Malaysian English (MyE) is the form of English used and spoken in Malaysia.
Varieties Malaysian English may be categorised into three levels: the acrolect, mesolect and basilect.The Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Languages & Literature, p 61, edited by Prof. Dato' Dr Asmah Haji Omar (2004) The acrolect is used by those with near-native level of proficiency in English, and only a relatively small percentage of Malaysians are fluent in it. The acrolect is internationally intelligible, and it is used for official purposes or formal occasions and written communications. It conforms to standard British English, but some words that are specific to Malaysia may be used.
The mesolect is a localised form of English that is used by competent speakers of English or as an informal medium of communication between different ethnic groups of Malaysia. It may use some colloquial terms, and its grammar and syntax may show some deviations from standard English.
The basilect is used very informally by those with limited proficiency and vocabulary in English, and it has features of an extended pidgin or creole with syntax that deviates substantially from Standard English. The basilect may be hard to understand internationally, and it is often referred to as Manglish.
As with other similar situations, a continuum exists between these three varieties, and speakers may code-switch between them, depending on context. Most professionals and other English-educated Malaysians speak mesolect English informally between themselves, but they may also use a basilect depending on the circumstances. All three varieties may be seen as part of Malaysian English, but some prefer to see Malaysian English as a form distinct from the basilect Manglish, which tends to ignore English grammar, while others may see the basilect as the "real" Malaysian English. There is also no consensus on what Standard Malaysian English might be. Some regard the mesolect to be substandard English and a local dialect.
Manglish
Manglish refers to the colloquial, informal spoken form of pidgin English in Malaysia that some considered to be distinct from more "correct" forms of Malaysian English. It exists in a wide variety of norms and primarily as a spoken form of English. It is the most common form of spoken English on the street, but it is discouraged in schools, where only Malaysian Standard English is taught. Its lexis is strongly influenced by local languages, with many non-English nouns and verbs commonly used, and it is significantly different grammatically from Standard English.
Features Since Malaysian English originates from British English when the British Empire ruled what is now Malaysia, it shares many of the features of British English. However, it also has components of American English, Malay, Chinese, Indian languages, and other languages in its vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.
Malaysian English shows a tendency towards simplification in its pronunciation and grammar, a feature also found in other new Englishes. For example, in pronunciation, diphthongs tend to become monophthongs in Malaysian English, stops may be used instead of dental fricatives and the final consonant clusters often become simplified. There are 6 short monophthongs in Malaysian English, compared to 7 in British English, and the vowel length tend to be the same for long and short vowels. There are, however, slight differences in pronunciation in the states in the central and southern parts of the Malay Peninsula from those in the north and the east of Malaysia. There are also some variations in its vocabulary.
Pronunciation Malaysian English is generally non-rhotic. Malaysian English has a broad s, and words like "cab" and "tab" have , rather than . The in words like "butter" is usually not flapped (unlike in American English) or realised as a glottal stop (unlike in many forms of British English, including Cockney). There is no h-dropping in words like head. Malaysian English does not have English consonant-cluster reductions after , , and . For example, "new", "tune" and "dune" are pronounced , , and . That contrasts with many varieties from East Anglia and the East Midlands of British English and with most forms of American English. The 'th' fricatives (θ and ð) are pronounced as stops: [t] for [θ] and [d] for [ð], a phenomenon known as Th-stopping. The 'l' is generally clear. The diphthongs are monophthongised: 'ow' ([əʊ] or [oʊ]) becomes [o] and 'ay' ([eɪ]) becomes [e]. The 'd' at the end of the word is usually dropped. For example, "cold", "hold" and "world" are pronounced as (), () and . The long and short vowels tend to have the same length (for example, "beat" and "bit" are homophones in Malaysian English).
Grammar The grammar in Malaysian English may become simplified in the mesolectal and basilectal varieties. For example, articles and past-tense markers may sometimes be omitted, question structures may be simplified, and the distinction between countable and mass nouns may be blurred. In the basilectal variety, omission of the object pronoun or the subject pronoun is common. The modal auxiliary system is also often reduced, and sometimes, a verb may be absent. The colloquial form often has Malay or Chinese grammatical structure.
Particles are commonly used in colloquial Malaysian English, a notable one being an enclitic "lah" used at the end of a sentence.
Vocabulary In the acrolect, which uses standard English vocabulary and is internationally comprehensible, non-English terms are still used. Typically these are words for which there is no direct equivalence in English or those that express local reality; for example, bumiputera, kampong, as well as titles such as Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Tunku. Words from the Chinese or Indian languages may also be used, such as ang pow or dhoti.
In the mesolect, local words and phrases for which there are English equivalents may also be used, for example, tidak apa ("never mind", "it does not matter") or ulu (or hulu, meaning "head", "upper reaches of a river", "interior of a country"). In the basilect, the use of local terms may be extensive even if most words used are English, and local expressions or exclamations such as alamak (Oh my god) often form part of the speech.
Word usage In the first half of the 20th century, Malaysian English was similar to British English but spoken with a Malaysian accent. However, in the postcolonial era (since 1957), the influx of American TV programmes has influenced the usage of Malaysian English. There is no official language board, council or organisation to ensure the correct and standard usage of Malaysian English because after independence, Malay replaced English as the official language. The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate continues, however, to set and mark the GCE O-Level English Language "1119" paper, which is a compulsory subject for the Malaysian Certificate of Education (the English Language paper set by the Malaysian Ministry of Education is the same as the English Language "1119" paper for GCE O-Level).
To a large extent, Malaysian English is descended from British English, largely because of the country's colonisation by Britain from the 18th century. However, influence from American mass media, particularly in the form of television programmes and films has made most Malaysians familiar with many American English words. For instance, both "/" and "/" are understood, but the British form is preferred. Only in some very limited cases is the American English form more widespread: "" instead of "", "" instead of "" and "" instead of "".
Some words and phrases used in Malaysia have different meanings than in British or American English.
Word / Phrase Malaysian meaning American / British meaningparking spaceparking garage (US) car park (UK)a photocopier; also used as a verb meaning "to photocopy"a historical copying machine using a camera and photographic paper, which was superseded by the photocopier. See Photostat machine.low-cost apartment or flatapartment (US) flat (UK)medium-cost apartment or flatflat (UK)high-cost apartment or flatcommonhold (UK)to accompany, e.g. "Can I follow you?" meaning "Can I come with you?" or, "I will follow you." meaning "I will come with you."to go after or behind, e.g. "The police car was following me."to sendto take someone somewhere, e.g. "Can you send me to the airport?"to cause something to go somewhere without accompanying it, e.g. "I sent this letter to my grandma."blurcondition of a person who is dazed, confused, appears mentally slow, e.g. "You look very blur right now, take a break."vague, visually indistinct, e.g. "Everything is just a blur when I take my spectacles off."keepto put something away e.g. in a pocket or bagto own and retain something indefinitelyto fixto build or put something togetherto repair somethinggot (from have got)to have or possesspast tense of gethalf-past-sixof low quality30 minutes past six o'clockthousand oneone thousand and one hundred, 1100. Likewise, "thousand two" and "thousand three" also means "one thousand two hundred", "one thousand three hundred", and so on. one thousand and one, 1001 (US)power tripa power outage or a blackout, when an electrical device or power system suddenly stops. See Trip switch.a trip by someone to show off their authoritytentativeprogramme itineraryprovisional, yet to be certain/fixed
Malaysian English also has its own vocabulary, which comes from a variety of influences. Typically, for words or phrases that are based on other English words, the Malaysian English speaker may be unaware that the word or phrase is not used in British or American English. Such words are also present in the vocabulary of some continuums of Singapore Standard English.
Malaysian British / American (often abbreviated to HP) (British), (American)public telephone or public phone (also used in Australian English)payphone outstationout of officekeep in view (often abbreviated to KIV)kept on file, held for further considerationmedical certificate (often abbreviated to MC)sick note, aegrotatbank in (cheque)deposit a cheque (UK) / deposit a check (US)remisierstockbroker
Many words of Malay origin have made it into the standard form of Malaysian English used in the media, literature and formal speech. For example, Menteri Besar (Malay for Chief Minister) even has a plural form in English – Menteris Besar.
Particles in Malaysian English come from the influence of Chinese and Malay. Some phrases used for emphasis in British or American English are used as particles in Malaysian English, while ignoring the participle or a verb.
Particle Example in Malaysian English Example in British / American Englishor notDo you want to hang out or not?Do you want to hang out?alreadyI eat dinner already.I've eaten dinner. just now (for the immediate past, as in a few minutes ago)I eat a burger just now.I've just eaten a burger.got (as an emphasis equivalent to do, instead of meaning have)"You got pay the bills or not?" "I got pay!""Did you pay the bills?" "I did pay!"
Syntax Syntactical differences are few although in colloquial speech 'shall' and 'ought' are wanting, 'must' is marginal for obligation and 'may' is rare. Many syntactical features of Malaysian English are found in other forms of English such as British English and North American English:
Can I come too? for "May I come too?" (Have) you got any? for "Do you have any?" I('ve) got one of those already. for "I already have one of those."
Phonology