Phatic Communion

The Malays usually greets their fellows friend with absurd phrases such as “ Sudah makan”.” Anak berapa”, “ Nak pergi mana “ and etc. This kinds of greeting is consider to be normal in the Malay community. Phatic communion is a concept which originated from by Firthian or London School of Linguistics, and it refers to the verbal interaction between two people when they meet or greet one another. In ters of the actual message in the communication, such verbalisations are meaningless, but they do have a sicial significance. The help to establish a contact retlationship between the two parties, or as previously said, they privide a warming-up period between the speakers involved. Our forms of greeting like Apa khabar ( How are you, How do you do), Selamat pagi ( Good morning ) etc, are a form of phatic communion. In Malay social life, Apa khabar and Selamat pagi are loan shifts from Arabic and English. The Malays never had such forms of greetings before they came into contact with speakers of these two languages. They greeted each other, as they still do now, in expressions such as Nak pergi mana ? ( Where are you going?) or Dok buat apa? ( What are you doing?) These are not questions asking for information but expressions of phatic communion. Such expressions sre followed by small talks before actual communication takes place.