Singaporean-Malaysian English
On Jan 19, Mahid Masseluang, in commenting on my observations about to live and to stay (Dec 29, 2004), said that living a life is the criterion that differentiates live from stay.
However, my main point was that we Malaysians are confused by how native speakers use English. The way native speakers of English use their language can generate mixed signals, and I think this is one of the sources of SME (the variety of English used in Singapore and Malaysia).
According to the Times-Chambers Essential English Dictionary, the Scots use to stay in the same way we use it in Malaysia.
One of its definitions is: “You stay somewhere when you live there temporarily as a visitor or guest: You’re welcome to stay the night here.”
However, it goes on to explain: “(SME, Scottish) You stay somewhere if you live there.”
“In SME and other varieties of English, the question ‘Where do you stay?’ means the same as BrE (standard British English) ‘Where do you live?’ so it is an enquiry about your permanent address rather than your temporary accommodation. The following exchange is possible in SME: ‘Where do you live?’ ‘I’m staying at 18 Orchard Avenue.’ [= the speaker’s permanent address].”
I wonder whether the Scots regard themselves as native speakers of English. I believe if you call them English, they will be offended. I suppose also that in our Malaysian (and Singaporean) context, “Where do you stay?” is not wrong.
All of this is confusing enough to the second-language learner.
I am interested in the etymology of SME, i.e. the origins of SME words and phrases. Here, I have no documented proof, so please forgive me for my amateurish hypotheses.
The curious thing about Malaysian usage is, Malaysians will say “I stay in Taman Gembira” but teach our children that animals live (not stay) in the jungle. It looks like we have separate criteria about live and stay for humans and animals.
How all this came about, I don’t know. My humble guess is that we probably had teachers from Scotland in our colonial days. But I also think that the influence from our first languages (including the dialects) have had a strong influence in shaping SME.
I can only draw equivalents from my native Hokkien:
khia chan keng (stay in a hotel; khia = stay)
khia choo (live at home; khia = live)
I have been told there are parallels in Cantonese and Mandarin.
Last time is another example of SME usage. The Times-Chambers explains that: “(SME; informal) People use last time to mean ‘in the past’: Last time, (or, in BrE, in the past) we had no televisions, only radios.”
In BrE, the last time (not last time) is normally used in phrases such as “The last time I saw my uncle alive was last Wednesday” (as in the first time, the second time, the last time).
My guess is that last time is a direct translation from Hokkien “teng pai” which means in the past. I wonder whether it is used in a similar way in other varieties of English. Could some Australian, etc, enlighten me on this?
I would like to suggest that your paper start a feature on the etymology of SME. Then readers can give their contributions.
I know documented evidence will be scanty, but it will be interesting to read the various hypotheses by readers.
I would say if there are strong parallels in our local languages, the hypotheses may be quite convincing. – Soo Kim Suwe
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