The Adaptation Strategies of English Loanwords among Kelantan Malay Dialect Speakers

Sakinah Nik Muhammad Naziman,Sharifah Raihan Syed Jaafar

doi:10.17576/3l-2018-2404-10

Sakinah Nik Muhammad Naziman, Sharifah Raihan Syed Jaafar

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.17576/3l-2018-2404-10

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Abstract

This paper discusses the adaptation strategies when the Kelantan dialect speakers borrow words from English. It also discusses the findings for loanwords approach. There are three approaches to account for the adaptation and processing of sound-based loanwords namely Perception, Phonology or Perception-Phonology Approaches. In order to examine and determine which approach of adaption can satisfactorily account for the adaptation processes in the Kelantan dialect of Malay, the source of input is examined. Data for this research were obtained from two sources: a previous study from Shapri (1980) and observations which were carried out in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. There were 113 and 55 words from Shapri (1980) and from observation, respectively, as used for this study. Data analysis shows that four adaptation strategies were applied in the Kelantan dialect of Malay. These are consonant substitution, consonant deletion, debuccalisation, vowel epenthesis and final consonant clusters simplification. Considering the source of input and the adaptation strategies, the adaptation process in Kelantan Malay dialect is mostly phonological. Hence, this proves that the phonological Approach could better explain how English loanwords are processed in the Kelantan Malay dialect. The discussion on English loanword adaptation strategies has its implications to Malay grammar and future phonological theory. Some phonological patterns occur in the Kelantan Malay dialect whereas they are not formally stated and have never been discussed in the phonological system of the dialect. Keywords: loanwords adaptation; Malay; Kelantan Malay dialect; English; phonology

Highlights

This paper examines the adaptation strategies when English words are borrowed into the Kelantan Malay dialect
Based on the data observed from Shapri (1980) and the fieldwork, this study reveals several adaptation strategies utilised when English words were borrowed into the Kelantan Malay dialect
Consonant substitution is a term used in linguistic in phonology to refer to a situation when one item is replaced or substituted by another item in a domain and structure (Crystal 2008, p. 463)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

This paper examines the adaptation strategies when English words are borrowed into the Kelantan Malay dialect. The analysis of 800 words stress by Schutz (1999) showed that strategies such as lengthening and rhyme were applied to maintain the stress, as exemplified below: Other adaptation strategies such as consonant clusters, vowel epenthesis and voiced plosive substitution were discussed by Kenstowic (2007). According to Rashid et al (2011) in his descriptive study, there were four adaptation strategies applied in Punjab when English words were borrowed into the language namely epenthesis, substitution, deletion and addition. English consonants which have their correspondent phonemes in the Kelantan dialect of Malay show no adaptation This means that consonants which exist in both languages would remain the same when borrowing occurs, while those which are not, need to be replaced with the native consonants. The adaptation of English consonants in the Kelantan dialect of Malay supports Steriade’s (2001) claim that “the least distinctive contrast whose modification resolves the violation.”

METHODOLOGY

RESULTS

CONCLUSION