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Malaysian English (MyE) is the form ofEnglish used and spoken inMalaysia.

Malaysian English may be categorised into three levels: theacrolect,mesolect andbasilect.^[1][2] The acrolect is used by those with near-native level of proficiency in English, and only a relatively small percentage of Malaysians are fluent in it. The acrolect is internationally intelligible, and it is used for official purposes or formal occasions and written communications. It conforms to standardBritish English, but some words that are specific to Malaysia may be used.^[3][4]

The mesolect is a localised form of English that is used by competent speakers of English or as an informal medium of communication between different ethnic groups of Malaysia. It may use some colloquial terms, and itsgrammar andsyntax may show some deviations from standard English.^[5]

The basilect is used very informally by those with limited proficiency and vocabulary in English, and it has features of an extendedpidgin orcreole with syntax that deviates substantially from Standard English.^[4][5] The basilect may be hard to understand internationally, and it is often referred to asManglish.^[6]

As with other similar situations, acontinuum exists between these three varieties, and speakers maycode-switch between them, depending on context. Most professionals and other English-educated Malaysians speak mesolect English informally between themselves, but they may also use a basilect depending on the circumstances. All three varieties may be seen as part of Malaysian English,^[7] but some prefer to see Malaysian English as a form distinct from the basilect Manglish, which tends to ignore English grammar,^[8] while others may see the basilect as the "real" Malaysian English.^[9] There is also no consensus on what Standard Malaysian English might be. Some regard the mesolect to be substandard English and a local dialect.^[3]

Manglish refers to thecolloquial, informal spoken form ofpidgin English in Malaysia that some considered to be distinct from more "correct" forms of Malaysian English.^[8] It exists in a wide variety of norms and primarily as a spoken form of English. It is the most common form of spoken English on the street, but it is discouraged in schools, where only Malaysian Standard English is taught. Itslexis is strongly influenced by local languages, with many non-English nouns and verbs commonly used, and it is significantly different grammatically from Standard English.^[5]

Since Malaysian English originates fromBritish English when theBritish Empire ruled what is now Malaysia, it shares many of the features of British English. However, it also has components ofAmerican English,Malay,Chinese,Indian languages, and other languages in its vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.

Malaysian English shows a tendency towards simplification in its pronunciation and grammar, a feature also found in other new Englishes. For example, in pronunciation,diphthongs tend to becomemonophthongs in Malaysian English, stops may be used instead ofdental fricatives and the finalconsonant clusters often become simplified.^[10] There are 6 short monophthongs in Malaysian English, compared to 7 in British English, and thevowel length tend to be the same for long and short vowels. There are, however, slight differences in pronunciation in the states in the central and southern parts of the Malay Peninsula from those in the north and the east of Malaysia.^[5] There are also some variations in its vocabulary.

• Malaysian English is generallynon-rhotic.
• Malaysian English has a broads^{[further explanation needed]}, and words like "cab" and "tab" have/ɛ/, rather than/æ/.
• The/t/ in words like "butter" is usually notflapped (unlike in American English) or realised as aglottal stop (unlike in many forms of British English, including Cockney).
• There is noh-dropping in words likehead.
• Malaysian English does not haveEnglish consonant-cluster reductions after/n/,/t/, and/d/. For example, "new", "tune" and "dune" are pronounced/ˈnjuː/,/ˈtjuːn/, and/ˈdjuːn/. That contrasts with many varieties fromEast Anglia and theEast Midlands of British English and with most forms of American English.
• The 'th' fricatives (θ and ð) are pronounced as stops: [t] for [θ] and [d] for [ð].
• The 'l' is generally clear.
• The diphthongs are monophthongised: 'ow' ([əʊ] or [oʊ]) becomes [o] and 'ay' ([eɪ]) becomes [e].
• The 'd' at the end of the word is usually dropped. For example, "cold", "hold" and "world" are pronounced as/kəʊl/ (/koʊl/),/həʊl/ (/hoʊl/) and/wəːl/.
• Thelong and short vowels tend to have the same length (for example, "beat" and "bit" are homophones in Malaysian English).^[5]

The grammar in Malaysian English may become simplified in the mesolectal and basilectal varieties. For example,articles and past-tense markers may sometimes be omitted, question structures may be simplified, and the distinction betweencountable andmass nouns may be blurred.^[3][10] In the basilectal variety, omission of theobject pronoun or thesubject pronoun is common. Themodal auxiliary system is also often reduced, and sometimes, a verb may be absent.^[11] The colloquial form often has Malay or Chinese grammatical structure.

Particles are commonly used in colloquial Malaysian English, a notable one being anenclitic "lah" used at the end of a sentence.^[11]

In the acrolect, which uses standard English vocabulary and is internationally comprehensible, non-English terms are still used. Typically these are words for which there is no direct equivalence in English or those that express local reality; for example,bumiputera,kampong, as well as titles such asYang di-Pertuan Agong andTunku. Words from the Chinese or Indian languages may also be used, such asang pow ordhoti.^[4]

In the mesolect, local words and phrases for which there are English equivalents may also be used, for example,tidak apa ("never mind", "it does not matter") orulu (orhulu, meaning "head", "upper reaches of a river", "interior of a country").^[12] In the basilect, the use of local terms may be extensive even if most words used are English, and local expressions or exclamations such asalamak (Oh my god) often form part of the speech.^[4]

In the first half of the 20th century, Malaysian English was similar toBritish English but spoken with a Malaysian accent. However, in the postcolonial era (since 1957), the influx of American TV programmes has influenced the usage of Malaysian English. There is no official language board, council or organisation to ensure the correct and standard usage of Malaysian English because after independence,Malay replaced English as the official language. TheUniversity of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate continues, however, to set and mark theGCEO-Level English Language "1119" paper, which is a compulsory subject for theMalaysian Certificate of Education (the English Language paper set by the Malaysian Ministry of Education is the same as the English Language "1119" paper for GCE O-Level).

To a large extent, Malaysian English is descended from British English, largely because of the country'scolonisation by Britain from the 18th century. However, influence from American mass media, particularly in the form of television programmes and films has made most Malaysians familiar with manyAmerican English words. For instance, both "lift/elevator" and "lorry/truck" are understood, but the British form is preferred. Only in some very limited cases is the American English form more widespread: "chips" instead of "crisps", "fries" instead of "chips" and "diaper" instead of "nappy".

Some words and phrases used in Malaysia have different meanings than in British or American English.

Malaysian English also has its own vocabulary, which comes from a variety of influences. Typically, for words or phrases that are based on other English words, the Malaysian English speaker may be unaware that the word or phrase is not used in British or American English. Such words are also present in the vocabulary of some continuums ofSingapore Standard English.

Many words of Malay origin have made it into the standard form of Malaysian English used in the media, literature and formal speech. For example,Menteri Besar (Malay for Chief Minister) even has a plural form in English – Menteris Besar.^[14]

Particles in Malaysian English come from the influence ofChinese andMalay. Some phrases used for emphasis in British or American English are used as particles in Malaysian English, while ignoring the participle or a verb.

Syntactical differences are few although in colloquial speech 'shall' and 'ought' are wanting, 'must' is marginal for obligation and 'may' is rare. Many syntactical features of Malaysian English are found in other forms of English such as British English and North American English:

• Can I come too? for "May I come too?"
• (Have) you got any? for "Do you have any?"
• I('ve) got one of those already. for "I already have one of those."

Officially, Malaysian English uses the same pronunciation system as British English. However, most Malaysians speak with a distinctiveaccent that has recently evolved to become more American by the influx of American TV programmes, the large number of Malaysians pursuing higher education in the United States, and by the large number of English-speaking Malaysians in cities employed in American companies. For example, that increased the emphasis on "r" in words such as "refer" and "world".

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Even though Malaysian English is not the official language of Malaysia, it is still used among Malaysians in business. About 80% of urban businesses in Malaysia conduct their transactions in English (both Malaysian English andManglish).^{[citation needed]} However, American English has quite a strong foothold in international businesses in Malaysia. Malaysian English is also widely used in advertising sectors, especially commercial advertisements aired in private TV stations, primarilyMedia Prima-owned TV stations. MostMalaysian people, especially Chinese and Indians have tendencies to speak in English instead of Malay when they are interviewed on television. In terms of education, private universities and colleges in Malaysia mostly use Malaysian English for their identities. Most Malaysian companies and organisations have started using their official name in English instead of Malay to keep up with modernisation in recent years.

In the music industry, singers such asSiti Nurhaliza,Yuna andReshmonu also perform songs in English. There are several English language nationaldaily andbusiness newspapers based inKuala Lumpur, namely The Malaysian Reserve,The Edge,The Star,The Sun,New Straits Times andMalay Mail. There are also many English language nationalcommercial broadcastingradio stations based inKuala Lumpur, such asTraXX FM,Hitz,Mix,Lite (formerly known as Light & Easy) andFly FM (Peninsular Malaysia only).

However, Malaysia does not have anytelevision station which broadcasts purely in English. The Government National Language policy requires localtelevision stations to air at least 25% Malaysian-made programmes (either Malay or English). English language nationwidefree-to-airterrestrialtelevision stations based in Kuala Lumpur such asTV1,TV2,TV Okey,Sukan RTM,Berita RTM (RTM News),Bernama TV,TV3,DidikTV KPM (NTV7),PRIMEtime,Showcase Movies,Astro Awani,Astro Arena andAstro Arena 2 do air some English Malaysian-made programmes. A few Malaysian-madetelevision programmes in Malay carryEnglishsubtitles and vice versa.

• Singapore English
• British and Malaysian English differences
• Bahasa Rojak
• Commonwealth English
• Regional accents of English speakers

• Sung, Kiwan; Spolsky, Bernard (28 January 2015).Conditions for English Language Teaching and Learning in Asia. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.ISBN 9781443872928.
• Azirah Hashim; Tan, Rachel (24 January 2012). Low, Ee Ling; Hashim, Azirah (eds.)."English in Southeast Asia: Features, Policy and Language in Use".Varieties of English Around the World.42. John Benjamins Publishing Company:55–74.ISBN 978-9027249029.

• Rosli Talif; Ting, Su Hie (1994)."Malaysian English: Exploring the Possibility of Standardization"(PDF).Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities.2 (1).Universiti Pertanian Malaysia Press:69–76.ISSN 0128-7702. – Abstract in Malay available.
• Tan, Rachel; Low, Ee Ling (January 2010)."How different are the monophthongs of Malay speakers of Malaysian and Singapore English?".English World-Wide.31 (2):162–189.doi:10.1075/eww.31.2.03tan.

• British Council Malaysia, English Language Development
• Manglish: For and Against, Should Malaysians speak Manglish or proper English?
• Common English Mistakes Shows many of the mistakes made by Malaysians when speaking English and shows the true English equivalents.

• Dialects of English
• Languages of Malaysia
• Southeast Asian English

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