SUSTAINING COASTAL TERENGGANU MALAY DIALECT

Abstract

This study involved linguistic documentation of Terengganu Malay dialect. It is undertaken with the aim ofdocumenting the dialect ofthe people ofTerengganu in order to provide a more accurate and systematic linguistic data of the dialect and consequently sustain it. Besides, the documentation of the linguistic data on the coastal Terengganu Malay Dialect is crucial to comprehend the dialect precisely and its meaning to avoid misunderstandings as well as being the reference for researchers, academicians, students, tourists and the local community. This research focused primarily on linguistic documentation involving phonology and lexis of the dialect. The linguistic documentation and analysis of the dialect is based on qualitative method employing 200 Swadesh word list of the target dialect as well as questionnaires and interview questions to establish the various linguistic features involved in the research. The documentation will help to sustain the Terengganu Malay identity and avoid the depreciating ofthe local dialect. The findings yielded various interesting linguistic features that distinguished its uniqueness from other dialects in Malaysia. It is hoped that the findings from the study will initiate the interest of researchers to expand the research on Terengganu Malay dialect in future.