Chinese–Malay–Thai interactions and the making of Kelantan Peranakan Chinese ethnicity

Dublin Core

Description

C hinese society in Kelantan is generally understood in terms of a division between town/urban Chinese and village/rural rural Chinese. This understanding of the most salient division among local Chinese differs from those that obtain elsewhere in Malaysia. In the country's other states, division by speech-group—into Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Teochiu, Hokchia, and Hainanese, and others is emphasized. This division is taken to give structure to Chinese society in those states. At the heart of the contrasting pattern in Kelantan are the state's rural or village Chinese; members of this latter group are frequently labeled “Peranakan Chinese." ¹ The distinct identity of the Peranakan Chinese of Kelantan derives from more than their mere residence in rural parts of the state rather than in its towns. Their identity embodies an ethnic division that in turn reflects lengthy and complex patterns of Chinese settlement in the state. 2 Historically, the Peranakan Chinese have become extensively assimilated into Kelantan's rural Malay and Thai or Siamese communities, both culturally and linguistically. Marriages between Chinese males and Thai women some two hundred years ago in Patani and Kelantan marked the beginning of the Peranakan Chinese society of Kelantan. In contrast, the group's language shows massive Malay lexical and grammatical borrowing but Thai influence limited to lexical borrowing. The Malay influence is so extensive that it is a constitutive part of the language.

Creator

Teo Kok Seong

Source

https://books.google.com.my/books?hl=en&lr=&id=B-wlX4SSp1MC&oi=fnd&pg=PA214&dq=info:cACdoicGEhYJ:scholar.google.com&ots=MvBhjoNglx&sig=jjZI_XjSvCTXIvt-1QFaOoQiDq8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Publisher

NUS Singapore

Date

2008

Format

p. 214-30

Language

English

Type

Text