Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Correct way to pronounce RM




The issue of correct pronunciation among language users in Malaysia has always been a concern of linguists, like me. One such pronunciation is the word ringgit and the symbol RM used to denote our currency. There are still many, including radio deejays and television commentators and even teachers who pronounce it wrongly. How do you actually pronounce RM - RM, ringgit, or ringgit Malaysia?

Etymologically, the official use of the word ringgit began in August 1975 to replace the British Malaya and Borneo dollar which was introduced in June 12, 1967. Although the name ringgit was officially accepted, but the currency was still called or referred as dollar ($). The symbol RM was then introduced in the 1993 by the government to replace the $ or M$ symbol to denote our currency. Although the symbol RM was used officially since 1993, but still there has been some confusion in the use of this symbol, in particular the way it is pronounced.

Firstly, we need to understand that there is a symbol and code for each currency used by a country. Currencies are expressed with currency code like AUD, USD, GBP, CNY and BND. For example, the American dollar is USD10 (ten American dollar), IDR 1000 (one thousand rupiah in Indonesia), and JPY100 (one hundred yen in Japan), EUR10 (10 euros in Europe), and GBY10 (ten pounds in Great Britain) and so on.

To denote the currency, we also use symbols like RM10, ¥100, € 10, £10 and $10. As such, when writing nine ringgit or ten ringgit, it should written as RM9.00 or RM10.00. As for Malaysia, the symbol for the Malaysian Ringgit is RM and its code is MYR. This is used exclusively to denote the Malaysian currency only. No other country use RM or MYR as its name or code for their currency, except in Malaysia.

There are several reasons for the use of RM for our currency. As there are several countries that use currencies that begin with the letter R, like Riyal, Rupee, Rupiah, and the Renminbi, our currency is named as RM. If the letter R only is used, perhaps there will be confusion of the name of currency’s country. To prevent this, in Malaysia we use RM, i.e. the letter R is that is followed by letter M to indicate the name of the country.

As explained RM is a symbol of our currency. Therefore, we need to put it at the beginning of our currency to demonstrate the value of our money, like RM10. It is not appropriate to be placed after the currency, like 10RM or any other way.

Now, how to you pronounce the symbol RM? Currently, we notice that some users are pronouncing RM inappropriately. For example, to say the ten ringgit (RM10.00), some say it as 'r-em' ten ringgit, some as 'r-em' ten, and some as ten ringgit. Which one is correct?

As explained earlier, the right way to pronounce it is ten ringgit. So when we say or read a sentence, “It costs RM10 to have a good meal”, we should say, “It costs ten ringgit to have a good meal”. It should be not said as “It costs r-em ten ringgit to have a good meal” or “It costs r-em ten Malaysian ringgit to have a good meal”.

We hope this brief explanation will help users to use the word ringgit appropriately, either as a term or its pronunciation.  We also hope radio deejays, television commentators, and teachers pronounce RM correctly so that the standard and correct way of pronouncing the ringgit is promulgated among the language users. In this way, we can help to standardize the use of term and pronunciation of the word ringgit among fellow Malaysians.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Origin of popiah


As a linguist, I am fascinated with the recent debate on the origin of popia as reported in local dailies. We read that the Indonesians claimed that popia or lumpia as it called in Indonesia originated from Indonesia.

As we all know, popiah is a popular food enjoyed by all Malaysians. Popia is not only popular in Malaysia and Indonesia, but also in other Asian nations like Singapore Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. 

This spring-roll actually originated from China and it was introduced by the Chinese when they settled in South-east Asia as early as 15th century. As they settled in many parts of Asia, this delicacy was introduced as a food item in all these countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia.

According to the renowned linguist, Russell Jones, etymologically the word originated from China. In his book Chinese Loan-Words in Malay and Indonesian (2009), Jones states that the word popia comes from the Chinese word pop-pia, and lumpia from lun-pia. Over the years popia has undergone much improvisation according to the culture and location. For example, popia is a fresh spring roll where else lumpia is fried version of the delicacy.  

The word popiah was first was recorded in Malay Language by Teuku Iskander in his compilation, Kamus Dewan published in 1970 by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, the custodian of the Malay Language.  Tthe word popiah has also entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986, as a Malay Chinese word originated from the Hokkien dialect, meaning a thin pancake.

I feel it is futile to debate on such petty issues as commented by Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Nik Safiah Karim recently. Chef Wan has also correctly pointed out that it is fruitless to argue whether popia or lumpia belongs to Indonesia or otherwise. Both are delicacies in each country.

Ironically, the Chinese are not even claiming that popia comes from China. The very fact remains that popia is a delicacy in Malaysia and as well in many Asian countries like Indonesia. In each country, it is called in different names.


So let us forge on without any enmity between the neighbouring nations of Malaysia and Indonesia focusing on much urgent issues of mutual cooperation and understanding among the peoples of the two nations. After all, language is just a tool to name items found in the world, including food items.