Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Covid-19 Issues in the Official Speech Text of Malaysian Prime Minister on the Movement Control Order (MCO): Semantic Field Analysis

Nor Aisyah Hafiza Tazudin, Rozita Che Rodi, Aminuddin Saimon

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v12-i5/12139

Open access

In 2019, the world has been shocked by the emergence of an infectious virus called COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, the daily lifestyle of the people in the world has changed as they have to practice the new norms. Henceforth, many new terms and definitions that are rarely heard of before began to be used. However, these newly introduced terms might lead to confusion among the people which also could obstruct the messages from the government. Considering that, the researcher will focus on the application of Semantic Field Theory by Ullmann (1963) through the analytical model approach by Al-Attas (2001) in unravelling the meaning of the terms according to COVID-19 issues based on the speech text of the Malaysian Prime Minister on the Movement Control Order (MCO) in order to handle the pandemic. In the theory, five main aspects are being emphasized namely the focus word, key word, interwoven meaning, conceptional sphere and the formation of a semantic field. All of these aspects could unravel the complicated word meaning and at the same time show the real concepts that are tried to be conveyed by speakers and writers in a discourse. This study uses a qualitative approach. Researcher has investigated eight texts of the official speech by the Malaysian Prime Minister relating to MCO starting from 16th March 2020 until 11th January 2021. The result of the study shows that there are four main focus words namely safety, economy, education and health. From the focus words, other key words appear and surround the focus words which then form the conceptional sphere of COVID-19 in the Malaysian Prime Minister speech’s text on the MCO. For further research based on the knowledge about the COVID-19 issues, researcher perhaps can apply this theory directly into the study of other issues of the community.

Al-Attas, S. M. N. (2001). Risalah untuk Kaum Muslimin. Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC).
Abdul Wahid, P. R. (2012). Menelusuri Peristilahan Bahasa Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit UM.
Che Rodi, R. (2013). Bahasa sebagai Cerminan Nilai Hati Budi Melayu dari Sudut Medan Semantik. Doctor of Philosophy Thesis. Fakulti Bahasa Moden dan Komunikasi, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. (2004). Pedoman Umum Pembentukan Istilah Bahasa Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Izutsu, T. (1964). God and Man in the Koran: Semantics of the Koranic Weltanschauung. Tokyo: Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistics Studies, Keio University.
Jawatkuasa Khas Jaminan Akses Bekalan Vaksin COVID-19. (2021). Program Imunisasi COVID-19 Kebangsaan. Accessed on 27 June 2021.
https://www.vaksincovid.gov.my/pdf/Program_Imunisasi_COVID19_Kebangsaan_Versi_Bahasa_Malaysia.pdf.
Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat. (2005). Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Kasdan, J., Haroon, H. A., Che Pa. N. S., & Idrus, Z. (2017). Ketidakselarasan Istilah Bahasa Melayu dalam Korpus Kejuruteraan dan S&T: Analisis Sosioterminologi. Jurnal Linguistik. 21 (1), 1-13.
Kasdan, J. (2020a). Penciptaan Istilah dan Akal Budi Melayu. International Journal of the Malay World and Civilisation. 8(1), 3-16.
Kasdan, J., Baharuddin, R., & Shamsuri, A. S. (2020b). Covid-19 dalam Korpus Peristilahan Bahasa Melayu: Analisis Sosioterminologi. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies. 20 (3). 221-241.
Mohamad, H. (2020). Pembentukan Istilah Sains Kesihatan oleh Pengguna dalam Teks Umum Bahasa Melayu. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies. 20 (3), 96-112.
Mohamad, H., Abdul Malek, N. K., & Abdul Razak, N. H. (2020). Pembentukan Istilah Sains Kesihatan oleh Pengguna dalam Teks Umum Bahasa Melayu. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies. 20(3). 96-112.
Portal Rasmi Jabatan Audit Negara. (2021). Accessed on 27 June 2021.
https://www.audit.gov.my/index.php/covid-19/161-media/covid-19/818-perutusan-ucapan-yab- perdana-menteri.
Portal Rasmi Pejabat Perdana Menteri. (2021). Accessed on 27 June 2021.
https://www.pmo.gov.my/ms/ucapan-terkini/.
Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu. Accessed on 27 June 2021. https://prpm.dbp.gov.my/.
Saimon, A., Abdul Latif, N. A., Abdul Rahim, N., Mohammad, N. S. H., & Yusoff, M. A. I. (2021). Tahap Pemahaman Pelajar terhadap Istilah Baharu Covid-19: Kajian terhadap Universiti Awam di Malaysia. PENDETA Journal of Malay Language, Education and Literature. Jilid 12 Edisi Khas, 2021. (33-48).
Saimon, A., & Tazudin, N. A. H. (2021). Leksis Gender Dalam Novel A. Samad Said: Satu Analisis Medan Semantik. Prosiding Persidangan Antarabangsa Bahasa, Sastera dan Budaya Melayu (RENTAS 2021).
Ullmann, S. (1972). Semantics: An Introduction to Science of Meaning. Oxford: Blackwell
Paperback.

In-Text Citation: (Tazudin et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Tazudin, N. A. H., Rodi, R. C., & Saimon, A. (2022). Covid-19 Issues in the Official Speech Text of Malaysian Prime Minister on the Movement Control Order (MCO): Semantic Field Analysis. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 12(5), 1616 – 1630.