(January 30, 2010 at 7:21 am)tackattack Wrote:
First, citation needed. Second, the Malay language for a deity or supreme power is Allah. It doesn't matter the history of the appropriation, nor does it matter that an arabic word and a malay word are exactly the same (by it's roots). Is the importation of foreign words in Japan part of some sinister agenda with the aim of increasing the Japanese? No. They (the Japanese) use foreign words because it has a meaning and pronunciation they like. Same goes with any other country, however some regulate the official inclusion of a foreign word into their dictionaries (France et al).
Malaysians simply refer to a supreme being as "Allah". Because the word is seen to mean as such across all Malaysia (due to Muslim influence), it has defined itself as the most popular word per meaning.
To see fr0d0's and tackattack's attempts to downplay the significance of language within a large community or attempt to sabotage it's meaning by linking it to a strawman (ah, those silly "converting" Christians) is, plainly put, stupid. It is moronic and I am going to call it out.
This issue is rather simple. An ingroup is upset that their success in peddling a ware has defined all subsequent similar wares to be related to it by virtue of popularity, thus diluting their monopoly of it. They can go fuck off.
