By Hadi M.
Nor
As
Malaysians, we have our own slang in speaking and writing English like adding
the word ‘-lah’ in our sentences and speaking the ‘Rojak Language’. For
example, “Macha, the makan place at your house there, cun ar?” (Possibly the
most 1Malaysia sentence ever written.)
Pix Credit: http://xkcd.com/148 |
It’s okay
that we have our own slang like other countries do and speak English in our own
mother tongue’s intonations but words, however, must be said correctly.
Pronounciation – Pronunciation (Pro-nun-si-a-syen)
I was
watching Akademi Fantasia one day and one of the judges (whom shall not be
named) gave a comment on the performer’s pronunciation of words in singing an
English song.
“Your pro-NOUN-ciation must be correct.”
Ironic,
isn’t it?
Please
remember, the word ‘pro-NOUN-ciation’ does not exist. While I’m typing the word
in Microsoft Words, a red underline appears, justifying my point. Don’t be
confused, the word ‘pronounce’ is correct but its noun is ‘pronunciation’.
Stik – Steak (Steyk)
‘Stik’ is
the Bahasa Melayu word for ‘steak’. As I’ve mentioned above, it is okay to use
the Rojak language but using this word in an English sentence will confuse
people.
Its
pronunciation is similar to the English word ‘stick’, which means a long and
slender piece of wood. It also means a shoot cut off from a shrub or a
tree.
Pix Credit: 123rf.comStick does not taste like steak.
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Wayfle – Waffle (Wuhf-fuhl)
I really
appreciate it when someone rectifies my pronunciation. However, someone once
corrected my already correct pronunciation. The conversation went like this:
“One waffle,
please.”
“You mean
‘way-fle’?”
“Yes, one
‘way-fle’, please.”
I was hungry
and I didn’t care what you call that grid-like cake at the time. But, the
correct pronunciation is wuff-fuhl.
Stress out the letter ‘f’ in the word.
Collownel – Colonel (Kuh-nuhl)
‘Colonel’ is
a military rank but this word is more widely used in KFC for its ‘Colonel
Menu’. The pronunciation for this word in US English is ‘kur-nuhl’. You might
be wondering, where did the first ‘L’ in the word go? Well, it disappeared
along with the ‘H’ in the word ‘hour’.
Dye-vorce – Divorce (Dee-vaus)
Hearing
people mispronouncing this word is a very rare occasion but I’ve heard it more
than once, which means that there are many others out there who are still in
the wrong.
It’s easy to
be confused with this word’s pronunciation because of other words that
pronounced ‘di’ as ‘dye’, for example, ‘dimension’, ‘direction’, ‘dilute’ etc.
Congrates – Congrats (Kawn-grats)
In the novel
Zombijaya written by Adib Zaini, there is a part where the main characters
deliberately pronounced the word ‘congrats’ as ‘congrates’ as a mock of some
local celebrities (whom, unfortunately, shall not be named).
‘Congrats’
is a shorter version of the word ‘congratulations’. A lot of people joked that
‘congrates’ is Socrates’ older brother, which is also a mispronunciation as
Socrates is ‘Sok-ratis’ and not ‘sokrets’. Am I the only one who finds this
joke hilarious?
Pix Credit: searchquotes.com "That's not funny, dude." |
Siu – Sew (Soh)
It’s easy to
mispronounce the word ‘sew’ as we are accustomed to words spelled almost the
same way such as ‘new’ and ‘few’. The correct pronunciation is ‘soh’.
The past
tense for this word, which is ‘sewn’, is also commonly mispronounced. Its
correct pronunciation is almost like its present tense, which is ‘sown’.
However, ‘sown’ is the past tense of the word ‘sow’ that means scattering seeds
on Earth. ‘Sown’ and ‘sewn’ have the same pronunciation because English is a
funny language.
Filem/Flim – Film (Film)
This is the
word that is so commonly mispronounced that people avoid saying it. (Thank God
for the word ‘movie’.) The pronunciation of this word requires exercise for the
tongue. Just like the word ‘helm’, the letter ‘L’ must be drowned out by the
‘M’.
‘Filem’ is
the Bahasa Melayu word for ‘film’ whereas ‘flim’ was possibly invented by a
typo. Even though it only has one syllable, but a lot of people still find it
difficult to say it properly.
Bolockniss/Bolocknize/Bolocguhniss – Bolognese (Baw-law-neze)
Malaysians’
love for food does not stop them from mispronouncing one of the most famous
dishes in the world. This word has a distinctive sound to it because it came
from the city Bologna, Italy.
Keep in mind
that the ‘G’ in the name is silent.
For more
words that are commonly mispronounced, click here.
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6 comments:
napps said...
Last para - if spelled Bolognese - then it would be Baw-law-neze. If spelled Bolognaise, it would be Baw-law-NAY
@napiez
Snuze said...
Dye-vorce ... always make me grit my teeth.
maidilm said...
Waffle is always mispronounced because people confuse it with Wafer.
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Anonymous said...
Good article, but I suggest you should include "correct", "connect", and "tuition" as well. Those words are among common words mispronounced by us Malaysian as well.
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