Linguistic difference in the Malay Peninsula

[Quest]

what's "yat kao" in Characters? 一沟？

[blob]

I didn't know kao is now a outdated word for flirting, I still use it anyway and I'm not that old :-)

Hmm, interesting discussion, I am in no place to comment about the education in HK and how using English or chinese can affect the scientists in the future.

But in malaysia, the reason why lots of chinese schools were opposed to the idea of switching from chinese to malay is mainly a "loss of culture" fear I think. Some may think it as a way of gradually disassociating chinese from their own culture, of which language plays a large and important role. If from young, you are only taught in malay and english, it will only take one or 2 generations before we cannot even speak the language. It starts with being unable to read it, then it becomes less important to speak it, and so on.

However, having said that, some chinese school students do find it difficult when they come out, especially to study overseas or to work in industry, where english is used more than chinese. The exception is if they go to taiwan or china to study. They need to learn the associations between lots of chinese and english concepts. But usually after a short while, most are fine.

[tara]

pazu: just to clarify that "kau" is still commonly used in malaysia irregardless age and dunno, but i still think the tones are different, well, at least the way its pronounced in malaysia.

it's true what blob mentioned, some chinese do find it difficult when they come out to work, bcoz employers still value and rather opt for an employee with english background. Having said that, the trend is now changing, where chinese would be added advantage, however english is still a must.

[Guest sceptical]

From what i gathered, the cantonese being used in Malaysia are somewhat influenced by the other min nan languages like teochew. In teochew when we say a dollar we say it as "jek kou jee" which i suppose the cantonese(we call them guang3fu3ren2 in Singapore) translated them into "Yat Kao Qin"

[wushijiao]

What % of people in Malaysia speak some sort of Chinese?

[blob]

About 25-27% I think, if you say speaking a little but understanding with little problem, then about all the chinese in Malaysia can do that (about 27% then). If you mean speaking fluently, then my guess is 25%. I think it is still fairly rare to find many chinese which cannot speak a single word of chinese in Malaysia, there are however some that cannot read or write though, but speak the dialect almost perfectly.

[tara]

Yup....it would be very rare, would I say, to find a Chinese in Malaysia who doesn't speak a Chinese dialect.

I speak Hokkien but still understand Mandarin and Cantonese...bcoz they are both widely spoken in Malaysia.

[Ian_Lee]

In Eastern Malaysia like Sabah, do the Chinese Malaysians speak the same kind of dialect mix as those in the Peninsula do?

[blob]

Some parts of eastern malaysia speaks cantonese (sandakan). In Sarawak, there are lots which speak teochew, foochow and hokkien, and of course mandarin (this is like the universally understood chinese dialect there). So more or less the same, except for the foochow dialect, which is somewhat rarer in peninsuala.

[Quest]

so what exactly is "yat kao"???

[kokleong]

Don't know what the character for kao is but it is used mainly in the Kuala Lumpur region for ringgit (the Malaysian unit of currency). In the Perak areas, they say men (sounds like the stewing in Cantonese).

The official characters as used in the papers are: 零吉 (ling ji; hope this came out okay). But it doesn't sound too good in Cantonese.

When I lived in Kuching, Sarawak. The dialect in use was Hokkien. The Hakka was of Hopo (sp?) variety. I've been told Hakka is used in Kota Kinabalu too but can't remember which variety but my Teochew and Hokkien-speaking friend felt at home there.

[Ian_Lee]

An article about 溝 (Kao) spoken in Singapore:

http://www.singpao.com/20040414/feature/538421.html

Even the Cantonese spoken in HK and Macau got slight difference according to the article by the term: 鄭先 (M) and 頭先 (H).