This document discusses the emergence of subvarieties within Brunei English, specifically "Poklen English". Poklen English originated as a stigmatized variety associated with people from the Kampong Ayer water village. There is debate around the origins of the term "Poklen", with two plausible explanations being that it derives from "folk of the land" through English-Malay language contact processes, or that it derives from "Falkland", the name of islands in a war that Bruneians became aware of. Poklen English has made its way into computer-mediated communication, especially social media, with features like mixed capitalization and intentional spelling deviations. Whether Poklen English is a variety that users identify with or

1. English in Brunei: Challenges & Future Directions
Noor Azam Haji-Othman & James McLellan
Universiti Brunei Darussalam
Article for inclusion in Special Issue of World Englishes, 2013
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The emergence of subvarieties within Brunei English
One subvariety is the so-called “Poklen” English, used to refer to a stigmatized basilectal variety
associated with people who originated from the Kampong Ayer, the traditional water village on
the Brunei River opposite the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. (Izzah Adi, 2013). There is
continuing debate over the origins of the term “Poklen”: the two most plausible explanations are
that it derives from “folk of the land” through the application of phonological processes of
English and Brunei Malay language contact: word-initial /f/ to /p/, raising of the front vowel /æ/
to /e/, and word-final consonant cluster reduction from /nd/Ø to /n/Ø. Semantically this is also
plausible, as many western Borneo ethnonyms have the meaning ‘people of the land’, including
Kedayan, Lun Dayeh, Kadazan, and Bidayuh. The second explanation is that it derives from
“Falkland”, the name of the islands in the south Atlantic over which the United Kingdom and
Argentina fought a war in the 1980s. News reports about this war made Bruneians aware of the
existence of the Falkland Islands, their remote location and small population. Bruneians then
applied this name initially to Water Villagers (likened to islanders), and later on to the
stigmatized basilectal English use (and ‘Chav culture’) of anyone perceived as loutish, loud and
brash. As noted by Izzah Adi (2013), Poklen English has since found its way into computer-
mediated communication, especially social media. Among the features she discusses are mixed
capitalization and intentional spelling deviations, including the frequent addition of S, X and Z
word-finally:
[4] (from MSN Messenger interaction)
a) - oMg wHy?
- don’t knOWszz

2. b) hE Said I wUz sTuPidZ!! & hE said My NAmEz with a ‘ErZx’ aT
te back iS eW!!
[5] (intentional spelling deviations)
a) Baby > Vavyy
b) So cute > Cho cute
c) Palui (Brunei Malay, ‘stupid’) > Falui
d) Please > PliZ
e) Like > Lyk
(data source for [4] & [5]: Izzah Adi, 2013)
It remains an issue of debate whether Poklen English is a Brunei English subvariety with which
users identify, or, like the western notion of ‘political correctness’, it is a creation by those
wishing to distance themselves from it and mock or stigmatize users of this basilectal Brunei
English.
References
Izzah Hazirah Haji Adi Othman (2013) Poklen language: Poklen English. Unpublished report for
AE-4311 World Englishes module, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, April 2013.