Revision month is when I find myself doing weird things to de-stress and this time round I started rapping and learning different Malay dialect songs. Not that I'm good at it but I guess the thrill of jumbling words up, not being able to keep up with the beat, mispronouncing words and wondering 'Eh what does this word mean?' is kinda fun. These 'loghat' songs aren't that bad after all, you know. I used to get so annoyed by the Rembau Most Wanted song whenever I hear it but here I am attempting to perfect my pronunciation and get the beat right. I even went through the trouble of finding out the meaning of the lyrics because I didn't really understand the Loghat Nogori at first. Then I proceeded to attempt the Botingkek song and I found myself being able to understand the N9 accent better.
I love how W.A.R.I.S writes about his 'state of nine', it's unique adat, the different suku (Did you know there's 12 suku in N9? I found out through his song), the issues about 'ughang kito' and of course the mention of makanan sodap. After listening to Botingkek, baru tahu kewujudan tempat bernama Senaling, where Juzzthin is from.
The thing about rap is that the lyrics is more like a conversation so one can actually write about more informal stuff or maybe I just haven't mastered the art of lyric writing. I'm halfway writing a song about my hometown, Johor Bahru and I'm stuck with the flow of the lyrics. Will have to work on that when final exams are over.
Here's an acoustic version of the Rembau Most Wanted song and my favourite part of the lyrics...
A great reminder for all of us :
Kojo tak kuek tapi berangan nak hidup sonang
Baik poie mampuih dari susah'an semuo ughang
which roughly translates to...
Not willing to work hard, but dream of having an easy life
Don't make it hard for others, You better go to h*ll
Botingkek
'Ado ghoto kalau dibelanjo
Ke jalan boto tak salah tu do
Masalah ughang kito
Takdo duit boghobut ghoto
Duit abih ontah komano
Monyosal kemudian takdo guno
Rumah tergadai nak tinggal kekno
Molopong yolah nak wek camno'
It's okay if property/money is spent on the right things,
The problem with our people is that
They don't have money, they fight for property (I assume inheritance?)
No more money, what was it spent on?
There's no point to regret later on
House is auctioned off, where will you stay?
I'm not sure of the meaning of the last sentence whether it's the standard BM word melopong or it's a loghat. Do drop a comment if you happen to know. Thanks!
This one by Zee Avi in the Sarawakian Malay language entitled Siboh Kitak Nangis meaning Don't You Cry.
Other classic loghat songs that I like would include .....
Found out about this song from Akademi Fantasia 4 champion, Faizal who used to sing many lagu loghat Ganu like Watimang Landok, Itik Gembo Gembo, Anak Udang and many others
Jambatan Tamparuli, a popular Kadazan-Dusun song
Na na na na na Ganu Kiterrrrr
One of my dad's favourite song, Apo Nak Dikato. I remember singing this at a karaoke session with uncles, aunties and cousins during Raya, so much fun!
On the topic of loghat, I still remember back in secondary school I would ask my friends to teach me their loghat because Johor's loghat is quite simple, nothing really fancy (unless you're talking about Bahasa Jowo spoken by Johoreans of Javanese ancestry, susah nak faham, I only know 'wes mangan?'). I picked up a few words here and there from...
Airina (her mum is from Peghok) like teman (saya), kome (similar to korang/kamu orang), ayor (air), deghoyan (durian), nakei (nakal) etc. Time marah or excited memang loghat Peghok keluar hehehe
Nuwaira (both her parents are from Nogori) Her mum cooks the best masak lemak cili api and rendang daging! When speaking to Nuwaira, most of the time I'd refer to myself as Den rather than the standard 'Aku'. We'll say things like 'Nak poie mano tu?' 'Den dah sampai dopan ghumah ni ha'...
Nadia (her dad is from Kedaq and they stayed there for a number of years) like ayer nyok (air kelapa), hangpa (korang/kamu orang), awat (apa hal?), lapaq (lapar), habaq mai (bagitau lah aku) and all the other Utara phrases.
Fatin (who's from Kelate) : kecek (cakap), abe (abang), ambo (saya), guano (macam mana), hite legea (hitam legam) etc. This has got to be the hardest loghat there is coz I couldn't string a sentence together, it took me years to understand them speaking in the first place.
Nazar (from Terengganu) : guaner (macam mana), ikang (ikan), makang (makan), senyum sokmo (senyum selalu) ....
We'd throw in words from the whole of Malaysia in our conversations because for most of us who grew up in KL, we get bored of the standard BM we use day to day so why not add in some words and create a whole new rojak language altogether.
When you put us on stage together, slang KL lah of course. This was a musical we put together during our graduation year in 2009 entitled Madu Tiga the Musical.
I really think these dialects are very precious to each and every state there is in Malaysia. With the migration of the orang kampung to bigger cities in search for better jobs, I hope they retain this important bit of them and teach their children how to speak in these loghats. I do know of some people who have moved to KL for many years and they slowly lose their accents because it's "not cool" to have a so called kampung accent but seriously that's what makes you unique.
It really is a nice scene whenever people from the same state meet in a big city like KL and they start talking away in their own distinctive language.
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