TOPIC 1: HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

2. People throughout the world speak English as the International. But

English is spoken in many varieties, as what is known as World
Englishes. For instance, in Malaysia people speak Standard English
and Malaysian English (Manglish). Discuss how Standard English
differs from Malaysian English. Provide examples to justify your
answer.

As globalization increases, so does the human languages lost. People find

it is easier to communicate with the people outside their own culture with the
language that is widely used such as English and Chinese. Due to these
commonly used language, children were no longer being educated the fewer
used language, this has caused the local languages become gradually die out
since fewer people were using the languages. Endangered language should be
preserved because each and every single of it embodies unique local knowledge
of cultures and natural systems in the regions which it is spoken. The term
"English speaker" is so broad few people realize the extent of our language
differences across the world. Although we all essentially speak one language
there are still some variations both in grammar and vocabulary, spelling and
pronunciation. Standard English is good and correct English usage. Malaysian
English or Manglish or Mangled English is an English based creole spoken in
Malaysia. It is the colloquial version of the English spoken in Malaysia. It may not
be a proper language but it is one all the same. Malaysia English has its own
history. The British introduce English to Malaysia more than two centuries ago.
English has become the most important language for generations and it is often
associated with power and prestige. However, after the independency of
Malaysia in 1957, English was made the second language since Bahasa
Malaysia has become the national language. Since the government pushed the
nation to globalization, English has become more important. Malaysian English is
different from Standard English. Manglish is popular use among the locals. Many
are comfortable using Manglish as compared to Standard English. The

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vocabularies of Malaysian English were consisted mostly from English,
Mandarin, Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese and Tamil. The Malaysian English also
influenced by the elements from the American and Australian slang whereby the
locals learned from imported television series.

Manglish is a street language and also known as Rojak or Bahasa

Rojak because it was a mix English language. Standard English is the proper
language and second language of Malaysia. Manglish is the unique English
dialect that only spoken in Malaysia. For the Manglish, some suffixing sentence
is added such as the suffix –lah, for example the sentence “no need lah.” The
suffix does not have specific meaning but it affirm the meaning of the sentence.
Prefix nah- is also added when giving something to another person, usually in
impolite way, for example the phrase, “nah, take this.” The short form “dy, ady,
oledi” is also often used by the youth in chat room which is derived from the word
“already” in it Standard English. Manglish and Standard English do have some
commons. Both share lexical categories such as plural, nouns, adverbs and
adjectives. English speakers can understand each other even though they are
being separated by different local dialects and accents.

The grammar in Malaysian English and Standard English is different.

Manglish grammatical structure is mostly taken from the Chinese dialects. Some
might claim that Manglish grammar structure is borrowed from Malay, but as
compared to Chinese is it not so noticeable. For example the phrase “I eat
already” means “I have already eaten” in Standard English. In Mandarin, the
phrase is “wo chi le” where when we simply translate it, it will become “I already
eat”. Another example is “why you so like that one” which direct translate from
Cantonese “dimgaai neih gam geh?” which mean “why are you behaving in that
way?” in Standard English. Here, the “one” will pronounce as “wan”. The
grammatical structure for Manglish is the direct translation from the local people.
Local Malaysian might find it is easier to understand the Manglish as compared
to proper English or Standard English since Manglish is direct and simple. Some
preposition and article are also omitted from the sentence. For example the

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omission of the preposition is “Is there any empty seat beside you?” for the
Standard English might become “can I sit here?” in Manglish. The preposition
“beside” is omitted from the sentence. Manglish also does not express the verb’s
tense. It is completely different from Standard English which has different verb’s
tense in order to express the time of the action taken. For example, Manglish: “I
didn’t take breakfast this morning.” Standard English will be, “I haven’t taken
breakfast this morning.”

The accent of the Malaysian youth is also different from Standard English.
Malaysian Standard English traditionally is based on the British English.
Therefore the spelling and the pronunciation of Malaysian English basically is
from British English. In education, Malaysians are default to spell in British way
rather than American way. Even though Malaysian standard writing is in British
form, yet most of Malaysian youth is spoken in American accent or local accent.
This is because of the influence from the television series that mostly imported
from America and also the localized slang that differentiate Manglish from the
Standard English. For example the word “divorce”, many will pronounce as
American slang /dɪˈvɔrs/ compare to British slang /dɪˈvɔːs/. Malaysian students
might say that British English is too proper to pronounce or to use it in the daily
conversation. Those English educated students prefer to use the American
accent to speak among them. Even the English people do think that British
English is too proper and only the nobles will use it in their conversation.

The vocabulary used is also different between Standard English and

Malaysian English. Malaysian English is originated from the British English due to
the colonization of British from the 18 th century. As the American television
programs and movies are gradually come in to Malaysia, the Malaysians are
influence by the American English words and more familiar with it. Even though
Malaysians are understand both of the American and British English words, but
the American words are commonly used as compared to British. For example,
the word “kid” was often used instead of “children”. But, since the merging of the
word in Malaysian English, more and more new vocabulary were added in

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Manglish, these words were also influenced by local language such as from the
Malay and Chinese words. English speaker in Malaysia is also unaware that
some words that they are using were not present either in British or American
English words. Too much of merging and creating the only Malaysian know
words has made Manglish different from Standard English which is emphasis on
the correct usage of the English language. Some meaning of the words in
Manglish is also different form the Standard English. For example the word
“gostan” which mean reverse in Standard English is the unique vocabulary that
only has in Manglish. Slippers in Australia usually refers to footwear that
encloses the toes and the heel and worn indoors such as bedroom slippers.
What Malaysians refer to as slippers are called thongs in Australia, it is worn
outdoors at the beach. Slippers in Malaysia are known as sandals. Many
vocabularies in Manglish are also borrowing from the Chinese and Malay words.
These are the unique features that only the Malaysian English have. But bear in
mind, not all Manglish can be used in formal occasion. This is because in formal
occasion, the proper language or Standard English should be used in order to
respect the occasion. Malaysian English is simple, straight to the point and
effective. Below are some examples of the phrases and words used in Manglish
and what it actual meaning is.

MANGLISH STANDARD ENGLISH

Handphone Mobile phone or cell phone

Why you so like that Why are you like this

Aiyo, die lah I think we have some problems.

Shaddap lah Excuse me, could you please lower

your voice.
What happen. What has just happened here?

You borrow me five dollars, can or not. Could you please lend me five dollars?

He go home already. He has just gone home.

Q: whose one is this? Q: whose is this?

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 A: my one. A: mine.
Cannot talk anymore lah. I am tired of talking.

Q: thank you. Q: thank you.

A: same-same. A: you are welcome.
Standard English is also having different in meaning with Manglish. For example,
the word “bungalow” is the mansion for the rich in Manglish, while for Standard
English; bungalow means small house or cottage with single storey.

Manglish is the communication tool used in Malaysia. It helps people to

communicate better because it is easier to understand. If one speaks proper
English, many people will not understand because most Malaysian have limited
grasp of English. If we are using bombastic words, people might not understand
us. People will also think us sounds “fake” if speak proper English. Then, there
will be comments such as “why you talk like that, so geli ah.” This is the very own
unique identity of Malaysian. But do bear in mind that Malaysian English is only
suitable to use in the daily conversation, it is only okay for spoken but not in
written. It is not realistic to use words like ‘oledi’ and ‘likedat’ in written English
Imagine what the newspapers would be like if the whole country could only
understand Manglish! To communicate effectively, one should talk in proper
English. Imagine if Shakespeare had spoken Manglish. Instead of ‘Romeo,
wherefore art thou?’ it would be ‘Eh, Lomeo, you where-ah?’ It sounds weird and
funny if Manglish is used in this romance tragedy play. Manglish is one of the
cultures of Malaysia. But Manglish is dialect English and is not native speaker of
English. For example, Australian English and Black American English is not
native speaker of English. So this language “Manglish” cannot use around the
world because the English people might not understand what we are trying to say
and more worst they will think we are rude for using such an inappropriate
language. Manglish is the English as she is broken; Standard English is the
English as she is spoken.