Malay trade and creole languages
In addition to its classical and literary form, Malay has various regional dialects established before the rise of the Malaccan Sultanate. Also, Malay spread through interethnic contact and trade across the Malay archipelago as far as the Philippines. That contact resulted in a lingua franca that was called Bazaar Malay or low Malay. It is generally believed that Bazaar Malay was a pidgin, influenced by contact among Malay, Chinese, Portuguese, and Dutch traders.
Besides the general simplification that occurs with pidgins, the Malay lingua franca had several distinctive characteristics. One was that possessives were formed with punya 'its owner'; another was that plural pronouns were formed with orang 'person'. The only Malayic affixes that remained productive were tər- and bər-.
Other features:
- Ada became a progressive particle.
- Reduced forms of ini 'this' and itu 'that' before a noun became determiners.
- The verb pərgi 'go' was reduced, and became a preposition 'towards'.
- Causative constructions were formed with kasi or bəri 'to give' or bikin or buat 'to make'.
- A single preposition, often sama, was used for multiple functions, including direct and indirect object.[1]
For example,[2]
- Rumah-ku 'my house' becomes Saya punya rumah
- Saya pukul dia 'I hit him' becomes Saya kasi pukul dia
- Megat dipukul Robert 'Megat is hit by Robert' becomes Megat dipukul dek Robert
Bazaar Malay is still used to a limited extent in Singapore and Malaysia. The most important consequence, however, has been that pidgin Malay creolised and created several new languages.[3]
Baba Malay
| Baba Malay | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Malaysia (Melaka |
| Ethnicity | 250,000 (1986)[4] |
Native speakers | (12,000 cited 1986–2006)[4] |
Malay-based creole | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mbf |
| Glottolog | baba1267 |
| Peranakan | |
|---|---|
| Baba Indonesian | |
| Region | Java |
Native speakers | (20,000 cited 1981)[5] |
Malay-based creole | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pea |
| Glottolog | pera1256 |
Baba Malay or Peranakan Malay, once a diverse group of pidgins, is spoken in Melaka but is now almost extinct. These are Malay varieties spoken by the Peranakan, descendants of Chinese settlers who have lived in Melaka since the 15th Century.[6] Baba Malay is close to the trade pidgins which became creolised across the Malay Archipelago, producing the variety of Malay creoles seen today. A kind of Baba Malay, called Peranakan, is spoken among Chinese living in East Java. It is a mixture of Malay or Indonesian with local Javanese (East Javanese dialect) and Chinese elements (particularly Hokkien). This particular variety is found only in East Java, especially in Surabaya and surrounding areas. While other Chinese tend to speak the language varieties of the places in which they live (the Chinese of Central Java speak High or Standard Javanese in daily conversation even among themselves; in West Java, they tend to speak Sundanese), in Surabaya younger ethnic Chinese people tend to speak pure Javanese (Surabaya dialect) and learn Mandarin in courses.
Example (Spoken in Surabaya):
- Lu bo' gitu! : Don't act that way!
- Yak apa kabarnya si Eli? : How's Eli?
- Nti' kamu pigio ambek cecemu ae ya. : Go with your sister, okay?
- Nih, makanen sa'adae. : Please have a meal!
- Kamu cari'en bukune koko ndhek rumae Ling Ling. : Search your brother's book in Ling Ling's house.
Example (Spoken in Melaka-Singapore):[7]
- Dia suka datang sini sembang. : He likes to come here and gossip.
- Keliap-keliap, dia naik angin. : Slightly provoked, he gets angry.
- Gua tunggu dia sampai gua k'ee geram. : I waited for him till I got angry.
- Oo-wa! Kinajeet, dia pasang kuat. : Wow! Today he dresses stylishly!
Betawi Malay
Betawi Malay, also known as Jakarta or Java Malay, is a creolised-Malay which is spoken in Jakarta (the modern name for Betawi) and its surroundings. Betawian or Omong Betawi is based on Bazaar Malay (Melayu Pasar) but influenced by various languages such as Javanese, Sundanese (the area is surrounded by Sundanese speaking area), Chinese (especially Hokkien), Portuguese, Dutch, Balinese and others. Betawian creole began to be used after 1750 in Batavia, and replaced Portuguese creole as the lingua franca.[8]
Betawian Malay was also influenced by Chinese-style Malay spoken by the Chinese settlers who had come earlier.
It has now become a very popular language particularly amongst the younger generations in Indonesia due largely to its use on television (such as sinetron or sitcom).
Betawi Malay was the ancestor of Cocos Malay.
Malaccan Creole Malay
| Malaccan Creole Malay | |
|---|---|
| Chitties Creole Malay | |
| Native to | Malaysia |
| Ethnicity | 300 (no date)[9] |
Native speakers | [9] |
Malay-based creole | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ccm |
| Glottolog | mala1482 |
Spoken since the 16th century by descendents of Tamil merchants of the Malacca Straits. It may be historically related to Sri Lanka Creole Malay.
Sri Lanka Malay
The Sri Lankan Creole Malay language is a unique mixture of the Sinhalese language and the Tamil language with Malay. Sri Lanka Malay (SLM) is a restructured vernacular of Malay base spoken by at least five different communities in Sri Lanka which has evolved to be significantly divergent from other varieties of Malay due to intimate contact with the dominant languages of Sinhala and Tamil. The Malays in Sri Lanka, whose ancestry include labourers brought by the Dutch and British, as well as soldiers in the Dutch garrison, now constitute 0.3% of the population, numbering some 46,000. It is spoken exclusively by the Malay ethnic minority in Sri Lanka.[10]
Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin
A pidgin used in the pearl industry in West Australia.
Sabah Malay
| Sabah Malay | |
|---|---|
| Region | Sabah, Sulu Archipelago, Labuan |
Native speakers | [11] 3 million L2 speakers (2013)[12] |
Malay–based pidgin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | msi |
| Glottolog | saba1263 |
A pidginised variant of standard Malay, Sabah Malay is a local trade language. There are a large native speakers in urban areas, mainly children who have a second native language. There are also some speakers in the southernmost parts of the Philippines, particularly in the Sulu Archipelago as a trade language.
Macassar Malay
| Macassar Malay | |
|---|---|
| Region | Makassar, South Sulawesi |
Native speakers | None[13] Second language: 1.9 million (2000) |
Mixed Malay–Macassarese | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mfp |
| Glottolog | maka1305 |
Macassar Malay is not a creole, but a mixed Malay–Macassarese language, with Malay lexicon, Macassarese inflections, and mixed Malay/Macassarese syntax.[14]
Balinese Malay
| Balinese Malay | |
|---|---|
| Region | Bali |
Native speakers | 25,000 (2000 census)[15] |
Malay-based creole | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mhp |
| Glottolog | bali1279 |
Balinese Malay is a trade language of the island.
East Indonesian Malay
The creoles of eastern Indonesia[16] appear to have formed as Malays and Javanese, using lingua franca Malay, established their monopoly on the spice trade before the European colonial era. They have a number of features in common:
- ə becomes a, e, or assimilates to the following vowel
- i, u lower to e, o in some environments
- there is a loss of final plosives p, t, k, and the neutralisation of final nasals in part of the lexicon
- the perfective marker sudah reduces to su or so[1]
For example,[2]
- makan becomes makang
- pergi becomes pigi or pi
- terkejut becomes takajo
- lembut becomes lombo
- dapat becomes dapa
Bacan (next) is perhaps the most archaic, and appears to be closely related to Brunei Malay (which is not a creole).
Bacanese Malay
| Bacanese Malay | |
|---|---|
| Region | Bacan, North Maluku |
Native speakers | 6 (2012)[17] |
Brunei Malay-based creole? | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | btj |
| Glottolog | baca1243 |
Spoken in Bacan Island and its surroundings, North Maluku.
Manado Malay
Manado Malay is another creole which is the lingua franca in Manado and Minahasa, North Sulawesi. It is based on Ternatean Malay and highly influenced by Ternatean, Dutch, Minahasa languages and some Portuguese words.
Examples :
- Kita = I
- Ngana = you
- Torang = we
- Dorang = they
- Io = yes
- Nyanda' = no (' = glottal stop)
Sentences :
- Kita pe mama ada pi ka pasar : My mother is going to the market
- Ngana so nyanda' makang dari kalamareng : You haven't eaten since yesterday.
- Ngana jang badusta pa kita : Don't lie to me
- Torang so pasti bisa : we can surely do that
Gorap
| Gorap | |
|---|---|
| Region | Morotai Island, central Halmahera |
Native speakers | (1,000 cited 1992)[18] |
Malay-based creole
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | goq |
| Glottolog | gora1261 |
Gorap is lexically 85% Malay, but has many Ternate words as well, and word order differs from both Austronesian and Halmahera languages. Children no longer acquire the language.
Ternate / North Moluccan Malay
This creole resembles Manado Malay, but with different accents and vocabulary. A large percentage of its vocabulary is borrowed from Ternatean, such as: ngana : you (sg) ngoni : you (pl) bifi : ant ciri : to fall Spoken in Ternate, Tidore and Halmahera islands, North Maluku for intergroup communications, and in the Sula Islands.
Example :
- Jang bafoya : Don't lie!
Kupang Malay
| Kupang Malay | |
|---|---|
| Region | Kupang, West Timor |
Native speakers | (200,000 cited 1997)[19] 100,000 L2 speakers (no date)[19] |
Malay-based creole
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mkn |
| Glottolog | kupa1239 |
Spoken in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on the west end of Timor Island. It is based on archaic Malay which mixed mostly with Dutch, Portuguese and local languages. Similar to Ambonese Malay with several differences in vocabularies and accent. Its grammatical system resembles that of other East Indonesian Malay Creoles.
Examples :
- beta = I
- lu = You
- sonde = No
- Beta sonde tau, lai = I don't know
Alor Malay
Alor Malay is spoken in the Alor archipelago. It is based on Kupang Malay; however, Alor Malay differs significantly from Kupang Malay, especially in its pronouns.[20]
Ambonese Malay
Malay was first brought to Ambon by traders from Western Indonesia, then developed into a creole when the Dutch Empire colonised the Molluccas. Ambonese Malay was the first example of the transliteration of Malay into Roman script, and used as a tool of the missionaries in Eastern Indonesia.
Bandanese Malay
| Bandanese Malay | |
|---|---|
| Banda Malay | |
| Region | Banda Islands |
Native speakers | 3,700 (2000)[21] |
Malay-based creole
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bpq |
| Glottolog | band1353 |
A distinct variant of Moluccan Malay. Spoken in Banda Islands, Maluku and it has specific accents. Different from Ambonese Malay and for Ambonese, Bandanese Malay is widely perceived as sounding funny due to its unique features.
Example :
- Beta : I
- pane : you
- katorang : we
- mir : ants (deviated from Dutch : mier)
Papuan/Irian Malay
| Papuan Malay | |
|---|---|
| Irian Malay | |
| Region | West Papua |
Native speakers | unknown; 500,000 L1 and L2 speakers (2007)[22] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pmy |
| Glottolog | papu1250 |
Originally a contact language among tribes in Indonesian New Guinea (Papua and West Papua) for trading and daily communication, now a growing number of native speakers. Papuan and Irian declared Malay as their language since 1926, before the Sumpah Pemuda declaration. Nowadays, they tend to speak more formal Indonesian. This variant is also understood in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea near Indonesian border.
Example :
- Ini tanah pemerintah punya, bukan ko punya! = It's governmental land, not yours!
- Kitorang tak pernah bohong = We don't lie.
See also
Creoles of the Malay Archipelago based on languages other than Malay
External links
- A Baba Malay Dictionary by William Gwee Thian Hock
- Malay creole boy, Hottentot Square Cape Town; Malay boy of Cape Town [picture] / George French Angas delt. et lithog.
- The Malay Chetty Creole Language Of Malacca A Historical And Linguistic Perspective
References
- ^ a b Wurm, Mühlhäusler, & Tryon, Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia and the Americas, 1996:673ff.
- ^ a b MALAY DIALECT RESEARCH IN MALAYSIA: THE ISSUE OF PERSPECTIVE1.
- ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Vehicular Malay". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ^ a b Baba Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Peranakan Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Baba Malay of Malacca.
- ^ "BABA / PERANAKAN MALAY". The Peranakan Resource Library. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ Why Malay/Indonesian Undressed: Contact, Geography, and the Roll of the Dice, by David Gil
- ^ a b Malaccan Creole Malay at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
- ^ Malays contact with Sri Langka.
- ^ Sabah Malay at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
- ^ Sabah Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Macassar Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Wurm, Mühlhäusler, & Tryon, Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia and the Americas, 1996:682.
- ^ Balinese Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Eastern Indonesia Trade Malay". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ^ Bacanese Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Gorap at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b Kupang Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Klamer, Marion (2014). "The Alor-Pantar languages: Linguistic context, history and typology.". In Klamer, Marian (ed.). Alor Pantar languages: History and Typology. Berlin: Language Sciences Press. pp. 5–53.
- ^ Bandanese Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Papuan Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
