Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), the authority overseeing the development of the Malay language in Malaysia, has added new words to its thesaurus. Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek informed the Parliament that several words that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim used are now recognized and registered in DBP's online dictionary.
Out of the 12 new words, ketimbang, peluncuran and maha kaya two are the words often dished out by Anwar. Two of the first mentioned are of Indonesian origins. Other words of Indonesian origin are tiwikrama and kebinekaan.
While we understand that language is evolutionary and keeps developing, as Fadhlina stated in Parliament, some choices are obviously political. Other words that have been absorbed previously made no sense, and some have criticized DBP for this.
For example, I first noticed the word ‘opsyen’ while reading Utusan Malaysia's coverage of Najib's speech many years ago. This is a strange choice, as we already have the word ‘pilihan’.
It also unnecessary to include the word ketimbang, maha kaya and peluncuran. Not only did we already have the existing Malay words, but using those Indonesian-origin words made sentence structures awkward. Those words are out of place when one tries to put together a sentence.
A Malay news editor told me that he would strike out those words should he find them in any articles submitted by his subordinates.
This is not the first time Anwar has added some new words. Back then, when he was the education minister, he added kudapan, merarau, cicipan, and gabi. Only one remains widely used- kudapan. The other three are nowhere to be heard in the mainstream use of the Malay language.
There is a fine line between legitimately adding words to the DBP registry and mindlessly accepting words simply because a Prime Minister is using them. It is no secret that Anwar is an Indonesiaphile, judging by his fond use of Indonesian vocabulary, but to ask the country's authority to accept those vocabs is unwarranted.
Even DBP is struggling to explain a newly added-word. Look at this poster on DBP's Facebook, where it tries to explain the meaning of senjang and purbasangka without even explaining. Facebook user Mohamad Jamalee criticized the language authority, asking how providing vague explanations- which raise more questions than answers- can help promote the wider use of the Malay language.
Prof Mohd Said Bani puts it eloquently in his op-ed.
"While no one denies that languages evolve, the approach to such evolution matters significantly, especially when the so-called “new” words already have widely accepted equivalents, or worse, when they border on absurdity.
A living language thrives on organic growth. It adapts to societal needs, borrowing words or coining new ones when there is a genuine linguistic gap."
The newly added words, especially those coming from Anwar, he argues, do not originate from demand or necessity. These words will not be embraced as they are force-fed to the masses through a top-down approach.
No wonder an opposition MP made fun of the word Ketimbang.
In the same article, Prof Mohd Bani quoted famous academician Dr Teo Kok Seong, who said that introducing unfamiliar terms risks alienating speakers and causing them to abandon the language altogether.
Another scholar, Abdul Muati Ahmad, said that the standardized Malay language in Malaysia is different from Bahasa Indonesia, each with its own style, grammar, pronunciation, and meaning.
One advice for DBP and the absurdity of whole thing: if it is not broken, don;t fix it.
Ahmad Mustakim is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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