An analysis on the role of word formation process in the lyrics of Malaysia’s top 10 English songs

The beauty of language is that it encourages evolution and changes to its contents. Being a sign of vitality (Yule, 2016), the changes of language use is shaped by its users to accommodate the changing paces of mankind. This study aims to understand the role of recent language changes by analysing t...

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Main Author: Ong, Su Ke
Format: Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5223/
http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5223/1/fyp_EL_2022_OSK.pdf
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author Ong, Su Ke
author_facet Ong, Su Ke
author_sort Ong, Su Ke
building UTAR Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The beauty of language is that it encourages evolution and changes to its contents. Being a sign of vitality (Yule, 2016), the changes of language use is shaped by its users to accommodate the changing paces of mankind. This study aims to understand the role of recent language changes by analysing the literary work of its users – song lyrics. Under the morphological concept of the word formation process, new instances of language uses are categorized into word formation process types such as Acronyms, Derivation, Backformation, Conversion, Compounding, Borrowing, Coinage, Clipping, and Blending. These categories are then compared to understand the trends of how language is changing. Setting the scope to the trends of language use in Malaysia, this study analyses the 10 most popular English songs amongst Malaysians to gain a more local insight on what types of word formation processes might influence their use of language. Findings of this study suggests that language change is vigorously evident in writings, with the most prominent word formation process being conversions. This study hopes to normalise and encourage the change and vitality, and creative use of language, especially in Malaysian context.
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format Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
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institution Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
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last_indexed 2025-11-15T19:37:15Z
publishDate 2022
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spelling utar-52232023-04-19T08:15:49Z An analysis on the role of word formation process in the lyrics of Malaysia’s top 10 English songs Ong, Su Ke M Music ML Literature of music P Philology. Linguistics PE English The beauty of language is that it encourages evolution and changes to its contents. Being a sign of vitality (Yule, 2016), the changes of language use is shaped by its users to accommodate the changing paces of mankind. This study aims to understand the role of recent language changes by analysing the literary work of its users – song lyrics. Under the morphological concept of the word formation process, new instances of language uses are categorized into word formation process types such as Acronyms, Derivation, Backformation, Conversion, Compounding, Borrowing, Coinage, Clipping, and Blending. These categories are then compared to understand the trends of how language is changing. Setting the scope to the trends of language use in Malaysia, this study analyses the 10 most popular English songs amongst Malaysians to gain a more local insight on what types of word formation processes might influence their use of language. Findings of this study suggests that language change is vigorously evident in writings, with the most prominent word formation process being conversions. This study hopes to normalise and encourage the change and vitality, and creative use of language, especially in Malaysian context. 2022-10 Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis NonPeerReviewed application/pdf http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5223/1/fyp_EL_2022_OSK.pdf Ong, Su Ke (2022) An analysis on the role of word formation process in the lyrics of Malaysia’s top 10 English songs. Final Year Project, UTAR. http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5223/
spellingShingle M Music
ML Literature of music
P Philology. Linguistics
PE English
Ong, Su Ke
An analysis on the role of word formation process in the lyrics of Malaysia’s top 10 English songs
title An analysis on the role of word formation process in the lyrics of Malaysia’s top 10 English songs
title_full An analysis on the role of word formation process in the lyrics of Malaysia’s top 10 English songs
title_fullStr An analysis on the role of word formation process in the lyrics of Malaysia’s top 10 English songs
title_full_unstemmed An analysis on the role of word formation process in the lyrics of Malaysia’s top 10 English songs
title_short An analysis on the role of word formation process in the lyrics of Malaysia’s top 10 English songs
title_sort analysis on the role of word formation process in the lyrics of malaysia’s top 10 english songs
topic M Music
ML Literature of music
P Philology. Linguistics
PE English
url http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5223/
http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5223/1/fyp_EL_2022_OSK.pdf