A Baba Bibliography - Language   Tags: baba malay, patois  

Baba Malay, the patois used by the Baba community in Malacca and Singapore, is fast fading as a living language. The language, however, has been closely studied since Shellabear’s (1913) landmark article on Baba Malay. Scholars still argue whether the language is merely a patois or is actually a dialect of Malay. Besides language structure, the social context of use is also examined. Penang Hokkien is included in the bibliographic listings as studies show it is an acculturated language influenced by the Peranakans in Penang with a greater inclination toward Hokkien rather than Malay. The language section begins with listings of articles dealing with language issues ranging from the study of Baba Malay to the enforced Mandarin classes in the 1980s and its impact on the Baba Malay-speaking community.

Besides highlighting Baba dictionaries, the section Dictionaries and word-lists include listings and analysis of terms. Many of the vocabularies and lists are pre-war titles whereas the Baba dictionaries are recent publications of primarily one man, Gwee Thian Hock. Earlier dictionaries of colloquial Malay are not included as these represent simplified Malay rather than Baba Malay. However, lists of Malay terms incorporated into Chinese and vice-versa, particularly from Malacca or of the early 19th century are included as they may reflect  aspects of the Baba language.

The linguistic and language studies examine both written and spoken Baba. The social context and linguistic form of the language are analysed. Penang Hokkien studies are included although comparisons between Baba Malay and Penang Hokkien remain limited. Most of the titles are academic works only available at NUS. Area Studies and Related Studies have related linguistic studies such at Teo’s (2003) work on the language of the Kelantan Chinese and Ravichandran’s (1996) on the Malaccan Chetty.

* For internal Circulation Only. Write-ups are taken from book covers unless otherwise stated.