Thursday January 10, 2008
Do I pronounce ‘th’ the Malaysian way?
Your Questions Answered by Fadzilah Amin.
I HAVE problems in pronouncing “th”, as in “think”, “thought”, “thank”, etc. I can see this symbol (an O with a line in the middle) in my dictionary, but I am not sure how to pronounce it. I have heard it on some British TV soaps; it sounds like a combination of ‘d’, ‘f’ and ‘s’.
Is it all right to pronounce these words with the ‘d’ sound, as most Malaysians do?
– Tee Kian Soon
NO! You can do better than that! Some Malaysians pronounce “th” as in “think”, “thanks”, etc with a “t”, but they pronounce “th” as in “the” and “this” with a “d”. So we hear “tink”, “tanks”, “de” and “dis”!
“Th” is actually pronounced in two ways in English, and it is not that hard to pronounce both.
Let me suggest a way. Stand before a mirror and watch your mouth as you pronounce certain sounds. When you pronounce ‘t’, the front part of your tongue is behind your front teeth. In order to pronounce “th” as in “think” and “thanks”, place the front part of your tongue against the lower edge of your upper lip and try to say ‘t’. A “th” sound will result.
When you pronounce ‘d’, your tongue is in the same position as when you pronounce ‘t’, but if you place a hand on the front of your neck, you’ll feel a movement in your voice box that is not there when you pronounce ‘t’.
In order to pronounce “th” as in “the” and “this”, say “d” but place the front of your tongue against the lower edge of your upper lip. You’ll be able to feel movement in your voice box as well when you pronounce “th” in this way.
If you still can’t pronounce the sounds, get a Muslim friend and ask him how to pronounce “tha”, the 4th letter of the Arabic alphabet. That would be “th” as in “think” and “thanks”.
Then ask him how to pronounce “zhal”, the 9th letter of the Arabic alphabet. That is how “th” as in “the” and “this” are pronounced.
I’d like to hear what progress you make after you carry out my suggestions.
No ‘of’ after ‘comprising’
I HAVE always felt that the word “comprising” should stand alone without “of” after it, as in “The Deluxe Package has wonderful services comprising a body massage, foot rub and scalp massage” rather than “The Deluxe Package has wonderful services comprising of a body massage, foot rub and scalp massage”.However, going on the Net, I find that “comprising of” seems to be used frequently. Which is correct?
– Viv
You are right. “Comprise” means “consist of” and so “comprising” means “consisting of”. There shouldn’t therefore be an “of” after “comprise” or “comprising”.
Can you provide an MBA?
THE MIM-IMS Management School proudly advertised itself as being “One of the largest MBA Providers in Malaysia” in The Star of Jan 2.How does one “provide” an MBA?
Should it be “We offer one of the largest MBA programmes in Malaysia”?
– Lawrence Lim
Although the term “MBA provider” or just “degree provider” may sound odd, I found the latter term used in Britain in a government website:
“Finding a genuine degree course and provider
If you want a genuine British degree you must ensure that your course is affiliated to a recognised degree provider.
Universities and colleges in Britain are given the power to award degrees under an Act of Parliament or by Royal Charter.
They are then recognised as degree providers by the British Government and other official organisations, and known as ‘recognised bodies’. The degrees that they award are referred to as ‘recognised degrees’.”
If there are “degree providers”, there should also be “MBA providers”, since MBA is a degree.
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Do you groom a car?
WHILE I was visiting my grandparents in Johor Baru, I came upon a place where they “groom” people’s cars.I’ve heard of pet grooming, but never before in my life have I seen a “Car Grooming Centre”.
I believe what they were trying to say is “Car Wash Centre” or something like that. Am I right?
– Kayyi Wong
I hadn’t heard of the term “car grooming” either, until you drew my attention to it. A search in all available dictionaries, including the full OED yielded no definition of “grooming” that applied to cars.
But an Internet search showed me that there are a lot of “car grooming” centres in New Zealand and Singapore especially, with others in Australia and Britain.
A new meaning has been added to the verb “groom”, and seriously speaking, it ought to appear in the 3rd edition of the OED, which is now being worked on.
From what is said in some of their advertisements, these centres use the term “car grooming” as an analogy to the grooming of a horse or other pet animals. They not only claim to wash their customers’ cars, but also thoroughly clean them inside and outside and polish them as well, to make the cars look beautiful or “groomed”.
Below is how one of the companies describes its “car grooming”:
“Your vehicle exterior is steam cleaned.
20-minute power vacuum of the interior.
The windows are cleaned and polished inside and out using our citrus window cleaning polish.
The dashboard is brushed and dusted.
Air freshener is applied.
Wheels and tyres are cleaned and sheened.
A generous coating of our house wax is applied by hand to protect your paintwork from rust and corrosion caused by the effects of harmful UV radiation, rain, salt, and oxidization, leaving a lovely shine.”
I imagine some of our “car wash” centres can do all of the above, as well. Perhaps it’s time for a name change, so that some Malaysians can be described as having “manicured lawns” around their houses and “well-groomed cars” to drive around in!
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