Malayan languages
| Malay | |
|---|---|
| Malayan | |
| Geographic distribution: |
Malay Archipelago |
| Linguistic classification: | Austronesian
|
| Subdivisions: |
—
|
| ISO 639-3: | msa |
The Malay or Malayan languages are a group of closely related languages spoken by Malays and related peoples across Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand. They have traditionally been classified as Malay, Para-Malay, and Aboriginal Malay, but this reflects geography and ethnicity rather than a proper linguistic classification.
Para-Malay includes the Malayan languages of Sumatra. They are: Minangkabau, Central Malay (Bengkulu), Pekal, Musi (Palembang), Negeri Sembilan,* and Duano’.* [1]
Aboriginal Malay are the Malayan languages spoken by the Orang Asli (Proto-Malay) in Malaya. They are Jakun,* Orang Kanaq,* Orang Seletar,* and Temuan.*
The other Malayan languages, included in neither of these groups, are associated with the expansion of the Malays across the archipelago. They include Malaccan Malay (Malaysian and Indonesian),* Kedah Malay,* Kedayan/Brunei Malay,* Berau Malay, Bangka Malay, Jambi Malay, Kutai Malay (several languages), Loncong, and Pattani Malay.
The Malayan languages are mutually unintelligible to varying extents, though the distinction between language and dialect is unclear in many cases. According to Ethnologue 16, the varieties marked with an asterisk are so closely related that they may prove to be dialects of a single Malay language.
There are also several Malay-based creole languages, such as Betawi, Cocos Malay, and Manado Malay, which may be more or less distinct from standard (Malaccan) Malay.
Contents |
History [edit]
The extent to which Malay and related Malayan languages are used in the countries where it is spoken varies depending on historical and cultural circumstances. Malay is the national language in Malaysia by Article 152 of the Constitution of Malaysia, and became the sole official language in West Malaysia in 1968, and in East Malaysia gradually from 1974. English continues, however, to be widely used in professional and commercial fields and in the superior courts. Other minority languages are also commonly used by the country's large ethnic minorities. The situation in Brunei is similar to that of Malaysia.
In Singapore, Malay was historically the lingua franca among people of different nationalities. Although this has largely given way to English, Malay still retains the status of national language and the national anthem, Majulah Singapura, is entirely in Malay. In addition, parade commands in the military, police and civil defence are given only in Malay.
Most residents of the five southernmost provinces of Thailand — a region that, for the most part, used to be part of an ancient Malay kingdom called Pattani — speak a dialect of Malay called Yawi (not to be confused with Jawi), which is similar to Kelantanese Malay, but the language has no official status or recognition.
Owing to earlier contact with the Philippines, Malay words — such as dalam hati (sympathy), luwalhati (glory), tengah hari (midday), sedap (delicious) — have evolved and been integrated into Tagalog and other Philippine languages.
By contrast, Indonesian has successfully become the lingua franca for its disparate islands and ethnic groups, in part because the colonial language, Dutch, is no longer commonly spoken. (In East Timor, which was governed as a province of Indonesia from 1976 to 1999, Indonesian is widely spoken and recognized under its Constitution as a 'working language'.)
Besides Indonesian, which developed from the Malaccan dialect, there are many Malay dialects spoken in Indonesia Malay-based creole languages, divided into western and eastern groups. Western Malay is predominantly spoken in Sumatra, and known as Sumatran dialects, such as: Riau, Langkat, Palembang and Jambi. Minangkabau and Bengkulu are believed to be Sumatran Malay descendants. Meanwhile Jakarta dialect (known as Betawi) also belongs to the western Malay group.
The eastern dialects are spoken in the easternmost part of the Indonesian archipelago and include: Manado dialect Manado Malay (in north Sulawesi) and Maluku, North Maluku and Papua dialects.
The differences among both groups are quite observable. For example the word 'kita' means "we, us" in western, but means "I, me" in Manado, whereas "we, us" in Manado is 'torang' and Ambon 'katong' (originally abbreviated from Malay 'kita orang' (means "we people"). Another difference is the lack of possessive pronouns (and suffixes) in eastern dialects. Manado uses the verb 'pe' and Ambon 'pu' (from Malay 'punya', meaning "to have") to mark possession. So "my name" and "our house" are translated in western Malay as 'namaku' and 'rumah kita' but 'kita pe nama' and 'torang pe rumah' in Manado and 'beta pu nama', 'katong pu rumah' in Ambon dialect.
The pronunciation may vary in western dialects, especially the pronunciation of words ending in the vowel 'a'. For example Malaysian pronounce 'kita' (inclusive we, us, our) as /kitə/, Kelantan and Southern Thailand as /kitɔ/, Riau as /kita/, Palembang as /kito/ and Betawi as /kitɛ/.
Betawi and eastern dialects are sometimes regarded as Malay creole, because the speakers are not ethnically Malay.
Comparison of Malay varieties [edit]
A comparison of various varieties of Malay, plus three Para-Malay languages:
English = Where are you going on this bicycle? May I go with you?
| Language | Sentence | Spoken In |
| Varieties of Malay | ||
|---|---|---|
| Standard Court Malay (formal) | Ke mana engkau hendak pergi dengan kereta angin itu? Bolehkah saya ikut? |
Ancient Riau-Johor-Malacca |
| Standard Malaysian Malay (formal) | Ke manakah kamu mahu/hendak pergi dengan basikal itu? Bolehkah saya ikut? |
Malaysia |
| Standard Indonesian (formal) | Kamu akan bersepeda ke mana? Bolehkah saya ikut? |
Indonesia |
| Indonesian-Betawi (informal) | Lo mau naék sepeda ke mané? Boleh ikut nggak? |
Jakarta (Indonesia) |
| Johor/Selangor dialect | Kau nak pergi ke mane dengan basikal tu? Boleh saye ikut? |
Central and Southern States of Peninsular Malaysia including Pahang and Southern Perak |
| Bengkulu (Central Malay) | Kau ndak pergi mano kek sepedo tu? Aku bulih ikuik idak? |
Bengkulu (Indonesia) |
| Jambi dialect | Kau nak pergi ke mano naek sepedo tu? Aku biso ikut dak? |
Jambi (Indonesia) |
| Palembang dialect | Kau nak pergi ke mano naek sepedo tu? Aku pacak melok dak? |
South Sumatra (Indonesia) |
| Bangka dialect | Ka nek pergi ke mane naek ketangin tu? Ku boleh ngikut dak? |
Bangka Island (Indonesia) |
| Belitung dialect | Ikam nak pergi ke mane naek ketangin tu? Aku bisak ngikut ndak? |
Belitung Island (Indonesia) |
| Banjar Malay | Ikam/kawu handak tulak ka mana basapeda tu? Bulih kada' aku umpat? |
South Kalimantan (Indonesia), Northern Perak (Malaysia) |
| Kedah dialect | Hang nak pi mana naik gerek tu? Aku ikut buleh dak? |
Northern States of Peninsular Malaysia, Western part of Southern Thailand |
| Baling dialect | Mu nok gi mano naik gerek tu? Ku nak ikut buleh dak? |
Eastern part of Kedah (Baling, Sik and Padang Terap), Yala, Pattani, Satun |
| Terengganu dialect | Mung nok gi mane naik basikal tu? Buleh dok ambe ikuk? |
Terengganu (Malaysia) |
| Kelantan dialect | Demo nok gi mano naik gerek tuh? Buleh kawe ikuk? |
Kelantan (Malaysia), Eastern part of Southern Thailand, Northern Terengganu |
| Pahang dialect | Awok nok kone naik sike tu? Boleh tok kome/koi/kas/kawan/kawas ikut? |
Entire Pahang (Malaysia) |
| Perak dialect | Mike nak ke mane naik sika tu? Teman nak ngekor buleh? |
Perak (Malaysia) |
| Penang dialect | Hang nak pi mana naik basikal tu? Aku ikut boleh tak? |
Penang and Northern Perak (Malaysia) |
| Negeri Sembilan dialect | Ekau nak poie mano nek basika tu? Den ikut bulih tak? |
Negeri Sembilan and part of Malacca |
| Brunei Malay | Kan kamana kau babiskal tu? Bulih ku ikut? |
Brunei Darussalam and Labuan |
| Sarawak Malay | Ke sine kitak maok make basikal? Boleh sik kamik ngekot? |
Sarawak (Malaysia) |
| Sabah Malay | Mana ko mo pigi sama itu beskal? Buli sia ikut ka? |
Sabah (Malaysia) |
| Pontianak dialect | Mane kitak nak pergi naik sepeda tu? Kamek bulih ikut tadak? |
West Kalimantan (Indonesia) |
| Larantuka Malay | Flores | |
| Kutai Malay | Nda pegi kemana besepeda tu ? Kawa umpat ndi ? |
East Kalimantan (Indonesia) |
| Para-Malay languages | ||
| Minangkabau | Pai kama jo kareta angin tu? Bulih indak den ikuik? |
West Sumatra, the western part of Riau and Jambi, the western coast of Aceh and North Sumatra, the northern part of Bengkulu (Indonesia), Negeri Sembilan (Malaysia) |
| Negeri Sembilan Malay | Ekau nak poie mano naik basikal tu? Boleh den ikut? |
Negeri Sembilan (Malaysia) |
| Rawa | Kao nak poie mano nek basika to? Buleh ikoiyt ko indo? |
Gopeng (Malaysia) |
Word by word comparison (based on sentences above):
| Language/dialect | Ke | Mana | Kamu | Mahu | Pergi | Dengan | Basikal | Itu | Boleh | -kah (atau tidak) | Saya | Ikut | Extra Words |
| English proximate literal translation | to | where | you | want | to go | with | bicycle | that | can/may | or not | I | follow | 1:to ride, 2:"question particle" |
| Standard Malaysian Malay (formal) | ke | mana | kamu | mahu | pergi | dengan | basikal | itu | boleh | kah | saya | ikut | -- |
| Malay language (informal) | ~omitted~ | mane | ko | nak | pegi | ngan | basikal | tu | boleh | ~omitted~ | aku | ikut | -- |
| Standard Indonesian Malay (formal) | ke | mana | kamu | mau | pergi | dengan | sepeda | itu | bisa | kah | saya | ikut | -- |
| Indonesian (informal) | ke | mana | lu | mau | ~omitted~ | ~substituted with 'naik'~ | sepeda | tu | boleh | nggak | ~omitted~ | ikut | 1:naik |
| Singapore Malay (formal) | ke | mana | awak | hendak | pergi | dengan | basikal | itu | boleh | ~omitted~ | saya | ikut | -- |
| Singapore Malay (informal) | ~omitted~ | mane | ko | nak | pegi | ngan | basikal | tu | boleh | ~omitted~ | aku | ikut | -- |
| Johor/Kuala Lumpur dialect | ke | mane | kau | nak | pergi | dengan | basikal | itu | boleh | ~omitted~ | saye | ikut | -- |
| Bengkulu dialect | ~omitted~ | mano | kau | ndak | pergi | kek | sepedo | tu | bulih | idak | aku | ikuik | -- |
| Jambi dialect | ke | mano | kau | nak | pergi | ~substituted with 'naek'~ | sepedo | tu | biso | dak | aku | ikut | 1:naek |
| Palembang dialect | ke | mano | kau | nak | pergi | ~substituted with 'naek'~ | sepedo | tu | pacak | dak | aku | melok | 1:naek |
| Bangka dialect | ke | mane | ka | nek | pergi | ~substituted with 'naek'~ | ketangin | tu | boleh | dak | ku | ngikut | 1:naek |
| Belitung dialect | ke | mane | ikam | nak | pergi | ~substituted with 'naek'~ | ketangin | tu | bisak | ndak | aku | ngikut | 1:naek |
| Banjar Malay | ka- | -mana | ikam/kawu | handak | tulak | ba- | sapeda | tu | kawa | kada' | aku | umpat | - |
| Kedah dialect | ~omitted~ | mana | hang | nak | pi | ~substituted with 'naik'~ | gerek | tu | buleh | dak | aku | ikut | 1:naik |
| Baling dialect | ~omitted~ | mano | mu / dema | nok | gi | ~substituted with 'naik'~ | gerek | tuh | buleh | dok | ku / ambe | ikut | 1:naik |
| Terengganu dialect | ~omitted~ | mane | mung | nok | gi | ~substituted with 'naik/nge'~ | basika | tu | buleh | dok | ambe | ikut | 1:naik/getek |
| Kelantan dialect | ~omitted~ | mano | demo | nok | gi | ~substituted with 'naik/ngey'~ | basika | tuh | buleh | dok | kawe | turuk | 1:naik |
| Pahang dialect | ~omitted~ | kone | awok | nok | gi | ~substituted with 'naik/ngan'~ | sike | tu | boleh | tok | kome/koi/kas/kawan/kawas | ikut | 1:naik |
| Perak dialect | ke | mane | mike | nak | ~omitted~ | ~substituted with 'naik'~ | sika | tu | buleh | ~omitted~ | teman | ngekor | 1:naik |
| Penang dialect | ~omitted~ | mana | hang | nak | pi | ~substituted with 'naik'~ | basikal | tu | boleh | tak | aku | ikut | 1:naik |
| Brunei Malay | ka- | -mana | kau | ~omitted~ | ~omitted~ | ba- | -biskal | ~omitted~ | bulih | ~omitted~ | ku | ikut | 2:ah |
| Sarawak Malay | ke | sine | kitak | maok | ~omitted~ | make | basikal | ~omitted~ | boleh | sik | kamik | ngekot | -- |
| Sabah Malay | ~omitted~ | mana | ko | mo | pigi | sama | beskal | itu | buli | ka | sia | ikut | -- |
| Pontianak dialect | ~omitted~ | mane | kitak | nak | pergi | ~substituted with 'naik'~ | sepeda | tu | bulih | tadak | kamek | ikut | 1:naik |
| Minangkabau | ka- | -ma | kau | nio | pai | jo | kareta angin | tu | buliah | ndak | den | ikuik | -- |
| Negeri Sembilan | ~omitted~ | mano | ekau | nak | poie | ~substituted with 'naik'~ | basikal | tu | boleh | ~omitted~ | den | ikut | 1:naik |
| Rawa | ~omitted~ | mano | kao | nak | poie | ~substituted with 'nek'~ | basika | to | buleh | ko indo | ~omitted~ | ikoiyt | 1:nek |
ISO 639 [edit]
In ISO 639-1 there is 'ms', ISO 639-2 there are two codes: 'may'/'msa'. In ISO 639-3, 'msa' is defined as a "macrolanguage".
References [edit]
- ^ Ethnologue 16 also lists Col, Haji, Kaur, Kerinci, Kubu, Lubu.
