Elsevier

Journal of Pragmatics

Volume 27, Issue 2, February 1997, Pages 183-201
Journal of Pragmatics

Cultural values and ‘cultural scripts’ of Malay (Bahasa Melayu)

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(96)00032-XGet rights and content

Abstract

This paper documents some Malay ‘rules of speaking’ and articulates their connections with Malay cultural values, using the new theory of ‘cultural scripts’ developed by Anna Wierzbicka. Aspects of the preferred Malay discourse style, which is normally described as refined, restrained, and charming, are shown to be linked with the Malay social emotion of malu ‘shame, propriety’, with the personal qualities of maruah ‘dignity’ and harga diri ‘self-esteem’, and with the ideal of senang hati ‘(lit.) easy heart’. It is argued that the cultural scripts approach enhances descriptive accuracy, helps reduce ethnocentricism, and facilitates the integration of pragmatics and cultural semantics.

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    My sincere thanks to Norlinda Hasan, my main consultant for this study, for her patient and thoughtful contribution. I am grateful also to Vicki Knox, Lee Mee Wun, Anna Wierzbicka, and an anonymous reviewer, for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

    Fax: +61-67-733735.

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