The Ups and Downs

Assalamualaikum

 dan

 Selamat Sejahtera

Camno English Kau?

One fine day, GK a very close friend of mine, an ex-Labour Dept Boss cum ex-Industrial Court Chairman called me up.

He sounded furious over the phone. I could picture GK fuming at the other end of the line for whatever the reason was.

I am familiar with GK's tantrums and outbursts. We were together since schooldays in the 50s and 60s.

GK: Hello Jid. A kaba? 

Writer: Baiek jo ha. A pulo kaba wa ang?

GK: Ok sadonyo . . . Tapi . . .

Writer: Tapi apa Li? Engkau macam serius aje!

GK: Ada nak cakap dengan engkau sikit. Ada sikit tak puas hati ni.

Writer: Ah . . . apa hal Li . . . apa dah jadi?

GK: What do you think of this? 

{tiba-tiba GK berbahasa ibunda jiran omputih aku}.

Writer: Of what Li?

GK: Alah si pengacara TV ni . . . 

{dah cakap bahasa ibunda sendiri lak kawan aku ni }. 

Writer: Kenapa dia Li. Dia kacau ganggu engkau ke?

GK: Tak lah. Tapi kalau nak cakap omputih di khalayak ramai apalagi melalui rancangan TV nasional yang ditontoni masyarakat 'massa' biarlah cakap betul-betul! 

Writer: Apa yang engkau angin sangat ni Li?

GK: You know Jid . . . that TV presenter started his presentation with the salutation . . . "Good night everyone . . . welcome to the show" . . . untuk program malam tu.

Writer: Oh itu saja . . . aku ingat engkau nak saman orang . . . atau nak masukkan orang ke dalam jel!

GK: Tak lah. Kalau nak cakap omputih pun untuk program dalam bahasa Inggeris . . . belajar dan ketahuilah budaya dan erti sebenar dalam bahasa sasaran itu sekali. Janganlah asal 'malam' saja sebut 'night' . . . mentang-mentang terjemahan kata 'malam' dalam bahasa Melayu ialah 'night' dalam bahasa Inggeris!

Writer: Wah . . . sejak bila jadi orang mahkamah yang amat mementingkan 'jiwa' sesuatu bahasa dalam berkomunikasi tu ha Li?

GK: Bahasa jiwa bangsa . . . Jid. Untuk semua bahasa dan untuk semua bangsalah . . . aku maksudkan!

{ Jiran omputih aku apa lagi . . . mencelah terus: " GK 's right man! One says 'good night' only when one is leaving any place [at night] and won't be meeting that particular group of individuals or people there anymore until the next morning. If one has just met them for the first time that night . . . one says 'good evening'." }

Sibuk betul jiran omputih aku ni beri explanation. Thank you jiran.

Si penyampai TV tu pulak . . . berjinak-jinaklah dengan budaya sesuatu bahasa terlebih dahulu . . . untuk menjiwai bahasa itu. 

Barulah penyampaian anda meletup!

Aku malas aje nak cakap tentang beberapa lagi kesilapan lain yang sering aku dengar dilakukan pengucap-pengucap BI 'separuh tiang'. Tapi . . . cakap jugak le! 

Kawan aku si GK pun dah kurang angin nampaknya.

Aku sebut satu dua contoh aje cukuplah.

Improper usage of verbs like 'repeat' and 'return'. When using them many English users seemed undisturbed by the 'act of redundancy' in English speaking (I'm not excluded/spared too at times) eg 'repeat again' and 'return back'.

Phrases like

1. 'Do you mind if . . .' (in a request for permission by the speaker to the listener to do something) has more often than not been misunderstood and wrongly responded to by the listener to mean the opposite of what he really wants to say.

2. 'What's your father?' . . . a simple question on the surface. However the response to this question has been alarmingly unthinkable (especially at tertiary levels).

Example 1:

Speaker: Do you mind if I sit here?

Listener: Yes. (But he allows the speaker to sit there.) His response should be 'No' to mean he don't mind and that he agrees to the speaker's request. 'Yes' meant he mind and that he does not want the speaker to sit there!

Example 2: 

Question: What's your father?

Answer: He is a man. My old man.

{This time my jiran omputih lost his head . . . he forgot his mother tongue and interfered:

Hai . . . kome . . . bio bebeno. Dema tu nyoe . . . " Bapak mika keghoja apa? Bawak-bawak le paham sikit!"}

That's about it for d moment. We'll story-story (cita-cita le tu) again later. Bye and keep safe GK. Take 5. 

Saje seghonok cuit-cuit, sana sini, sikit-sikit!

bamuda

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