Linguistic Imperialism, Negeri Sembilan Malay Language and Identity: To Know of What, Why and How

It is generally accepted that the people of Negeri Sembilan are influenced by a foreign culture known as perpatih custom(adat perpatih) that originates from Minangkabau, Sumatera. Consequently, to date, there exist a stereotypical belief and misunderstanding on the link between Negeri Sembilan language and the Minangkabau language that point towards ‘linguistic imperialism’. Thus, taking perspective of ‘know of what, why, and how’, this article seeks to describe the concept of linguistic imperialism, the rationale for testing the concept on the Negeri Sembilan language and the testing methods employed. This serves as the initial part of a fundamental research project in an effort to prove the hypothesis that culturally, the people of Negeri Sembilan adopt the perpatih social system but in terms of language the Negeri Sembilan speech community do not adopt the Minangkabau language. They have their own language identity. In other words, the Minangkabau culture and social system may have influenced the Negeri Sembilan community but not the language. Hence, the Negeri Sembilan language is free of linguistic imperialism of the Minangkabau language.