WITTGENSTEIN’S LANGUAGE GAME: A STUDY OF MALAY AND INDONESIAN LEXICAL

This article employs Wittgenstein’s language game to scrutinize lexical use in the Malay and Indonesia languages, notably in positioning reality. The lexical expressions of both languages demonstrate different partialities. These partialities, the result of the uniqueness of the respective languages as well as their cultural backgrounds, make it possible to demonstrate the different worldviews of both societies. The data for this article are made up of everyday language as well as inputs from Malay and Indonesian dictionaries. Analysis shows that the Malay language is apt to use analogies and metaphors to transform and represent reality as seen in the use of dewan orang ramai in Malay (M) and aula in Indonesia (I) for “community hall”, beratur (M) and antri (I) for “to line up”, kecemasan (M) and darurat (I) for “emergency”, pemandu (M) and supir (I) for “driver”, and pertubuhan (M) and asosiasi/persatuan (I) for “association”. Lexical that favours metaphors refers to the physical body such as kaki tangan (M) and pegawai (I) for “staff”. The use of phrase to analogise reality can be seen in nasi himpit (M) and lontong (I) for a local cuisine, temu bual (M) and tanya jawab (I) for “interview”, and temu duga (M) and wawancara (I) for “interview” (especially for jobs). Generally speaking, the Malay language uses analogies in the form of single or compound words to transform or represent actual reality, while the Indonesian language tends to focus on lexical that is adapted to the source language. The choice of lexical is dependent on the culture of a society particularly the way it views the world.