Date of Award

10-1-2021

Thesis Type

masters

Document Type

Thesis (Restricted Access)

Divisions

language

Department

Department of Asian and European Languages

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

This research reports on the structure of compound expressions of Malay and Chinese, languages established in the convention of Nyonya delicacies found in Malaysian cookbooks. The research design adopted in this study is qualitative case study that targets the compound word formations in Baba Malay. The data are analysed using Lieber’s theoretical frameworks on compound structures; “Feature Percolation Conventions” (1980) and “Argument-linking Principle” (1983). The data collection methods include Nyonya recipes published in two cookbooks of a local chef, YouTube channel videos of the same chef, and researcher’s observation. The choice of using cookbooks, YouTube videos and observation notes is to validate the study’s reliability through data triangulation. The results indicated that the majority of the compound words identified are Malay compound words with borrowed Hokkien words. The compound structure is also an adaptation of both Malay and Chinese linguistic structure.

Note

Dissertation (M.A.) – Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, 2021.

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