Royal Address as a Linguistic Device for the Construction of National Identity

Royal addresses constitute a form of formal institutional discourse through which a monarch articulates values, directives, and visions fundamental to national development. As a linguistic device, the royal address serves not only as an instrument of governance but also as a culturally embedded text that constructs and reinforces national identity. This study examines the role of language in the royal addresses of Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah as a medium for the formation of national identity and the cultivation of shared cultural values in the Malaysian context. Specifically, it analyses the linguistic markers present in the royal address to identify value components that reflect and reinforce national identity. Employing a qualitative approach through descriptive textual analysis, the study draws on the royal address delivered at the Opening of the First Meeting of the Fourteenth Perak State Legislative Assembly, retrieved from Sultan Nazrin's official portal. The analytical framework is based on Lickona’s Components of Good Character Model, which consists of moral knowing, moral feeling, and moral action. This model is used to examine how the Royal Address instils moral values by shaping the people’s understanding, emotional appreciation, and practice of good character. This study identified 44 linguistic markers distributed across all three components, with moral action emerging as the most prominent (39%), followed by moral feeling (36%) and moral knowing (25%). Linguistic markers such as “mencapai persepakatan” (reaching consensus), “masa hadapan negeri jangan dimusnahkan” (do not destroy the future of the state), and “semangat bekerjasama” (spirit of cooperation) encapsulate values of unity, national dignity, and civic responsibility which is the pillars that are constitutive of Malaysian national identity. The findings affirm that royal addresses transcend their administrative function, operating as powerful cultural texts that consolidate collective identity and shared values within Malaysia's pluralistic society, consonant with the foundational principles of the Rukun Negara.

royal address, values, thoughts, national identity, good character

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