Word Familiarity in Sarawak Malay Dialect: Assessing Vocabulary of the Young

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This study examines the familiarity level of Sarawak Malay Dialect (SMD) words in younger generations of speakers. Commonly used in Psycholinguistic studies to assess vocabulary knowledge, the familiarity rating method can provide some valuable information for studies in language loss. The aims of the study thus are to: (1) initiate the creation of SMD word familiarity database, (2) document words that are undergoing lexical attrition, and (3) compare loss of dialect words between two young generations of speakers. Fifty SMD words were used in this study consisting of a mixture of common and seemingly outdated dialect terms. Questionnaires for rating word familiarity were distributed to 37 respondents who are native SMD speakers between the ages of 13 to 26. The overall results showed that speakers were unfamiliar with approximately 50 percent of the words. However, when respondents were further divided according to two age groups, the younger of the two found more words to be unfamiliar than their counterparts by almost 20 percent. Additionally, across age groups, significant differences were observed in the familiarity level of 10 percent of the words. Although minimal, an obvious attriting pattern is observable showing that words are fast disappearing between generations.

Key words: Sarawak Malay dialect, familiarity rating, word familiarity, language loss, lexical attrition

ABSTRAK: Kajian ini mendalami sejauh mana penutur generasi muda mengenali perkataan-perkataan dalam Dialek Melayu Sarawak (DMS). Sering digunakan dalam bidang Psikolinguistik untuk mengkaji tahap pengetahuan terhadap sesuatu perkataan, kaedah familiarity rating boleh memberi maklumat penting berkaitan persoalan dalam bidang kepupusan bahasa. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk: (1) memulakan pembinaan pangkalan data berkaitan pengetahuan perkataan, (2) mendokumentasikan perkataan yang mengalami fenomena kepupusan leksikal, dan (3) membandingkan kepupusan terma dialek antara dua kelompok penutur generasi muda. Sejumlah 50 perkataan digunakan dalam kajian ini merangkumi perkataan-perkataan lazim dan terma dialek yang dianggap ketinggalan zaman. Borang soal selidik berkaitan dengan pengetahuan perkataan telah diagihkan kepada 37 responden yang merupakan penutur jati DMS berumur antara 13 dan 26 tahun. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan bahawa penuturpenutur tidak mengenali 50 peratus daripada jumlah perkataan tersebut. Walau bagaimanapun, apabila mereka dibahagikan kepada dua kumpulan umur, kumpulan penutur muda didapati tidak mengenali lebih banyak perkataan berbanding kumpulan penutur yang lebih tua dengan perbezaan sebanyak hampir 20 peratus. Selain itu, melalui pembahagian kumpulan umur, perbezaan signifikan dapat dilihat dalam tahap pengetahuan mereka terhadap 10 peratus perkataan. Walaupun sekadar minimal, pola kepupusan leksikal adalah ketara dan menunjukkan perkataan dialek mulai pupus antara generasi.

Kata kunci: dialek Melayu Sarawak, familiarity rating, pengetahuan perkataan, kehilangan bahasa, kepupusan leksikal