Abstract：Macao local words mainly consist of loanwords from Portuguese and some special words with regional characteristics. Nowadays not all Macao people can recognize, understand or use the local words. This study investigates Macao people’s awareness and uses of local words in communications. The author conducted a semi-structured interview with 6 individuals in a higher institution in Macao where multilingualism is typical of its working environment. The result shows that the participants showed different perception and attitudes towards the local words. They have a low level of awareness to the loanwords from Portuguese and old-fashioned local words in Macao. Many of such local words are gradually phased out in the language life of Macao people. Among the 87 Macao local words examined in this research, only 12.6% of the so-called “landmark” words have been retained in the participants’ daily languages. It is also found that the loss of local words in Macao’s linguistic repertoire is perceived by Macao people as a natural process in language development. As the research sampling is small, more explorations are required to verify the conclusion derived in this study.
