Language in Brunei

For me, 'hostel' is pronounced [ˈhɒstəl], with [ə] in the second syllable; but in Australia, I hear it usually pronounced as [ˈhɒste...

Recently, we have heard a lot about the omicron strain of Covid. So, how should one pronounce 'omicron'? Between the ages of 9 and ...

I haven't posted on ths blog for over a year now, as I retired from UBD in September 2020 and left Brunei in December. Since then I have...

Yesterday, during our early morning walk, we encountered a Filipina lady, and my wife asked her how come she is always smiling. She replied ...

How do you pronounce erat ('close')? Is it [erat] or [ərat]? The pronunciation of most words in Malay is predictable from their spe...

I was just watching a documentary made in Singapore by Goh Chiew Tong, a journalist with CNA, talking about food donated to old people. In...

A few days ago, I discussed the Malay for 'social distancing'. Apparently, it is penjarakan sosial . Unfortunately, penjarakan is ...

I have done lots of work on misunderstandings involving World Englishes; but we should remember that people in the UK and USA misunderstand ...

How do you say 'polygon'? Traditionally it was [ˈpɒlɪgən] in British English. But increasingly, according to Lindsay (2019), it is b...

How do you say 'mosquito'? According to the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, the most common pronunciation is [məˈskiːtəʊ]; but an ...

How do you pronounce 'vaccine'? I have always pronounced it as [ˈvæksiːn], with stress on the first syllable; but today I heard an i...

What's the Malay for 'social distancing'? This morning, I was listening to a speech (mostly) in Malay by a government minister ...

In my class this morning, I was talking about language change and how some words that once were common are now rarely used; and I suggested...

I find it incredibly depressing how the mainstream media always focus on bad news. Take the headline from a Guardian report dated 28 Decembe...

I have recently been watching the BBC series Civilisation, produced and narrated by Kenneth Clark in 1969; and some of his pronunciation is ...

There is a fascinating example concerning speech perception arising from a speech by Boris Johnson during the current general election in th...

I have been doing some work on the pronunciation of Kedayan. ( See here for more details.) One of the most salient features of Kedayan is ...