The Americanisation of English in Brunei

Abstract

AbstractPrevious studies investigating postulations that Brunei English was being shaped by American English did not yield any conclusive findings. In recent years, claims of young English‐speaking Bruneians sounding American have become more persistent, thereby precipitating this research. Data was collected from 38 Bruneian Malays who are in their late teens and mid‐twenties and over 900 tokens representative of American English features were analysed. Outcomes reveal that Brunei English is indeed diverging from its traditional exonormative norm, British English, and is displaying new and incipient pronunciations that are indicative of on‐going sound changes. While Americanisation accounts for some of these changes, it is not the only force at play. The findings of this study provide ample evidence that Brunei English is in active state of dynamic change and is steadily progressing towards the next stage of its evolutionary cycle.