Realising the supernatural in Baba Malay folktales: a transitivity analysis
The examination of Baba Malay folktales enables further exploration of this endangered minority language and provides insight into Peranakan Chinese culture. This paper examines how supernatural elements are realised through linguistic choices in six Baba Malay folktales in the contemporary bo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2025
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/26594/1/Gema%20Online_25_4_2.pdf http://journalarticle.ukm.my/26594/ https://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/1866 |
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| Summary: | The examination of Baba Malay folktales enables further exploration of this endangered minority
language and provides insight into Peranakan Chinese culture. This paper examines how
supernatural elements are realised through linguistic choices in six Baba Malay folktales in the
contemporary book Chrita-Chrita Baba (by Kenneth Y.K. Chan). Applying Halliday and
Matthiessen’s (2014) transitivity analysis from Systemic Functional Linguistics, the texts were
analysed to answer two research questions: 1) How are supernatural themes realised in the Baba
Malay folktales through the transitivity categories of process, participant and circumstance, and 2)
What transitivity patterns are associated with supernatural characters in these folktales? The
transitivity analysis reveals that clauses featuring supernatural entities in subject position
predominantly instantiate material processes (e.g., pi ‘go’, bikin ‘make’, kasi ‘give’), positioning
these figures as dynamic agents within the narrative. Such representation reflects culturally
embedded ideologies attributing agency and causal power to supernatural forces, reinforcing
communal views in which the supernatural is perceived as an active and determinative presence
in human affairs. The difference found between carrier and token participants in relational clauses
suggests that the narrative describes, rather than defines, the supernatural characters. The rare
association of temporal and spatial circumstances with supernatural beings also shows their
otherworldly nature. This study demonstrates how transitivity choices linguistically construct
cultural beliefs about agency and otherworldliness in Baba Malay storytelling. The findings extend
current scholarship on Baba Malay and Peranakan Chinese culture by detailing the vocabulary and
transitivity patterns through which supernatural elements are represented in the folktales. |
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