Abstract
Previous research on Malaysian English (MalE) has indicated that there are differences in the way that different ethnic groups produce some segments in English possibly due to different first languages. However, thus far, there has not been any published study on the rhythmic patterns of different ethnic groups in Malaysia. The present study examines the rhythmic properties of speakers from three ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese and Indians. Since studies have shown that speaking contexts can affect rhythm, this study also investigates the extent to which different speaking styles (read and spontaneous speech) affect rhythm in MalE. The data comprised audio recordings of 12 female speakers from three different ethnic groups in Malaysia: Malays, Chinese and Indians. The speakers who were between 40 and 45 years old were all fluent speakers of English based on their educational and professional backgrounds. The speakers were recorded in two speaking contexts. In the first one, they read a passage, and in the second context, they talked about themselves and their families. Two metrics were used to examine rhythm in both these speaking contexts: A normalised Pairwise Variability Index (nPVI) and VarcoV (the standard deviation of vocalic intervals divided by their means). The results were compared across the three ethnic groups. Based on the two metrics, there were no significant differences among the three groups. There were also no significant differences between the two speaking contexts for all three groups. The findings suggest that there may be a common rhythmic pattern in MalE that cuts across ethnic groups.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arvaniti, A. (2009). Rhythm, timing and the timing of rhythm. Phonetica, 66, 46–63.
Baskaran, L. M. (2004). Malaysian English. Morphology and syntax. In B. Kortmann, K. Burridge, R. Mestrie, E. W. Schneider, & C. Upton (Eds.), A handbook of varieties of English (Vol. 2, pp. 1073–1085). Mouton de Gruyter.
Baskaran, L. M. (2008). Malaysian English – Phonology. In R. Mesthrie (Ed.), Varieties of English: Africa, South and Southeast Asia (pp. 278–291). Mouton de Gruyter.
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2014). Praat: Doing phonetics by computer (version 5.3.82). Retrieved from http://fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/.
David, M. K. (2005). Reasons for language shift in Peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Modern Languages, 15(1), 1–11.
Dellwo, V. (2006). Rhythm and speech rate: A variation coefficient for deltaC. In P. Karnowski, & I. Szigeti (Eds.), Language and language processing: Proceedings of the 38th Linguistic Colloquium (pp. 231–241). Piliscsaba 2003. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Deterding, D. (2001). The measurement of rhythm: A comparison of Singapore and British English. Journal of Phonetics, 29(2), 217–230.
Deterding, D. (2011). Measurements of the rhythm of Malay. Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Hong Kong, 17–21 August 2011, 576–579.
Fuchs, R. (2014). Integrating variability in loudness and duration in a multidimensional model of speech rhythm. Evidence from Indian English and British English. In Proceedings of speech prosody 7. Dublin (pp. 290–294). Retrieved from https://www.isca-speech.org/archive_v0/SpeechProsody_2014/pdfs/47.pdf
Fuchs, R. (2016). Speech rhythm in varieties of English—Evidence from educated Indian English and British English. Springer.
Grabe, E., & Low, E. L. (2002). Durational variability in speech and the rhythm class hypothesis. In C. Gussenhoven, & N. Warner (Eds.), Laboratory phonology (Vol. 7, pp. 515–546). Mouton de Gruyter.
Gut, U. (2003). Prosody in second language speech production: The role of the native language. Fremdsprachen Lehren Und Lernen, 32, 133–152.
Gut, U. (2012). Rhythm in L2 speech. In D. Gibbon (Ed.), Speech and language technology (pp. 83–94). Cambridge University Press.
Howell, P., & Kadi-Hani, K. (1991). Comparison of prosodic properties between read and spontaneous speech material. Speech Communication, 10(2), 161–169.
Keane, E. L. (2006). Rhythmic characteristics of colloquial and formal Tamil. Language and Speech, 49(3), 299–332.
Knight, R. A. (2011). Assessing the temporal reliability of rhythm metrics. Journal of the International Phonetics Association, 41(3), 271–281.
Li, A., & Post, B. (2014). L2 Acquisition of prosodic properties of speech rhythm: Evidence from L1 Mandarin and German learners of English. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 36(2), 223–255.
Lin, H., & Wang, Q. (2007). Mandarin rhythm: An acoustic study. Chinese Linguistics and Computing, 17(3), 127–140.
Low, E. L. (1994). Intonation patterns in Singapore English. Unpublished master’s thesis. Department of Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Low, E. L. (1998). Prosodic prominence in Singapore English. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Low, E. L., Grabe, E., & Nolan, F. (2000). Quantitative characterizations of speech rhythm: ‘Syllable-timing’ in Singapore English. Language and Speech, 43(4), 377–401.
Maris, Y. (1980). The Malay sound system. Kuala Lumpur: Fajar Bakti.
Mesthrie, R., & Bhatt, R. M. (2008). World Englishes: The study of new linguistic varieties. Key topics in sociolinguistics. Cambridge University Press.
Mohd. Onn, F. (1980). Aspects of Malay phonology and morphology: A generative approach. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Mok, P., & Dellwo, V. (2008). Comparing native and non-native speech rhythm using acoustic rhythmic measures: Cantonese, Beijing Mandarin and English. Speech Prosody 2008, Campinas/Brazil, 6–9 May 2008, 423–426.
Nokes, J., & Hay, J. (2012). Acoustic correlates of rhythm in New Zealand English: A diachronic study. Language Variation and Change, 24(1), 1–31.
Phoon, H. S., & Maclagan, M. (2009) The phonology of Malaysian English: A preliminary study. In L. J. Zhang, R. Rubdy, & A. Lubna (Eds.), Englishes and literatures-in-English in a globalised world, Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on English in Southeast Asia (pp. 46–60). Singapore: National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University.
Phoon, H. S., Abdullah, A. C., & Maclagan, M. (2013). The consonant realizations of Malay-, Chinese- and Indian-Influenced Malaysian English. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 33(1), 3–30.
Pillai, S. (2006). Malaysian English as a first language. In M. K. David (Ed.), Language choices and discourse of Malaysian families: Case studies of families in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (pp. 61–75). Petaling Jaya: SIRD.
Pillai, S., & Mohd. Don, Z., Knowles, G., & Tang, J. (2010). Malaysian English: An instrumental analysis of vowel contrasts. World Englishes, 29(2), 159–172.
Pillai, S., & Ong, L. T. (2018). English(es) in Malaysia. Asian Englishes, 20(2), 147–157.
Ramus, R., Nespor, M., & Mehler, J. (1999). Correlates of linguistic rhythm in the speech signal. Cognition, 73(3), 265–292.
Sarmah, P., Gogoi, D. V., & Wiltshire, C. (2009). Thai English: Rhythm and vowels. English World-Wide, 30(2), 196–217.
Schiffman, H. (1995). Language shift in the Tamil communities of Malaysia and Singapore. Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 14(1–2), 151–165.
Setter, J. (2006). Speech rhythm in World Englishes: The case of Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly, 40(4), 763–782.
Sim, T. W. (2012). Why are the native languages of the Chinese Malaysians in decline? Journal of Taiwanese Vernacular, 4(1), 63–95.
Szakay, A. (2006). Rhythm and pitch as markers of raciality in New Zealand English. In P. Warren, & C. Watson (Eds.), Proceedings of the 11th Australasian International Conference on Speech Science & Technology (pp. 421–426). Auckland: University of Auckland.
Tan, R. S. K., & Low, E. L. (2010). How different are the monophthongs of Malay speakers of Malaysian and Singapore English? English World-Wide, 31(2), 162–189.
Tan, R. S. K., & Low, E. L. (2014). Rhythmic patterning in Malaysian and Singapore English. Language and Speech, 57(2), 196–214.
Teoh, B. S. (1994) The sound system of Malay revisited. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa Pustaka.
Tongue, R. K. (1974). The English of Singapore and Malaysia. Eastern Universities Press.
Torgersen, E., & Szakay, A. (2012). An investigation of speech rhythm in London English. Lingua, 122(7), 822–840.
Wan Aslynn, W. A. (2012). Instrumental phonetic study of the rhythm of Malay. Unpublished Ph.D thesis. Newcastle University, United Kingdom.
White, L., & Mattys, S. L. (2007). Calibrating rhythm: First language and second language studies. Journal of Phonetics, 35(4), 501–522.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pillai, S., Muthiah, A., Wan Aslynn, W. (2023). Rhythmic Patterns of Malaysian English Speakers. In: Fuchs, R. (eds) Speech Rhythm in Learner and Second Language Varieties of English. Prosody, Phonology and Phonetics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8940-7_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8940-7_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-8939-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-8940-7
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)