Indigenous Languages and English in the Globalised Modern Era in Brunei Darussalam
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article considers two aspects of the linguistic situation in Brunei Darussalam in the globalised modern era: the situation with regard to minority indigenous languages: and the emergent status of Brunei English. Minority languages are threatened with extinction throughout the world and those in Brunei are no exception. There are seven officially recognised indigenous groups, each with its own language, though these are sometimes all claimed to be dialects of Malay—Brunei Malay, Kedayan, Dusun, Bisaya, Tutong, Belait and Murut—but all these languages apart from Brunei Malay are under threat, even though some efforts are currently being undertaken to preserve them. English is also widely spoken in Brunei and Brunei English has features that make it distinct from other Englishes in the world. Some of these features are shared by other regional varieties of English and others are unique to Brunei. The article therefore, analyses the status of the minority languages of Brunei, describes efforts to preserve them and also evaluates the developing status of Brunei English as it evolves under the influences of globalisation; and it finally reflects on problems with neat classification into distinct languages.
Article Details
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Blommaert, J. 2010. The sociolinguistics of globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511845307
Coluzzi, P. 2012. The linguistic landscape of Brunei Darussalam: Minority languages and the threshold of literacy. Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal 12: 1–16.
———. 2010. Endangered languages in Borneo: A survey among the Iban and Murut (Lun Bawang) in Temburong Brunei. Oceanic Linguistics 49(1): 119–143. https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.0.0063
Crystal, D. 2002. Language death. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Deterding, D. 2019. The pronunciation of Dusun. Retrieved from http://fass.ubd.edu.bn/research/dusun/index.html (accessed 9 August 2019).
———. 2017. The pronunciation of Brunei Malay. Retrieved from http://fass.ubd.edu.bn/research/brunei-malay/index.html (accessed 9 August 2019).
Deterding, D. and Kirkpatrick, A. 2006. Emerging South-East Asian Englishes and intelligibility. World Englishes 25(3/4): 391–409. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2006.00478.x
Deterding, D. and Nur Raihan Mohamad. 2016. Spelling pronunciation in English. ELT Journal 17: 87–91. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccw073
Deterding, D. and Salbrina Sharbawi. 2013. Brunei English: A new variety in a multilingual society. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6347-0
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. 2017. Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu. Retrieved from http://prpm.dbp.gov.my/ (accessed 10 August 2019).
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei (DBPB). 2011. Daftar leksikal 7 dialek Brunei Darussalam. Bandar Seri Begawan: DBPB.
———. 2010. Kamus Tutong-Melayu Melayu-Tutong. 2nd Ed. Bandar Seri Begawan: DBPB.
———. 2007. Kamus Bahasa Melayu Brunei. 2nd Ed. Bandar Seri Begawan: DBPB.
———. 2006. Kamus Kedayan-Melayu Melayu-Kedayan. Bandar Seri Begawan: DBPB.
Gardiner, I.A., Deterding, D. and Yabit Alas. 2019. The pronunciation of Dusun. South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal 19: 14–21.
Jones, G.M. 1996. The Brunei education policy in Brunei Darussalam. In Language use and language change in Brunei Darussalam, eds. P.W. Martin, C. O?óg and G. Poedjosoedarmo, 123–132. Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
Martin, P.W. 1995. Whither the indigenous languages of Brunei Darussalam? Oceanic Linguistics 34: 44–60.
Martin, P.W. and Poedjosoedarmo, G. 1996. An overview of the language situation in Brunei Darussalam. In Language use and language change in Brunei Darussalam, eds. P.W. Martin, C. O?óg and G. Poedjosoedarmo, 1–23. Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
McLellan, J. 2010. Mixed codes or varieties of English? In The Routledge handbook of world Englishes, ed. A. Kirkpatrick, 425–441. London/New York: Routledge.
McLellan, J. and Noor Azam Haji-Othman. 2014. English in Brunei: Challenges and future directions. World Englishes 33(4): 486–497. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12109
McLellan, J., Noor Azam Haji-Othman and Deterding, D. 2016. The language situation in Brunei Darussalam. In The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam: A kingdom of unexpected linguistic diversity, eds. Noor Azam Haji-Othman, J. McLellan and D. Deterding, 9–16. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0853-5_2
Mesthrie, R. and Bhatt, R.M. 2008. World Englishes: The study of news linguistic varieties. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791321
Noor Azam Haji-Othman. 2012. Is it always English? “Duelling aunties” in Brunei Darussalam. English language as Hydra: Its impact on non-English language cultures, eds. C. Rapatanaha and B. Bunce, 175–190. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847697516-016
Noor Azam Haji-Othman and Siti Ajeerah Najib. 2016. The state of indigenous languages in Brunei. In The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam: A kingdom of unexpected linguistic diversity, eds. Noor Azam Haji Othman, J. McLellan and D. Deterding, 17–28. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0853-5_3
Nothofer, B. 1991. The languages of Brunei Darussalam. In Papers in Austronesian linguistics, ed. H. Steinhauer, 151–176. Canberra: Australian National University.
Nur Raihan Mohamad. 2017. Rhoticity in Brunei English: A diachronic approach. South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal 17: 1–17.
O?óg, A.C.K. 1996. The unplanned use of English: The case of Brunei Darussalam. In Language use and language change in Brunei Darussalam, eds. P.W. Martin, C. O?óg and G. Poedjosoedarmo, 156–172. Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
Salbrina Sharbawi and Jainatul Halida Jaidin. 2019. Brunei’s SPN21 English language-in-education policy: A macro-to-micro evaluation. Current Issues in Language Planning 21(2): 175–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2019.1657267
Schneider, E.W. 2007. Postcolonial English: Varieties around the world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511618901
Susilawati Japri. 2016. The language of shop signs in a modern shopping centre in Brunei. In The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam: A kingdom of unexpected linguistic diversity, eds. Noor Azam Haji Othman, J. McLellan and D. Deterding, 29–38. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0853-5_4
Tan, Y. 2012. To r or not to r: Social correlates of /?/ in Singapore English. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 218: 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl-2012-0057
United Nations. 2019. Permanent mission of Brunei Darussalam to the United Nations: Country facts. Retrieved from https://www.un.int/brunei/brunei/country-facts (accessed 10 September 2019).
Wells, J.C. 2008. Longman pronunciation dictionary. Harlow, UK: Longman.
———. 1982. Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611759