Speech-acts, values and cultural scripts: a study in Malay ethnopragmatics

Abstract

The speech-act lexicon of any language provides its speakers with a ready-made "catalogue" of culture-specific categories of verbal interaction: a catalogue which makes sense within, and is attuned to, a particular portfolio of cultural values, assumptions, and attitudes. So it is that a microscopic examination of the semantics of speech-act verbs can shed a great deal of light on broader cultural themes, but equally the significance of any particular speech-act category can only be fully understood in broader cultural context. This study illustrates these contentions with the Malay speech-act verb 'pujuk', which can variously translated as 'coax', 'flatter', 'persuade', or 'comfort', but which really has no precise equivalent in English. Naturally occurring examples are given from Bahasa Melayu, the national language of Malaysia. The methods employed are the natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) approach originated by Anna Wierzbicka, and its companion approach, the theory of cultural scripts. I propose a single semantic explication for 'pujuk' which accounts for its diverse range with much greater precision than any normal dictionary definition; but the explication must be read against the background of several Malay cultural scripts reflecting the important role of feelings and "feelings management" in the Malay tradition, as reflected in expressions like 'timbang rasa' (lit. weigh feelings), 'jaga hati orang' 'minding people's feelings/hearts', 'ambil hati' 'lit. get heart, be charming', among others.