UNDERSTANDING THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF CREOLE LANGUAGES IN MELAKA

Beyond the rich history of Melaka which mainly revolves around colonisation and trading, lies the unique account of languages which are spoken only by a few members of the community. Malay, Chinese, and Indian are not the only communities who regard Melaka as their home as there are those who are known as the peranakan and they are Chetty, Baba Nyonya, and Melaka Portuguese communities. What is interesting about these communities is how some of them still use their own languages; Malay Chetty Creole, Baba Malay Creole, and Melaka Portuguese Creole, respectively. However, the fate of these languages is unclear. Review of literature has shown that the languages are facing language shift and the efforts for language maintenance should be undertaken seriously.