Malaysian Cantonese () is a local variety of Cantonese spoken in Malaysia. It is the lingua franca among Chinese throughout much of the central portion of Peninsular Malaysia, being spoken in the capital Kuala Lumpur, Perak (Kinta Valley, Batang Padang, Hulu Perak, Kuala Kangsar, Bagan Datoh, Hilir Perak and Perak Tengah), Pahang, Selangor, Putrajaya and Negeri Sembilan, it is also widely understood to varying degrees by many Chinese people throughout the country, regardless of their ancestral language.
Malaysian Cantonese is not uniform throughout the country, with variation between individuals and areas. It is mutually intelligible with Cantonese spoken in both Hong Kong and Guangzhou in mainland China but has distinct differences in vocabulary and pronunciation which make it unique.
Geographic spread
Cantonese is widely spoken amongst Malaysian Mandarin in the capital Kuala Lumpur and throughout much of the surrounding Klang Valley (Petaling Jaya, Gombak, Ampang, Cheras, Rawang, Putrajaya, Selayang, Sungai Buloh, Puchong, Shah Alam, Kajang, Bangi, Semenyih and Subang Jaya) excluding Klang itself where Hokkien predominates. It is also widely spoken in the town of Sekinchan in the Sabak Bernam district of northern Selangor. It is also used or widely spoken in northeast and central areas as well as parts of southern Perak, especially in the state capital Ipoh and the surrounding towns of the Kinta Valley region (Gopeng, Batu Gajah and Kampar) as well as the towns of Tapah and Bidor in the Batang Padang district of southern Perak and to a lesser extent in the districts of Kuala Kangsar, Perak Tengah, Hilir Perak, Bagan Datoh and Hulu Perak (Cantonese of Kwongsai origins from Guangxi). In Pahang, it is spoken in the state capital town of Kuantan and also widely found or spoken amongst the local Chinese populace in other districts such as Raub, Maran, Jerantut, Bentong, Rompin, Kuala Lipis, Bera, Pekan, Temerloh and Cameron Highlands. Cantonese is also spoken throughout most of Negeri Sembilan, particularly in the state capital Seremban (but a lesser extent also widely spoken by the local Chinese in other towns of the state such as Jempol, Kuala Pilah, Tampin, Rembau, Port Dickson, Gemas and also Bahau with a special exception in Jelebu, where the Hakka dialect predominates mostly along with the towns of Nilai and Mantin, which are outer suburbs of Seremban city). It is widely spoken in Sandakan, Sabah and Cantonese speakers can also be found in other areas such as Segamat, Johor, Keningau, Sabah, Sarikei, Sarawak, Batu Pahat, Johor, Miri, Sarawak, Mersing, Johor and Kanowit, Sarawak.Astro AEC, Behind the Dialect Groups, Year 2012
Due to its predominance in the capital city, Cantonese is highly influential in local Chinese-language media and is used in commerce by Malaysian Chinese.Malaysian Cantonese Tze Wei Sim, Why are the Native Languages of the Chinese Malaysians in Decline. Journal of Taiwanese Vernacular, p. 74, 2012 As a result, Cantonese is widely understood and spoken with varying fluency by Chinese throughout Malaysia, regardless of their language group. This is in spite of Hokkien being the most widely spoken variety and Mandarin being the medium of education at Chinese-language schools. The widespread influence of Cantonese is also due in large part to the popularity of Hong Kong media, particularly TVB dramas.
Phonology A sizeable portion of Malaysian Cantonese speakers, including native speakers, are not of Cantonese ancestry, with many belonging to different ancestral language groups such as Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew. The historical and continued influence of their original language has produced variation and change in the pronunciation of particular sounds in Malaysian Cantonese when compared to "standard" Cantonese. Depending on their ancestral origin and educational background, some speakers may not exhibit the unique characteristics described below.
Many Malaysians have difficulty with the sound and will substitute it with other sounds where it occurs. Often these changes brings the pronunciation of most words in line with their Hakka pronunciation, and for many words their Hokkien pronunciations as well. Words that end with & (pronounced [œːŋ] & [œːk̚] in standard Cantonese) such as hoeng1, loeng5, soeng2 and zoek3, goek3, joek3 may be pronounced as [iɔŋ]/[eɔŋ] and [iɔk̚]/[eɔk̚], which by local spelling conventions may be written as and respectively, e.g. hiong1/heong1, liong5/leong5, siong2/seong2 and , giok3/geok3, jiok3/jeok3. This change brings the pronunciation of most words in line with their Hakka pronunciation, and for many words their Hokkien pronunciations as well. Words with final & (pronounced [ɵn] & [ɵt̚] in "Standard" Cantonese) such as ceon1 and ceot1 may be pronounced as [un] & [ut̚] respectively. Words with final (pronounced [ɵɥ] in "Standard" Cantonese) such as seoi2 and heoi3 may be pronounced as [ɔi], [ui] or even [ei] depending on the word. Many Malaysians also have difficulty with the sound (pronounced as [yː] in Standard Cantonese) which occurs in words such as zyu1, syun3, hyut3. This sound may be substituted with [iː], which in the case of some words may involve palatalisation of the preceding initial [◌ʲiː]. Some speakers, particularly non-native speakers, may not differentiate between long and short vowels, such as between [aː] and [ɐ]. Due to the influence of Hong Kong media, Malaysian Cantonese is also affected by so-called "Lazy Sounds" ( laan5 jam1), though to a much lesser degree than Hong Kong Cantonese. Many younger and middle-aged speakers pronounce some initial words with an initial. For many, this process is not complete, with the initial distinction maintained for other words. e.g. nei5 → lei5. Generally, the ⟨ng-⟩ initial has been maintained, unlike in Hong Kong where it is being increasingly dropped and replaced with the null initial. Instead, among some speakers, Malaysian Cantonese exhibits the addition of the initial for some words that originally have a null initial. This also occurs in Hong Kong Cantonese as a form of hypercorrection of "Lazy Sounds", e.g. aa3 → ngaa3. Some speakers have lost labialisation of the & initials, instead pronouncing them as & , e.g. gwok3 → gok3. Some tones may be merged together, that is they aren't differentiated in regular speech. The 5th tone may be merged with the 2nd tone. The 6th tone may be merged with the 4th tone. The 5th tone may be merged with the 3rd tone, with examples such as "你 nei5" being pronounced as "nei3" and "我 ngo5" being pronounced as "ngo3".
Vocabulary Malaysian Cantonese is in contact with many other Chinese languages such as Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew as well other languages such as Malay and English. As a result, it has absorbed many loanwords and expressions that may not be found in Cantonese spoken elsewhere. Malaysian Cantonese also preserves some vocabulary that would be considered old-fashioned or unusual in Hong Kong but may be preserved in other Cantonese speaking areas such as Guangzhou. Not all of the examples below are used throughout Malaysia, with differences in vocabulary between different Cantonese speaking areas such as Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Sandakan. There may also be differences based on the speaker's educational background and native dialect.
Use of instead of to refer to "want/don't want", also meaning "love/like". Also used in Guangzhou and is similar to the character's usage in Hakka. Use of instead of to refer to "don't". More common use of hiu2 to mean "to be able to/to know how to", whereas wui6/ sik1 would be more commonly used in Hong Kong. Also used in Guangzhou and is similar to the character's usage to Hakka. Use of mou5 at the end of sentences to create questions, e.g. , "Do you want to eat?" Some expressions have undergone a change in meaning, such as puk1 gaai1, literally "fall on the street" which is commonly used in Malaysia to mean "broke/bankrupt" and is sometimes not considered a profanity, unlike in Hong Kong where it is used to mean "drop dead/go to hell". Some English educated speakers may use sap6 cin1 instead of maan6 to express 10,000, e.g. 14,000 might be expressed as sap6 sei3 cin1 instead of jat1 maan6 sei3. Use of expressions which would sound outdated to speakers in Hong Kong, e.g. mou5 soeng1 gon1 to mean "never mind/it doesn't matter", whereas mou5 so2 wai6/ m4 gan2 jiu3 would be more commonly used in Hong Kong. Some of these expressions are still currently in use in Guangzhou. Word order, particularly the placement of certain grammatical particles may differ, e.g. instead of for "have eaten." Unique expression's such as ngo5 bong1 nei5 gong2 to mean "I'm telling you" where ngo5 tung4 nei5 gong2/ ngo5 waa6 nei5 zi1 would be used in Hong Kong. Malaysian Cantonese is also characterised by the extensive use of sentence ending particles, to an even greater extent than which occurs in Hong Kong Cantonese.
+LoanwordsMalaysian CantoneseMeaningHong Kong Cantonese EquivalentNotes baai2Number of times ci3From Hokkien pái () sou1 maa1All cyun4 bou6 ham6 baang6 laang6From Malay , many potential pronunciations e.g. su1 mua1 baa3 saat1Market gaai1 si5From Malay , originally from Persian bazaar maa3 daa1Police ging2 caat3From Malay maa3 daa1 liu2Police Station, ging2 cyu5 baan3 naai1Clever cung1 ming4/ lek1From Malay cin1 caai1Whatever/Casually si6 daan6From Hokkien chhìn-chhái (清彩), also used in Malay as cincai gaat3 zaau1To Annoy faan4From Malay Sinang sin3 naang1Easy jung4 ji6From Malay Loti lo4 di1Bread min6 baau1From Malay , itself from Tamil ரொட்டி, ultimately from Sanskrit रोटीKopi go3 bi1Coffee gaa1 fe1From Malay kopi, itself from English coffeepui1To spit𦧲 loe1From Hokkien phùi (呸) lui1/leoi1Money cin4From Malay or Hokkien lui (), themselves from Dutch "duit" kau1Classifier for money man1Related to Hokkien kho () wong4 laai2*Pineapple bo1 lo4Pronunciation differs, alluding to the yellow colour of a pineapple gung1 ziu1Banana hoeng1 ziu1Alluding to the curved, bow shape of a banana嫽 liu4To go on holiday heoi3 dou6 gaa3From Hakka liau laa4 laa1Clam hin2From local Hokkien lâ-lâ, a reduplication of Minnan lâ, also used in Malay as goek3 ce1Bicycle daan1 ce1Based on Hokkien kha-chhia (跤車) mo3 do1Motorcycle din6 daan1 ce1From English motorcycle saam1 maan6Fine/Penalty fat6 fun2From Malay saman, itself from English summons bung1 zat1Punctured baau3 toi1From English punctured lai5 san1Licence ce1 paai4From English licence do1 lung4Beg/Please kau4 haa6 From Malay tolong di4 jam4Keep Quiet sau1 seng1 From Malay diam. False cognate of Hokkien tiâm (恬) taai1 jaa2Tyre leon4 toi1 From English tyre lan2 si2 lan2 joeng6Arrogant baa1 bai3 From Hakka lín sṳ́ lín yong zam3 seoi2Flood seoi2 zam3 From Hakka chim súi lung4 kang1Drain haang1 keoi4 From Malay longkang, itself from Hokkien lóng kau () or Charge caap3 din6 or Charge din6Recharge Battery caa1 din6 / cung1 din6 daai6 lan2 ngong6Very stupid person 戇居仔 ngong6 geoi1 zai2From Hakka 大𡳞戇 thai lín ngong喷 pan5Thick厚 hau5From Hakka 笨 phûn
+Examples of Unique VocabularyMalaysian CantoneseMeaningHong Kong Cantonese EquivalentNotes雷 leoi4Dumb蠢 ceon2 From 𡚗, as in "大隻𡚗𡚗" (All brawl and no brains)穢 wai3Disgusting, revoltinge噁心 ok3 sam1 laa4 laa1 zai2Urban punkMK MK zai2 seoi2 cou2Drinking straw jam2 gun2 tiu3 fei1 gei1Illegal immigration fei1 faat3 ji4 man4 syu1 gun2/ hok6 tong4School hok6 haau6/ tong4Classifier for vehicles, e.g. cars gaa3e.g. "2 Cars": loeng5 tong4 ce1 (Malaysia), loeng5 gaa3 ce1 (Hong Kong) lok6 seoi2Raining lok6 jyu5Kuala Lumpur - syut3 caa4 Ipoh - caa4 syut3Chinese Tea zung1 gwok3 caa4
See also Malaysian Chinese Cantonese people Cantonese
References