Phonological nativisation of Malaysian English in the cartoon animation series “Upin and Ipin: the helping heroes”
Nur Fatima Wahida Mohd Nasir1, Hajar Abdul Rahim2.
In Malaysia, “Upin and Ipin: The Helpling Heroes” is considered
one of the most popular cartoon animations recently being
previewed in its main channel on YouTube. This animation series
presents several distinguishing features, including basic English
as its primary instruction medium. Through much observation,
however, this research discovers that subtle phonological
nativisations of Malaysian English (ME) seem to be visible in the
cartoon, which brings to the question of whether Malaysians can
accept the learning of the English language with Malaysian
English (ME) phonology. The identification and examination of
phonological nativisation in the study were employed through a
phonological analysis. These sounds' characteristics were then
categorised into existing phonological features of ME based on
previous literature. Findings of the study show that overall, a
number of seven categories of ME’s phonological nativisation
were identified, including; (1) voiced dental fricatives /ð/ replaced
with voiced alveolar stops /d/; (2) voiceless dental fricative /θ/
replaced with voiceless alveolar stops /t/; (3) the omission of
single coda consonants; (4) the omission of final consonant
clusters; (5) the omission of morphological markers in final
clusters; (6) the lengthening of vowels in unstressed syllables; and
(7) the shortening of vowels in stressed syllables. Thus, it can be
concluded that based on a large number of viewers, the
identification of phonological nativisations of ME in the cartoon
clearly reflects that the variety is gradually and unconsciously
becoming accepted by Malaysians despite disagreements on the
damages it may cause towards English language development.
Affiliation:
- Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
- Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
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