Teori dan realiti perubahan bahasa: daripada bahasa ibunda kepada bahasa Melayu

Abstract

This paper is divided into two parts. Part one scrutinised the hypothesis of several language change theories such as random deviation (Hockett, 1958),fashion and random fluctuation (Postal, 1968), and substratum (Aitchison, 1998). Analytically, the hypothesis for each theory become the essence of each item for a questionare to be answered by 50 respondents from the Dusun tribe in Lohan village, Ranau, Sabah. Response from the respondents showed that only one hypothesis from random deviation (Hockett, 1958) and one from fashion and random fluctuation (Postal, 1968) addressed the situational context of language change amongst the younger generation. All hypothesis from substratum theory (Aitchison, 1998) have been accepted by all the 50 respondents. Part two give clear evidence of language change from mother tongue to bahasa Melayu in Lohan village, Ranau, Sabah. During the past, the Dusun language has been the language used orally by the Dusunic people until 1980's. However, the year 1990's showed the decline of usage in the same language as a mother tongue. At the same time, bahasa Melayu has over powered the role of Dusun language as an everyday language. Some of the young generation understood the language no more. The researcher view this matter as a drastic change and needed to be study. To clarify the reasons that lead to language change, the researcher study three generation of the Dusun tribe in the area. Study on the first generation cannot be conducted due to extinction.