ERRORS AND VARIATIONS OF ENGLISH

EXPRESSIONS ON BEMO AS THE KUPANG CITY’S

MODE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

BY

MARCELINUS YERI FERNANDEZ AKOLI

akolimarcel@yahoo.com.au

UNIVERSITAS NUSA CENDANA

1. Introduction1. Why to investigate this issue ?

There must be something or a message lying behind all the words, statements, terms and prayers which were written on the public transports.

2. How many modes of public transports are in Kupang city ?

± 500 (Pos Kupang, 2/12/2015)

3. How many percentages of Kupang public transports which have verbal expressions ?

Around 90 % of the total number of these public vehicles

There are a number of values lie on the verbal expressions :

religious values

pornographic values

aesthetic values

social values

linguistic values

Research Objectives :

(1) To classify errors and variations of English expressions which are found in Kupang modes of public transports

(2) To give linguistic, semiotic and cultural comments dealing with the use of English statements in the public transports

2. Methodology

It is a descriptive-qualitative method.

Taking photos

Interviews

Barthes (1986)

Krashen (2002)

Odgen & Richards (1989)

Research techniques

Theoretical Supports

3. Result and Discussion

There are 5 types of errors and variations :

1. Spelling errors

2. Lexical errors

3. Grammatical errors

4. Local Variations

5. Semiotic Variations

3.1 Spelling Errors

CORRECT : SIMPLE BUT STRONG

As the word ‘but’ is pronounced as [ˈbʌt], then it is easily considered as ‘bat’.

It is phonemically-driven adaption which is mainly caused by perception of either Bahasa Indonesia or Kupang Malay variety.

CORRECT : FIVE SISTERS

The appearance of ‘h’ phoneme makes the word ‘sisther’ more attractive than ‘sister’.

However, in ‘sisther’ aesthetic presence, it neglects the English grammatical rule in which there should be –s suffix in the end of the word ‘sister’.

Krashen (2002) considered this situation as

‘a substitute utterance initiator’.

3.2 Lexical Errors

CORRECT : I can’t sleep alone anymore, need you here with me

1. /alone/ is considered as /along/.

2. Although we know it is possible that the person did misinterpret the word, it is also true that there might have been a nasalization process that possibly trigerred this fact.

[AN] [VN] / [C-V-AN] $

CORRECT : DON’T LEAVE ME ALONE

‘leave’ [ˈlıːv] vs ‘live’ [ˈlıv]

[ː]

The driver did not know that there is

other similarly-pronounced word, i.e. ‘leave’.

3.3 Grammatical Errors

CORRECT : LOVE NEEDS TIME

CORRECT : PASSENGERS LOVE MONEY

CORRECT : GOD BLESS YOU

The three mistakes above are mainly due to lack of bound morphemes in the final positions of either verbs or nouns.

Why ? ‘The capacity of L1 as ‘a substitute utterance initiator’’.

This condition exists when a user acquires a TL imperfectly. Thus, he/she may substitute the expression into his/her L1 as an uterance initiator.

In the context of KML as the the L1 of the performers, the substitution like the examples above appears when it is shown that :

1. The owner of the minivans might not have good English background.

2. Either the driver or the assistant might not have good English background.

3. The performer/ writer of the expressions might not have good English background.

Consequently, they SUBSTITUTE the English nouns and verbs behave into the way Kupang Malay nouns and verbs do.

3.4 Local Variation

CORRECT : BAHODENG COMES BACK / BAHODENG IS BACK

In KML, ‘bahodeng’ means ‘being dressy’, or ‘being swanky’.

The sentence is grammatically-incorrect as there is ‘is’ or a copula between the subject and the verb which also means that there is a kind of grammatical redundancy.

Bahodeng is come back

KUPANG MALAY ENGLISH

VAFITICK

fafitik

A group of people who make themselves busy, so other people respect them for what they do

COMMUNITY

TO ACT LIKE A BUSY PERSON

KUPANG MALAY ENGLISH

CEWE

LOCAL PRONUNCIATION FOR ‘CEWEK’

A way of exchanging data wirelessly over short distance

BLUETOOTH

ENGLISH

A girl whose pictures or videos can be accessed using bluetooth from a mobile phone to others

PEJORATIVE

3.5 Semiotic Variation

‘ACTION’

DISCONTINUITY(Barthes,1986:64)

SYNTAGMATIC UNIT SPEECH UNIT

ACTION X-SEND

‘X-SEND’

‘ACTION’

‘A WAY OF MOVING’

Adapted from Odgen and Richard (1989:10-11)

Why ?

The relationship between forms and meanings in three different cultures

Classic Form

FOLLOWS

meaning

Modern Form function

Postmodern Form Fun/pleasure

Taken from Piliang, 2003: 82

COMPARED TO : NO WOMAN, NO CRY

NO STRES, NO CRASY

NO WOMAN, NO CRY

PARALLELISM

PARODY INTERTEXTUALITY

‘No Stres, No Crasy’ functions to parodize a situation of being stress and crazy in the same way as ‘No

Woman, No Cry’.

MY TRIP, MY TAPALEUK

COMPARED TO :

MY TRIP,MY TAPALEUK

INTERTEXTUALRELATIONSHIP

Tapaleuk = to walk about or going around without any clear purposes

TAPALEUK ADVENTUREIS PEJORATIVELYCHANGED INTO

4. Conclusion

I. There are 3 kinds of errors and 2 variations of English usages at Kupang city’s minivans.

II. There are some overlapping characteristics dealing with the types and their examples.

a.Five sisther : Spelling and Grammatical errors

b. Bahodeng is come back : Local Variation and Grammatical Error

c. No Stres No Crasy : Local Variation and Spelling Error

d. Vafitick Community : Local Variation and Spelling Error

III. Kupang people have highly positive attitude toward English.

It is indicated by :

the use of English in public spaces regardless whether or not they are accurate.

They consider the ability to express something in English is connected to intelligence, prestige and superiority.

KUPLISH = KUPANG

ENGLISH ??

To be quite honest, it is quite far to confidently state that people of Kupang are currently

developing a new style of English in their daily communication which can be reflected from the expressions which are showed on the minivans. However, rest assured that Kupang people are

passively innovating a typically new style of codeswitching which is a combination of local

vocabulary and English words.

THANK YOU

TERIMA KASIH

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Barthes, Roland. 1986. Elements of Semiology. Hill and Wang, New York. A Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Budiman, Kris. 2004. Semiotika Visual. Penerbit Buku Baik & Yayasan Seni Cemeti, Yogyakarta.

Khoiri,Much. 2012. Catatan Budaya dari Kupang : Angkot Artistik Yang Gaduh.Kompasiana. Dikunjungi pada 12 Desember 2015. http://www.kompasiana.com/much-khoiri/catatan-budaya-dari-kupang-angkot-artistik-yang-gaduh_5518af31a333117807b66703

Krashen,Stephen D. 2002. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. (internet version). University of Southern California.

Odgen,C.K & Richards,I.A. 1989. The Meaning of Meaning : a study of the influence of language upon thought and of the science of symbolism.Harcourt-Brace Company,Inc. New York.

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Pos Kupang. 2 Desember 2015. Dishub Kota Kupang Gandeng Undana. Versi Online dikunjungi pada 11 Desember 2015 di http://kupang.tribunnews.com/2015/12/02/dishub-kota-kupang-gandeng-undana