groups. So Malaysian government acknowledges this multilingualism through such things as television news broadcasts in Malay, English, Mandarin, and Tamil.Among many languages, Malay is its official language and English is a widely-used language due to the history of Malayisa and the importance of English language itself.Malaysia once was colonized by Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The British wanted spread English languge in its colonies in order to serve Britain‟s strategic and commercial interests. After its independence in 1957, the Federation of Malaya retained English as one of two official languages, along with the major indigenous language, Malay, which was also selected as the sole national language. English continued to serve as the dominant language of education, government and law, and large-scale banking and commerce (Le Page, 1962). The second half of the 1960s brought implementation of a policy to increase the use of Malay in the expanded nation of Malaysia. In 1969 the Ministry of Education initiated a policy whereby all English-medium schools were to become Malay-medium. By 1983 this process had been completed nationwide at the primary through tertiary levels of education. [11] One result of this language policy has been a dramatic increase in Malaysians‟ use of Malay, renamed Bahasa Malaysia, and a corresponding decrease in their use of English, particularly outside the cities (Lowenberg, 1988). However, such mind of the decline in English proficiency among Malaysians overlook the fact that English is still widely used by the current Malaysian elites, who were educated in English-medium schools during the colonial or initial postcolonial periods and are still quite proficient in English. They still set the standards for English usage as leading journalists for the most prestigiousEnglish-language newspapers, and as writers and editors of the government-authorized English language textbooks (Lowenberg, 1991).2.2 The Influencing Factors on Malaysian EnglishMalaysian English as a variety of world Englishes, it has been affected by various factors and has formed its unique characteristics which differ from British English and other Englishes in the world.2.2.1 The Economical FactorBusiness in the company field is dealt with more in English than in Malay, in both local and multinational concerns. Banks and insurance companies use only English. Only recently have banks come to use bilingual Malay-English texts in their prospectus. Agreements, contracts, policies, and regulations are still in English.The importance of English is also seen in making Malaysia an industrial country. Until a few years ago Malaysia was basically an exporter of agricultural products, e.g. palm oil, rubber, timber, cocoa, etc. In the 1970s an intensive program for the diversification of industry was implemented, and Malaysia has now evolved into an exporter of manufactured goods. In 1993, 71 per cent of Malaysia‟s exports comprised such goods, the bulk of which were electrical and electronic goods. [5]Business and industry is traditionally a non-Malay area. It has been dominated by the Chinese and the Europeans. The was only in the 1970s that the Malays started to venture into big business, gaining access through government assistance with the implementation of the New Economic Policy (1970), which has sought to ensure that there is at least 30 per cent participation by the indigenous people in business and industry. Pragmatism has made Malay-owned companies retain English as the main, if not the sole, language of communication. This is because they have to join the mainstream business and industry in the country as well as participate in international networks in order to succeed. (Asmah Haji Omar, 1996)2.2.2 The Ethnic Cultural FactorThere are twenty-three million people in Malaysia‟s population, 60 per cent are classified as Malay, 25 per cent as of Chinese descent, 10 per cent of Indian descent, and5 per cent as others.Malaysia's ethnic diversity is both a blessing and a source of stress. The melange makes Malaysia one of the most cosmopolitan places on earth, as it helps sustain international relationships with the many societies represented in Malaysia: the Indonesian archipelago, the Islamic world, India, China, and Europe. Malaysians easily exchange ideas and techniques with the rest of the world, and have an influence in global affairs. The same diversity presents seemingly intractable problems of social cohesion, and the threat of ethnic violence adds considerable tension to Malaysian politics. (/Ja-Ma/Malaysia.html)On the whole, there had been significant increases in the ability to speak English among the various groups in the decade 1970-80. The rise in the per cent ages was due to the second language status given English by the New Education Policy. Based on the rigor which had gone into 1980s, it can be predicted that the increase in the number of speakers of English since 1980 should be as significant, if not more so than the increase between 1970 and 1980.There has hardly been any research on the attitude of Malaysians toward the use of English in social communication. Asmah Haji Omar‟s research on language choice among 45 Malaysian academics shows that English is the main language in their day-to-day communication with family members and friends and in the pursuit of entertainment and hobbies. (Asmah Haji Omar, Post-imperial English in Malaysia) English and Malay are educational languages in schools. The latter language is used only in interaction with those who do not know English or in work places where Malay is the official language.So that English comes more readily to them when want to communicate compared to Malay or their own mother tongues. This could have been due to their school background from the colonial and post-Independence days when English was the medium of education in the English schools.2.2.3 The Education and Language Policy FactorSince the British colonial status of the nineteenth and twentieth century came an ever-increasing demand for English in Malaysia. English-medium schools were established, beginning early in the nineteenth century in the Straits Settlement but gradually spreading to the Malay states as well. The goal of these institutions was strictly utilitarian, serving the interests of the British: to train local elite for administrative andservice functions. Essentially, formal access to English was a privilege to those of higher status amongst the indigenous population. Education at the institutions was served for the nobility and the rich implied complete immersion into English. This educational policy had long-lasting effects that went beyond what the British had had in mind: English-medium education in this interethnic bonds and established a value system that soon thereafter paved the way to a desire for independence. [6]With the constitution of 1957, the role of English began being curtailed. English was retained as a co-official language in addition to Malay, but the pronounced intention was to develop Malay into a national language and to remove this special status of English after a ten-year transition period. Due to regional differences caused by the union with part of Borneo this period was somewhat extended: the official status of English ceased in peninsular Malaysia in 1967. Formally, “National Language Act of 1967 disestablished English as the joint official language, giving sole status to Malay”. (Edgar Werner Schneider, 2007)The national Language Acts of 1963 and 1967 and a consolidation act of 1971 modified this somewhat. Thus, all proceedings in the court were to be in the national language or English or partly in one and partly in the other. Thus it can be seen that English was retained for some time for the courts and parliament. Languages of education has also been generally true in Malaysia, although it would not be appropriate to consider the policy of allowing primary education in Mandarin or Tamil, with Bahasa Malaysia as second language as merely …expediency‟.At present, the policy of implementing Bahasa Malaysia as the national language, there has obviously been a change in the relative statuses of Bahasa Malaysia and English. For the Malays, there is obviously a sentimental attachment to Bahasa Malaysia. Many of those now able to receive higher education and higher status positions are not from a background in which English had any great relevance. For the rural population, there would have been a degree of awareness that English was the language of the British administration and a language of power but as they had little or no opportunity to learn it they had neither sentimental nor instrumental attachment to it.For some English-medium educated Malaysians, English has been on the borderline of being a Second Language and a First Language, but the number of such people will diminish. For many, especially those who do not go on to higher education and have little or no contact with the English-speaking would, English, although it is taught as a …second language‟ will be more a …foreign language‟.3. The Characteristics of Malaysian EnglishMalaysian English can be divided into two: ①Malaysian English I can be standard ME—with the exception of a minority of Malaysian speakers who have been educated abroad and have achieved near-native speaker proficiency generally speaking. ②Malaysian English II can be sub-standard ME or local dialect—it has all the features of the first variety of Malaysian English. Besides, at the lexical level, limited lexis is used and consequently, a number of words serve a variety of functions, giving extended meanings not normally accepted in Standard British English.(On the other hand，people in Malaysia are divided into two equal groups: Group I consists of those who are born and have lived either in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, or Malacca and therefore have all have more exposure to English speaking situations, when communicating either with tourists or English-educated Malaysians. Group II consists of those Malays with a more rural background, some of whom come from the Eastern States of Malaysia. Speakers of different educational background are about equally divides between the two groups.The standard used will be Standard British English (SBrE) and for pronunciation Standard British English …Received Pronunciation‟(RP), but, where relevant, a comparison will be made between the ME II data and the SE data.3.1 PronunciationOfficially, Malaysian English uses the same pronunciation system as British English. However, most Malaysians speak with a distinctive accent. The accent has recently evolved to become more American, due to the influx of American TV programmers and the large number of Malaysians pursuing higher education in the United States.Of course, there are differences between Malaysian English and British English in many aspects.3.1.1 Final ConsonantsIn Malaysia people usually delete the final consonants of words. Where there was a cluster of two final consonants at the end of a word, there was not much difference between the Groups. Both Groups pronounced both consonants in only about 10 per cent of all the occurrences of such words, e.g. …They jus(t) like de small agen(t).‟, They act just like small agents.Clusters such as ns as in science, suspense, were sometimes realized but not at other times. The final stop of a two consonant cluster, e.g. t or d, was deleted in most cases, e.g. second(d), dialec(t), difficult(t).There were deleted no matter whether the word occurred sentence final or whether the following word started in a vowel or a consonant, e.g. Some are very fluen(t); Ya, I understan(d) it; You wan(t) five?When words ended in a single consonant, there was a slight, but not very significant, difference between the Groups (John Platt and Heidi Weber, 1980).The final consonants which were most frequently replaced by a glottal stop were t and k, irrespective of whether the word ending in t or k was at the end of a phrase or sentence or whether it was followed by another word, e.g. …Hokkien? I spea‟a bi.‟, Hokkien? I can speak a bit of it.The tendency to replace a consonant by a glottal stop is more pronounced when the consonant is a t, k or p rather than d, g or b. The final consonants that were always, or nearly always, pronounced were nasal consonants such as n, m and ŋ (written ng as in ring) and also l, v and f, m, for instance, was not pronounced in only 5 per cent of all中国最大的论文知识平台occurrences. S and z were deleted in only 15 per cent of all cases and there were all plural words. The final consonant [ʃ] written sh as in English appeared frequently as [s], e.g. I forge‟ this Englis wor(d). The final consonant [ð] written th as in the word with was invariably changed to something approaching a [d] sound. (John Platt and Heidi Weber, 1980)3.1.2 V owelsLike the speakers of Standard English (and ME I), speakers of Malaysian English II have the tendency to shorten long vowels and also to keep them …pure‟. This means that, unlike speakers of many varieties of English—including SBrE, the speaker of ME II does not move his tongue slightly to introduce a second vowel element but keeps his tongue more or less steady. An example is the sound in the word so. In several varieties of English the vowel quality changes from an …o‟quality to something approaching a …u‟ quality. In SE, ME I and ME II there is no or little change in the vowel quality and the sound appears as in RP in words like hawk, caught—but shorter. Even when the sound was lengthened, because of a heavy stress on it, e.g. The óld Chinese, they read Chines. Is a long róa(d)? The vowel quality described above did not change. (John Platt and Heidi Weber, 1980)A similar phenomenon can be observed with the diphthong [e I] as in take, made. In SE (and ME I), this sound varies from [e I] via [ɛI] to [ɛ:] and [ɛ] is according to the speaker‟s background. With both groups of ME II speakers, the most common form of the vowel was [ɛ] (an open short vowel as in RP bed). Occasionally it had some length, i.e. [ɛ:] but rarely did it change in quality to a sound approaching a short i [ı], except in a few words such as Malay.Most of the contrasts in vowel sounds of British English are lost in Malaysian English (ME). For instance, ME does not maintain the contrast between tense and lax vowel sounds, so that the pairs seat and sit, pool and pull are pronounced in the same way. Similarly, the following pairs, distinct in BrE and AmE, are pronounced identically: met and mat [e]; cat and caught [o], cut and cart [ɑ]. The second vowel sound in words such as forward and the vowel in bird are both pronounced with [ə]. The diphthongs are simplified so that make is pronounced with [e] and coat with [o]. V owel reduction in unstressed syllables is absent, and nouns and verbs are not distinguished by the placement of stress, as in BrE or AmE e.g. import vs. im‟port. Inpolysyllabic words the initial syllable is stressed, e.g. develop, tradition, etc. (Yamuna Kachru and Cecil L. Nelson, 2006)3.2 SyntaxMany syntactical features of Malaysian English are found in other forms of English, e.g. Scottish English, British English and North American English. We shall generally concentrate here on some linguistic features where a certain amount of pattern could be seen in the degree to which they were realized by the speakers.3.2.1 Features connected with the verbFirst of all, it‟s about the Past Tense Marking. One a primary school teacher at a Malay-medium primary school and the other one a waitress in a small coffee house, did not mark any of the verbs for Past Tense at all; others meticulously marked when answering slowly and carefully in short phrases, e.g. I taught in J.B. (Johore Bahru, capital of the state of Johore), but then the same speaker would, when speaking more quickly in sentence or semi-sentence constructions, switch from marked to unmarked forms in rapid succession, e.g. I go to Malay primary school. I took no English—was only Malay. The most frequently unmarked forms were those where the stem of the verb ended in a consonant (other than t or d), e.g. such verbs as pass, look, learn. They formed 47 per cent of all those verb forms which were unmarked for Past Tense. It is obvious, for SE, that the non-marking of this verb group is related to pronunciation patterns, that is, the reduction of final consonant clusters to only one consonant, e.g. I work(ed), I learn(ed). (John Platt and Heidi Weber, 1980)In addition, there is something important about the Verb …to be‟ as a copula and as an auxiliary before V-ing constructions. As in SE (and ME I), the verb to be is not always used in ME II before adjectives, predicate nominals, in adverbial constructions referring to location, and in auxiliary constructions such as …He is working‟, e.g.(a) Pre-Predicate Nominal:Standard English: The house is a two-storey building.Malaysian English: The house—two-storeys building.(b) Pre-Locative:Standard English: And my brother is also in Kedah.Malaysian English: An(d) my brother—also in Kedah.(c) Pre-V-ing:Standard English: Some of them are working.Malaysian English: Some of them—working.So we can see that there is a percentage of difference among a definite system from a lower to a higher degree of use according to the syntactic environment. And the influence of the background languages can explain this phenomenon to some extent. In the Chinese dialects which had a strong influence on ME, there are locational verbs such as tīin Hokkien, e.g.Standard English: My house is on the slope of a hill.Hokkien: Góa chù tī soan —pho téng.Malaysian English: My house is(at) hill slope on(top).Thirdly, the paper shows something about Aspectual Markers. The use of the Aspectual Markers use(d) to and already has been mentioned. Occurrences of use(d) to were more frequent in Group I than Group II and always referred to a habitual action in the present tense, e.g. Now I use(d) to read English book; Now my mother very sick, my sister use(d) to cook (meaning …my sister is doing the cooking now‟).Therefore, we can know there are so many differences between BE and ME, and we cannot say that ME is wrong, it‟s its own characteristic, then we can separate them from each other well. (John Platt and Heidi Weber, 1980)3.2.2 The noun phraseIn many cases on the Noun Plural, speakers of ME II did not mark nouns for plural, irrespective of whether the noun was preceded by a numeral or not, e.g. Ya, I li(ke) these thing(s); No—two girl(s) work(ed) here las(t) nigh(t).Standard English: All the Hindi films have sub-titles in Bahasa Malaysia.Malaysian English: All Hindi fílém(s) they have Bahasa sub-títél(s).In general, percentages for noun plural marking after numerals were higher than if no numeral preceded the noun.On the other hand, with the Articles and Demonstratives, definite and indefinite articles do not always occur in ME II in positions where they would always occur in SBrE, e.g.Standard English: Sometimes, if you come from a rural area,the way youspeak is different.Malaysian English: Sometime you come from rural place, —way you spea‟differen(t).(The speaker was referring here to Malay not toEnglish)With regard to the Subject Pronouns, speakers of ME II omitted subject pronoun forms in positions where they would occur in SBrE, e.g. (I) wan(t) to study, ah; (He) often come(s)here. The second person pronoun you,whether singular or plural, was always used, and the first person plural we was always used by speakers of Group I and in 95 per cent of all cases by speakers of Group II. The lowest degree of use with both groups was the pronoun it, e.g. (It) is close to my house; You go there, (it) is very cheap (referring to a restaurant). Then we can find the differences between the two groups in degree of use of first and third person subject pronouns.In addition, the Object Pronouns were often omitted in positions where they are obligatory in SBrE. With Group I speakers, the pronoun omitted was always it, e.g. You like (it)?, I know how to say (it). With speakers of Group II, the pronoun omitted was usually it or them but at times it was also him or her,e.g. They give (it) (to) another person. (John Platt and Heidi Weber, 1980)3.2.3 Lexical itemsThere are some words of Malay origin such as kacang, kampong, makan, ulu, wayang were used frequently and were obviously part of the speakers‟ English. These often refer to concepts which have no real English equivalent. It would be wrong to use SBrE village or settlement for kampong. A kampong in Malaysia is neither a traditional village in the European sense nor a settlement, e.g. a mining settlement, in the Australian and American sense, but it is a concept full of traditional Malay culture, i.e. it refers originally to a group of people living together in a small rural community in wooden houses, often built on stilts near the sea or waterways with atop roofs. Life in the kampong was organized on strong family and communal lines and often under the direction of a headman.There are a few words and expressions in ME II, which differ from SBrE and which are used regularly and with the same or a similar meaning to that discussed for SE, e.g. coffeehouse, over, schooling, sometimes, stay and the existential-locative verbgot, e.g.Standard English: (You see) because I live in a kampong, (my neighbours) are allMalay.Malaysian English: Cause I stay in kampong so—all Malay.Most of the speakers of ME II rarely used English in writing, all their personal correspondence was in Malay. Students and ex-students used Malay to make lecture notes and write essays, except in the case of two students who had to use English in assignments and essays. For both Groups, some rarely read English-language magazines and newspapers. Of those who did read English material, quite a few admitted that they had to use a dictionary frequently, particularly when trying to read editorials in the New Straits Times and similar articles of a more advanced standard of English or University textbooks. (John Platt and Heidi Weber, 1980)3.3 V ocabularyLowenberg discusses how …Malay elites are institutionalizing their dominance through English, which is the native language of very few Malaysians but is still the principal code for communication among Malaysia‟s multi-ethnic elites‟ by utilizing the linguistic device of replacing …English words with denotatively equivalent terms from Malay, resulting in what one linguist has termed the “covert” expression of racism and the institutionalization of inequality‟. The following items will make it clear.[7]3.3.1 The “Lah” wordIn Malaysian English the word lah [lá] or [lâ] is very common, used at the end of a sentence, can also be described as a particle that simultaneously asserts a position and entices solidarity. The word 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, lah 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 Singapore English, such as the command, "Drink, lah!" means “Comeon, drink!”. Lah 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.Lah is often used with brusque, short, negative responses: “Don't have, lah!”, which is a brusque response to "Lend me some money, can?";“Don't know already, lah!” also is a brusque response to someone fumbling with an explanation, mostly by Chinese. Lah is also used for reassurance: “Don't worry, he can do it one lah” means “Don't worry, he can (do it)”; “It's okay lah” is “I t's all right”.Lah can also be used to emphasize items in a spoken list, appearing after each item in the list. Although lah 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 Malaysian English grammar described here is of Chinese origin since Malays do not converse in English daily, while the Indians use a different form of Malaysian English. The Chinese influence in Malaysian English, 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. (/wiki/Manglish, Manglish)3.3.2 The other words of Malaysian EnglishThe particle what, also spelled wat or wot, is used to remind or contradict the listener, especially when strengthening another assertion that follows from the current one: But he's very good at sports what (Shouldn't you know this already, having known him for years?). You never give me what! (Or else I would have gotten it, right?) "There is" or "there are" and "has" or "have" are both expressed using got, so that sentences can be translated in either way back into British / American English. This is equivalent to the Chinese word you (to have): …Got question?‟, Is there any questions?.Can is used extensively as both a question particle and an answer particle. The negative is cannot: “Gimme lah, ok or not?” that is“Give it to me, OK?”. In another case, “Can!” equals “Sure!”, as “Cannot.” means “No way.”.Meh/Ke is the unique word of Malaysian English, there is no meanings in British English. It is an optional suffix usually used to donate a question mark to yes, as in "yeah meh?" or "ye ke?" i.e. "Are you sure?", with the former being more commonly。