Rural Dictionary

manglish

Colloquial version of the English language as spoken in Malaysia and it is a portmanteau of the word Malay and English. The language shares substantial linguistic similarities with Singlish in Singapore. In real essence, Manglish and Singlish are one and the same although there are a few slang words that exist in one and not in another. For all practical purposes, Manglish and Singlish are subsets of the same group.

Theoretically, English as spoken in Malaysia is based on British English and called Malaysian English. British spelling is generally followed. However, the influence of American English modes of expression and slang is strong, particularly among Malaysian youth.

Since 1968, Malay, or Bahasa Melayu, has been the country's sole official language. While English is widely used, many Malay words have become part of common usage in informal English or Manglish (also means Mangled English). An example is suffixing sentences with lah, e.g. "Don't be so worried-lah", which is usually used to present a sentence as rather light-going and not so serious, the suffix has no specific meaning. Although Chinese dialects also make abundant use of the suffix lah and there is some disagreement as to which language it was originally borrowed from. There is also a strong influence from Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, and Tamil, which are other major dialects and languages spoken in Malaysia. Manglish also uses some anachronistic British terms from the era of British colonization (see "gostan" and "outstation" below).

{source: wikipedia}

Manglish Particles:

1. "lah" - Often used at the end of sentences, used to affirm a statement (similar to 'of course'), usually ends with an exclamation mark. Eg. "Don't be an idiot lah!"

2. "mah" - Used at the end of sentences, used to affirm a sentence, but not as strongly as "lah". Eg. "She's like that mah.."

3. "nah" - Derived from the Malay expression, "Nah!". Used when giving something to another person. Eg. "Nah, take this!"

4. "meh" - Used when asking a question, especially when one is skeptical of something. Eg. "Really meh?"

5. "liao" - Means 'already'. Eg. "No more liao."

6. "ah" - Used at the end of sentences, unlike 'meh' the question is rhetorical. Eg. "Why is he like that ah?" Can also be used to when asking a genuine question. Eg. "Is that true ah?" Besides that, some people use it when referring to a subject before making a comment (often used to make a negative comment). Eg. "My brother ah, always disturb me!"

7. "lor" - Used when explaining something. Eg. "Like that lor!"

8. "leh" - Used to soften an order, making it less harsh. Eg. "Give me that leh."

9. "one" - Used as an emphasis at the end of a sentence. Eg. "Why is he so naughty one?"

10. "what" - Unlike the British/Americans, the word 'what' is often used as an exclamation mark, not just to ask a question. Eg. "What! How could you do that?"

11. "got" - Used as a literal translation from the Malay word 'ada'. The arrangement of words are often also literally translated. Eg. "You got anything to do?" ("Kamu ada apa-apa nak buat?"). This particular particle is widely abused in Manglish, mainly because of the difficulty for the Manglish speaker of comprehending the various correct uses of the English verb 'to have'. Therefore, 'got' is substituted for every tense of the verb. Eg. "I got already/got/will got my car from the garage."

Manglish nouns:

1. "barsket" - derived from 'bastard', general derogatory term. May also be derived from 'basket case'

2. "bladibarsket" - derived from 'bloody bastard', profane derogatory term

3. "kapster" - a talkative person

4. "maluation" - embarrassment, from "malu" + "-ation"

5. "outstation" - out of town (i.e, going outstation)

Manglish adjectives:

1. "aiksy" - arrogant, overconfident. Possibly derived from 'acting up'

2. "blur" - confused, out of it

Manglish verbs:

1. "gostan" - reverse a vehicle (apparently from the nautical term "go astern")

2. "jadi" - happened, succeeded (derived from the Malay word 'jadi', and may sometimes mean 'so' as in, So what?)

3. "jalan" - to walk

4. "kena" - to get caught, to get punished; often used like a noun ("I sure kena if I cheat")

5. "kantoi" - to get caught

6. "cabut/cantas" - to run off, flee or to escape ('Cabut' is a Malay word meaning to pull or pulling out)

7. "makan" - to eat

8. "on/off" - to activate/deactivate something, respectively

9. "pengsan" - to faint

10. "pon" - to skip school (from "ponteng", meaning the same)

11. "saman" - to issue a traffic ticket, from summons

12. "tahan" - to stand, to bear ("Cannot tahan her perfume! So strong!")

13. "tumpang-ing" - riding in someone else's vehicle or lodging at someone else's house, from the Malay verb "tumpang" + "-ing"
"any Malay word + ing" - doing a certain action ('Tengah makan' or 'I'm eating right now' is shortened to 'Makan-ing')

Manglish exclamations:

1. "best" - indicates the object as superlatively good

2. "die/finish/gone/habis/mampus" - generic exclamations to indicate trouble, used like the English 'damn it'

Manglish grammar:

"(Subject + predicate), is it?" - this is often used as a question. "It" doesn't refer to the subject, but rather to the entire preceding clause ("Is it so?")

{source: wikipedia}

by whysquare January 15, 2006

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