The Distribution of Satun Malay Dialect in Langkawi and Thai: A Comparative Study Based on Geograhic Information System (GIS)

Abstract

A profound relationship between Langkawi (Malaysia) and Satun (Thailand) had long been established due to geographical, historical and political factors. People in both vicinities speak the same Malay dialect known as Satun Malay. Besides similarities, there are also some elements of disparity between the two subdialects. Generally, the subdialect spoken in Langkawi is dubbed as Langkawi Satun Dialect (LSD) and the one in Thai is called Thai Satun dialect (TSD). The main objective of this study is to examine and describe the similarities and dissimilarities between these two dialects. The description merely focuses on the phonological aspects in general and the distribution of its variants. Data were gathered through field work which involved 240 informants classified as young, adult and old. The collected data were transcribed and keyed into ArcGis software for producing dialect maps. The findings show that there are three aspects worth comparing and depicting, which are the sound features of LSD and TSD, the distribution of LSD and TSD, and the influence of Thai phonology in LSD and TSD. The phonological behaviours that are evidently shared by the two dialects comprise of four phonological processes which systematically operate on native lexical items, namely monosyllabification, aspiration, assignment of tone and long vowel. The implication of this study illustrates that the influence of Thai phonology through lexical borrowing demonstrates that there are significant distinctions between LSD and TSD. It is apparent that if this linguistic behaviour continues to develop, the two subdialects of Malay will gradually be dissented and finally lose their intelligibility.