View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa Husni Abu Bakar Code-switching in Kuala Lumpur Malay The “Rojak” Phenomenon HUSNI ABU BAKAR University of California at Riverside AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Husni Abu Bakar received his M.A. in Linguistics and Cognitive Science from the University of Delaware and is currently a graduate student in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Southeast Asian Text, Ritual and Performance program at the University of California at Riverside. Husni’s research interests include classical Malay literature, Buddhist literature, language documentation, sociolinguistics, literary translation and comparative religious studies. Introduction society. This paper invites a reexamination of the In this study, code-switching in Malay is investigated current linguistic situation in Malaysia, especially in by isolating and concentrating on Kuala Lumpur Malay the peninsula where KL Malay is spoken. (KL Malay). Native speakers of KL Malay were interviewed and recorded, and their responses were Kuala Lumpur Malay and Bahasa Rojak transcribed and glossed. Analysis of these responses In Peninsular Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur specifically, suggests a significant percentage of English words there is uncertainty when referring to the spoken have been imported into the KL Malay lexicon and are Malay variant, as it is laced with lexical items from other being used in various contexts to replace their KL languages. The Kuala Lumpur speech community is Malay counterparts. Moreover, it is found that multi-ethnic and polyglossic,1 consisting of speakers of morphemes from KL Malay can attach themselves to various languages such as English, Cantonese, borrowed English words. It is also discovered that Hokkien, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and many more. female speakers use more English words than male Since the Malay variant spoken is not the one taught in speakers. Overall, this study provides concrete schools, the term bahasa rojak2 (lit. “rojak language”) evidence of the occurrence of code switching in KL is used among the speech communities in Malaysia to Malay. The results of this study raise significant refer to the eclectic nature of the spoken language, questions about the acquisition of KL Malay as a native using the metaphor of the local mixed fruit and language, as well as whether KL Malay has transformed vegetable salad. into a creole. From a language planning standpoint, this may be related to the superimposition of English However, the term bahasa rojak in the Malaysian as a second language for all Malaysians, as mentioned context is also used to refer to any mixture of two or by Hassan (2005). Other issues that are connected to more languages in communication, with any of the this matter are the premature selection of Malay as the languages being the base language. A famous example instructional medium in schools despite the lack of is Manglish (Malaysian English), in which words and certain terminology and widespread bilingualism in the phrases from Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese, Tamil and a few other languages are juxtaposed with English Volume 9, Spring 2009! 99 Code-switching in Kuala Lumpur Malay words. The target of much negative attention, bahasa Dewan. Code-switching, as well as other features rojak has been banned from national TV stations, shown in the findings, is an inevitable phenomenon for labeled as “undisciplined” language use and deemed a most speakers of KL Malay. 3 threat to the national language and national identity. A possible reason for the lack of acknowledgement of Ironically, local scholars and linguists have kept it at the prominence of code-switching in spoken Malay is arm’s length, never examining the linguistic traits of the prescribed bad reputation of code-switching by the widely spoken variant so as to ascertain the nature Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (translated by Hassan of this so-called threat. Thus, the Malay variant [2005] as “Language and Literacy Agency,” examined in this study has not been analyzed henceforth DBP) through academic articles published extensively, as linguists have focused more on the on and in the Malay language. Below is an excerpt standard Malay variants. Another possible reason for from one of them: this exclusion is the transcription of data into the standard orthography that leads to the assumption that it is standard Malay being spoken and not KL Malay. Maggi 2 minute noodles Maggi 2 minit mee Part of the problem is also a larger, more general trend of obscuring non-standard variants of a particular language and treating them as “incorrect.” Proponents 3 jam servis of this view tell us how a language should be spoken, 3 hour service instead of how it is spoken. An example of this in English usage is the rule against prepositional Dalam hubungan dua contoh yang akhir ini, dapat stranding (ending a sentence with a preposition) dipertanyakan mengapa BM yang mesti diperkosa? taught in grammar school, which does not always apply Apakah tidak mungkin mereka beranggapan in everyday speech. We hear sentences such as “What bahawa bahasa Inggeris ialah bahasa yang utama sedangkan BM bahasa sambilan atau bahasa yang is he talking about?” or “Who did Genie give the boleh diperlakukan begitu sahaja. present to?” on a regular basis, and they sound natural and comprehensible. Prescriptive rules, such as the (Junus, 1996: p.33) one mentioned, are often determined by an authority Translation: and must be explicitly learned by the speakers. More With regard to the two examples above, it is importantly, these rules do not depict how language reasonable to question why is it the case that BM works and how it is spoken in speech communities, [Bahasa Melayu, lit. “Malay language”] must be such as the Malay speakers in Kuala Lumpur. raped? Is it not the case that they think English is A similar disjuncture is apparent in Malay linguistics the prominent language, while BM is a trivial language or “the language that can be used or in Malaysia. There has always been a strictly imposed abused.” good-bad dichotomy between Standard Malay and bahasa rojak by the linguistic authority, with the latter being considered as not the “real” Malay and the The examples given in the article above illustrate how former being considered as the variant spoken in Kuala English has “corrupted” the structure of Malay Lumpur and the southern part of the Malay peninsula. through structural borrowing via direct translation. As Here, I suggest that the Malay variant spoken in Kuala a large portion of Malay vocabulary is borrowed and Lumpur is distinct from Standard Malay. While incorporated from other languages, synchronically and retaining some of the features such as the final /a/ diachronically, the process is often over-generalized ! /"/ alternation in the word-final position, Kuala beyond lexical borrowings to structural patterns, Lumpur Malay (henceforth KL Malay) is not identical resulting in the lament of the linguist mentioned to the Standard Malay defined by Teoh (1994), Nik above. Safiah Karim (1986) and Asmah Haji Omar (1977), who Far from being objective, some research papers assume that the variant is free from any code-switching published by DBP on Malay adopt a preachy tone, and and only includes words from the prescribed lexicon, are chiefly concerned with preserving the “purity” and the official dictionary of the Malay language, Kamus “quality” of the Malay language and shielding it from 100! EXPLORATIONS a graduate student journal of southeast asian studies Husni Abu Bakar undesirable polluting influences, including Pilihan yang best. colloquialisms and unassimilated lexical items from choice rel.6 best other languages (mainly English), instead of giving an The best choice/The good choice. unbiased account of the linguistic situation. Spoken Nik Safiah Karim, 1981 & 1986 Malay in the Kuala Lumpur area is perceived to have remained unaffected by any language change or contact and is almost always equated to Standard In the examples above, we can see that Malay is the Malay. Both dialects are seen as free from any base language as the English pronouns used were not unprecedented phonological, morphological and conjugated to object pronouns in direct object syntactical alternations. The closest attempt at positions (the second example does not specifically describing the real complexity of spoken Malay is the show this, however, as the 2sg form for subject and diglossic categorization of Standard Malay and Bazaar object pronouns are the same). Another sign is the Malay, the latter being the low variety with its main preservation of Malay word order apparent in the third characteristics being mispronunciation by non-Malay example (the same phrase with English as its base and speakers and simplified pidgin-like structures.4 Bazaar an imported Malay word would be “the best pilihan”). Malay, however, is a vast category, referring to Below are examples showing more imported English numerous non-standard regional variations of Standard words in longer sentences: Malay, not only the colloquial language used in the Kuala Lumpur area. KL Malay does not fit into either the Standard Malay or Bazaar Malay categories, one is Saya start kerja pukul tujuh… too constrained and the other is too broad. High-low 1sg start work hit seven distinctions which conventionally have been used in I start work at seven o’clock. Malay linguistics are now becoming obsolete. In order to accommodate KL Malay, the descriptions and categorizations mentioned above have to be revised in Kita menaip skrip, stensilkan, check stereo order to consider how the Malay language is really recording before rakaman. spoken in contemporary Kuala Lumpur, based on 1pl. meN-type script stencil-kan check stereo concrete linguistic data. recording before recording. We type the script, stencilize it, and check the Malay-English code-switching in context recording stereo before recording.