Data Sets

Brunei

ASEAN

Indonesian + Malaysian — Ind1 : 1955

S1 = Indonesian male
S2 = Malaysian female

Context: S1 is talking about traditional styles of dress worn by Bruneians.

S1 : and men are using the (.) teluk belanga what is it eh whatever it IS

S2 : uh-uh

Intended Words: teluk belanga

Discussion: Because he knows that S2 is from Malaysia, S1 correctly assumes she can understand Malay, and he has used a number of Malay terms for clothing such as baju melayu ('Malay dress'), which she has no problem with. But she is mystified by teluk belanga.

Teluk Belanga is a place name in Singapore (where it is spelled Telok Blangah), and S2 knows this. But she is unable to make any sense of it in the context of clothing.

In fact, Teluk Belanga was the original administrative capital of the the state of Johor until the court was moved to what is now Johor Baru in 1866; and the traditional style of clothing worn by the Sultan's aides at the time is referred to as the Teluk Belanga style. S2 was not aware of any of this, which is why she could not understand the use of the term.