Manglish

Story and generality

Manglish is an informal form of Malaysian English with features of an English-
based creole principally used in Malaysia. It is heavily in uenced by the
dominant languages of the country, Malay, Chinese languages, and Tamil. It is
not to be considered an o cial language.
Manglish spoken in West Malaysia is very similar to and highly mutually
intelligible with Singlish, a creole of similar roots.
There is li le dis nc on between the two creoles except that Manglish
vocabulary contains more Malay words while Singlish contains more words
of Hokkien (Min Nan) and Teochew origin.
The vocabulary of Manglish consists of words origina ng from English, Malay,
Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil, and, to a lesser extent, various other European
languages, while Manglish syntax resembles southern varie es of Chinese.
Also, elements of American and Australian slang have come through from
imported television series.
The term Manglish is rst recorded in 1989. Other colloquial portmanteau
words for Manglish include (chronologically): Malish (1992), Malaylish (1992),
Malenglish (1994), Malglish (1997), Malayglish (2005), and Malanglish (2013).
Manglish shares substan al linguis c similari es with Singlish in Singapore,
although dis nc ons can be made, par cularly in vocabulary.
Ini ally, "Singlish" and "Manglish" were essen ally the same language, when
both Singapore and the states now comprising Peninsular Malaysia were under
various forms of direct and indirect Bri sh rule, though not forming a single
administra ve unit except between 1963 and 1965.
English as spoken in Malaysia is based on Bri sh English and called Malaysian
English. Bri sh spelling is generally followed. However, the in uence
of American English modes of expression and slang is strong, par cularly
among Malaysian youth.
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Since 1968, Malay has been the country's sole o cial language. While English
is widely used, many Malay words have become part of common usage in
informal English or Manglish.
There is also a strong in uence from Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien,
and Tamil, which are other major dialects and languages spoken in Malaysia.
Manglish also uses some archaic Bri sh terms from the era of Bri sh rule.
Malaysian English and Manglish
In Malaysia, Manglish is considered to be a less formal form of Malaysian
English which has features of a pidgin or a creole, rather than a fully- edged
creole language.
While all varie es of English used by Malaysians may be considered Malaysian
English, some make a dis nc on between Malaysian English and Manglish;
Malaysian English being a form of English that largely follows the standard
rules of English grammar but with some local characteris cs, while Manglish is
a pidgin that does not follow the gramma cal rules or structure of English.
The use of Manglish is discouraged at schools, where only Malaysian Standard
English is taught.
The term Malaysian English is not used in any o cial context except for the
ever-changing school curriculum modules in a empts to improve the
command of English but without going into advanced lessons. "Malaysian
English" is not an o cial dialect of English.
It is however, possible to speak Manglish without subs tu ng English words
with those from another language.
Speakers of Manglish from the country's di erent ethnic groups tend to
intersperse varying amounts of expressions or interjec ons from their mother
tongue – be it Malay, Chinese or one of the Indian languages – which, in some
cases, quali es as a form of code-switching.
Verbs or adjec ves from other languages o en have English a xes, and
conversely sentences may be constructed using English words in another
language's syntax. People tend to translate phrases directly from their rst
languages into English, for instance, "on the light" instead of "turn on the
light". Or some mes, "open the light", translated directly from Chinese.
Aside from borrowing lexicons and expressions at varying levels depending on
the speaker's mother tongue, Malay, Chinese and Tamil also in uence
Manglish at a sentence forma on level.
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Common words, expressions, vocabulary, and their structures

 Malaysian English speakers tend to put “already” at the end of the sentence to
ask a ques on instead of using “have you”. For example:
- “Have you read that book?” -> “You read that book already?”
- “Already” is even used to emphasize the meaning of a phrase like:
- “I am hungry” -> “I am hungry already”.

Malaysian English speakers have also some typically used phrase. Some of the
most important are based on the word “Can”, which if combined to other
expression from Malaysian English form a total new expression. For example:
- “Can guah” -> Means you can do something at a 40% rate, so it’s be er
not to count on you.
- “Can Can” -> You are certain that you can complete the task you were
given.
- “Can woh” -> You did something in an impressive way.

Chinese, Malay and Tamil languages o en duplicate words for di erent

func ons such as to show pluraliza on, emphasis or repe on. Similarly, this
has in uenced the duplica on of English words when speaking Manglish,
especially when placing emphasis on certain words or to show pluraliza on.
Some examples include:
- You don't noisy-noisy ah, I whack you later then you know. (Don't be too
noisy or I'll discipline you later.)
- That boy you dated is the short-short one in the party, is it? (Was the boy
you dated the short one which we met at the party?)

"(Subject + predicate), is it?" – this is o en used as a ques on.

"It" doesn't refer to the subject, but rather to the en re preceding clause ("Is it
so?") This is comparable to the French phrase "n'est-ce pas?" (literally "isn't
it?") and the German usage of "..., oder?" (literally "..., or?")
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 There are even some unusual words that can be translated in some meanings
in normal English. For example:
- Nouns
"chop" – stamp (also used as verb). From Malay 'cop' meaning stamp e.g. "Put
your company chop on the receipt".

"outsta on" – out of town (e.g. going outsta on), from the colonial era when
Bri sh o cials went to hill sta ons to escape the heat.
"terrer" – (pronounced as the English "terror") Refers to someone or
something being awesomely amazing or good (e.g. "Bloody hell, that guy
is terrer!").
- Adjec ves
"ac on/ackshun/eksyen" – showing-o , arrogant, from English "ac on".[13]
"aiksy/lan si" – arrogant, overcon dent. Lan si is of Cantonese origin.
"best" - superla vely good, see also syok/shiok.
"blur" – confused, unfocused, ignorant.
"cincai" – casually, simply, doing things as one pleases. Comes from Hokkien
Hokkien chhìn-chhái for "simply", "casual" or "slipshod". E.g. "I just cincai order
a dish from the menu."
"geram" – to be annoyed, irritated, pissed o . Originally from Malay meaning
"angry" or "to feel agitated". e.g. "Eh look at his a tude lah, geram only!"
"la-la" – ashy, gaudy appearance. "La-la" replaces the older derogatory term
"Ah Lien" that is used to describe girls who wear heavy make-up and
outstanding clothes and accessories, which usually end up being rather bad
taste instead of looking sophis cated or in fashion. They also usually sport
brightly colored hair. "La-la" can also be used to describe the things these girls
are known to wear. E.g. "That salegirl was very la-la"/"The clothes are so la-la."
These days, the term is also used to describe guys who sports outstanding/
bizarre hairstyle and wear outstanding clothes and accessories resul ng in bad
taste as well. "la-la zai" and "la-la mui" is commonly used to make dis nc ons
between the genders, with the former referring to guys and the la er referring
to girls. The "la-la's" also feature rather punkish a tudes.
- Verbs
"jadi" – happened, succeeded (derived from the Malay word 'jadi', and may
some mes mean 'so' as in, "Jadi?" = "So what?")
"jalan" – to walk (from Malay for "road" or "walk")
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"kacau" – to disturb, e.g.: Please don't kacau me. From Malay for "disturb" or
"disorganised".
"makan" – to eat (Malay), o en refer to lunch or dinner (Malay) (e.g. "You
makan dy?" means "Have you taken your dinner/lunch?")
"mempersiasuikan" - to embarrass, derived by adding Malay a xes "mem",
"per" and "kan" to a Hokkien word "sia suay" meaning shame.[14]
"minum" – to drink (Malay)

Malaysian English speakers have also some typically used phrase. Some of the
most important are based on the word “Can”, which if combined to other
expression from Malaysian English form a total new expression. For example:
“Can guah” -> Means you can do something at a 40% rate, so it’s be er not to
count on you.
“Can Can” -> You are certain that you can complete the task you were given.
“Can woh” -> You did something in an impressive way.

Important Manglish words

Even Malaysian English speakers have some kind of their own terminology that
can be used in di erent occasions. The most used are:
The word “Lah”

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 The ubiquitous word lah ([lɑ́] or [lɑ̂ ]), used at the end of a sentence, can also
be described as a par cle that simultaneously asserts a posi on and en ces
solidarity.
Note that “lah” is o en wri en a er a space for clarity, but there is never a
pause before it. This is because originally in Malay, “ah” is appended to the end
of the word and is not a separate word by itself.
Lah is o en used with brusque, short, nega ve responses:
- Don't have lah! (Brusque response to, "Lend me some money, can?")
- Don't know already lah! (Brusque response to someone fumbling with an
explana on. Mostly by Chinese.)
Lah is also used for reassurance:
- Don't worry, he can do it one lah – Don't worry, he can get it done.
- It's okay lah – It's all right.
Although lah can appear nearly anywhere, it cannot appear with a yes-no
ques on. Another par cle should be used instead. For example:
- Where are you at? (This is especially of Chinese origin.)[4]

The word “Wey”

“Wey” which is used to represent di erent emo ons and must sound and
pronounced correctly, based on the meaning of the phrase, otherwise it will
not have the same e ort to it. It is usually placed at the end of a sentence and
most of the me is used when u get emo onal about something and want to
express your feelings. It can also be placed a er an adjec ve. For example:
- “What movie is it? It is so boring” -> “What movie it is? Damn boring wey”

The word “Ah”

“Ah” can have mul ple uses and placements depending in what u want to
express. The most two used cases are:
- “Ah” at the end of the sentence to express a ques on, for example:
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 - “Do you know where we are going?” -> “Where are we going ah?”
- “Ah” at the beginning and at the end of a sentence to express impa ence and
anger, for example:
- “Stop bothering me” -> “Ah stop disturbing me ah”
Important to remember that when:
- “Ah” is at the beginning of a sentence it has a short pronuncia on
- “Ah” is at the end of a sentence it has a long pronuncia on
Important thing to no ce is that by how many mes u say “Ah” the person who
you are speaking to will understand how mad you are.

The word “Loh”

“Loh” or “lo” is used in the same context as “lah”. It serves as a nal par cle to
intensify a decision that is de ni ve and irrevocable.
In most cases, loh is used in direct response to a ques on or query with the
connota on that the respondent is somewhat impa ent or annoying because
the person thinks that the answer is so obvious that the ques on should not
have been raised from the start. In fact, the ques oner might have no idea
beforehand about the rude reply that would be shot back to him/her, though it
can be argued that the word “lah” might deliver stronger emo ons from the
speaker.
For example, to show argumenta ve mood or making emphasis, one would
say, "You lo (it's your fault), if it's not for you we wouldn't be in trouble now!"
and possibly in response, the other would say, "Eh, I never forced you to follow
me here loh!"
Some mes, loh is used to express insincerity while speaking, for instance when
one says "sorry loh" or "thank you loh".
However, in some cases, the use of loh is only intended to give an advice
without any no on of impa ence. Examples: "I think he’s being unreasonable
loh" or "if you ask you will know loh".
In lesser cases, using "loh" can make some emphasis or convey a jovial
atmosphere. For example, "I came all the way for you loh" and "Nah, that one
loh, that fat chubby one in a yellow shirt loh".
"Loh" is mostly used by the Chinese community in Malaysia, because of its
Cantonese origin.
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 The word “Meh”
"Meh" is commonly used at the end of a ques on. It is usually used with a
sense of con dence in his or her own statement but the hint of doubt towards
the other person. For example," I like her, can not meh?" (meaning "I like her.
What's wrong with that?").
"Meh" is of Cantonese origin. In Cantonese or Hakka, "meh" is a nal par cle
that transforms statements into ques ons that indicate doubt or surprise.

Phone c Features of Spoken Manglish

Manglish has its unique set of features when spoken by na ve Malaysians that
are dis nct from the standard variety of English. Though very similar to spoken
Singlish, the two should not be considered the same variety.

Manglish is non-rho c
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 Some mes referred to as r-fullness/r-lessness, spoken Manglish is similar to

the standard variety of English in Singapore and Britain, in that the nal /r/
consonant is dropped during speech. Words such as 'water' and 'player' are
transcribed as /wɒtə/ and /plejə/ respec vely.

There is no dis nc on between long and short vowels

In Manglish, long vowels such as /ɑː/ and /ɜː/ are usually pronounced no
di erently from /ʌ/ and /ə/ respec vely. For instance, 'father' is pronounced as
/fʌdə/ instead of /fɑːðə/.

Dental frica ves /ð/ and /θ/ are pronounced as dental plosives instead.
Dental frica ves are o en not enunciated in Manglish the way it is in standard
varie es of English. Instead, they are pronounced as plosives. Hence, words
like 'this' /ðɪs/ is pronounced as 'dis' /dɪs/ (voiced), and 'thing' /θɪŋ/ is
pronounced as /tɪŋ/ (voiceless).

Omission of nal consonants

Final consonants of words are o en le out in spoken Manglish. Some
examples include 'dun' (don't), 'fac' (fact), 'adap' (adapt).
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