Sarawak Malay

Sarawak Malay
Kelakar Sarawak
Native to	Malaysia
Native speakers	500,000 - 600,000
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian (MP) Nuclear MP Malayo-Sumbawan Malayic Malayan Malay Sarawak Malay
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Linguist List	zlm-sar
Glottolog	None

Sarawak Malay (Standard Malay: Bahasa Melayu Sarawak or Bahasa Sarawak, Jawi: بهاس ملايو سراوق, Sarawak Malay: Kelakar Sarawak) is a Malayan language native to the State of Sarawak, Malaysia. It is a common language used by natives of Sarawak. This variant is related to Bruneian Malay, spoken in the districts of Limbang and Lawas (Sarawak) and Pontianak Malay, which is spoken in the neighbouring West Kalimantan province in Indonesia. There is some debate on whether it is a vernacular variety of Malay or a separate language altogether. It is more similar to Ibanic languages compared to the Malay dialects of Sumatra and the Malayan Peninsula, which makes it mutually unintelligible for Malay speakers outside Sarawak and Borneo..

Vocabulary

Below is a non-exhaustive list of lexical differences between Standard Malay and Sarawakian Malay.

1. baring - gurin
2. bodoh - paloi, tuyuk
3. berlari - berekot
4. cantik - kacak
5. garang - gaok
6. hijau - gadong, ijo
7. juga - juak
8. kapal terbang - belon
9. kecil - kecik, salus
10. kedekut - bedegis (superlative)
11. kenapa - kenak
12. kenyang - kedadak (superlative)
13. mahu - maok
14. merah jambu - kalas
15. pakai - pakei
16. satu, dua, lima - sigek, duak, limak
17. sekarang - kinek (tok)
18. singgah - berambeh
19. sombong - lawa
20. tembikai - semangka
21. tidak - si/sik
22. tipu - bulak
23. ya - aok
24. melihat/Nampak - nangga

Most of the words used in Sarawak Malay nowadays are influenced by many languages such as English. Some English words that have undergone significant pronunciation changes:

1. Action - Eksen
2. Ball - Bol
3. Carpet - Kapet
4. Colour - Kaler
5. Punctured - Pancet
6. Handphone- Henpon
7. Motor - Moto
8. Frying Pan - Prempan
9. Orange - Oren
10. Round - Raun

Dialects

There is also a distinct variant of Sarawakian, which is known as Bahasa Laut (Sea Language). Most of the words that are spoken end with the vowel o. E.g.:

English	Bahasa Sarawak	Bahasa Laut
What	Nakpa	Nakpo
you	Kau/ Kitak	Au/ Itak
Like that	Kedak ya	Pia

Word formation

The word formation rules of Sarawak Malay are very different from those of the normative Malay language. Most West Malaysians have trouble following Sarawakian conversations. Sabahan is also different from Sarawak Malay, however they do share some lexicon, such as the word Bah, which is used to stress a sentence. E.g.: Don't do like that - "Iboh polah kedak ya bah." It is similar in use to "lah" in Singlish and in West Malaysia. E.g.: Don't do like that 'lah'. Some words in Sarawakian Malay have a similar pronunciation of ai as ei, as in some districts of Perak: serai > serei, kedai > kedei. Some Sarawakian Malay verbs have a final glottal stop after a vowel or in place of final /r/: kena > kenak, air > aik, beri > berik. like in the Aboriginal Malay languages of West Malaysia.

Many words in Sarawak Malay diverge from the original pronunciation and some are totally different. E.g.:

English	Bahasa Malaysia	Bahasa Sarawak
Sweeping	Menyapu	Nyapu
Coconut	Kelapa	Nyior
More	Lagi	lagik/ Agik/Gik
Road	Jalan Raya	Jeraya
Clever	Pandai	Pandei
Teach	Mengajar	Ngaja
Yes	Ya	aok
Cat	Kucing	Pusak
Dog	Anjing	Asuk
Chicken	Ayam	Manok
Knife	Pisau	ladin (Malay/Melanau) Dandin/ pisok

Colloquial and contemporary usage

Contemporary usage of Bahasa Sarawak includes contemporary Malay words or incorporated from other languages, spoken by the urban speech community, which may not be familiar to the older generation. E.g.: SMS language. E.g.:

English	Bahasa Sarawak	SMS Text
You	Kitak	ktk
me	Kamek	kmk
No	Sik	x
Message	Mesej	msg
Nothing	Sikda	xda	kenapa	kenak	knk

References

1. Daftar Kata DIALEK MELAYU SARAWAK Edisi Kedua (ISBN 9836263241)

External links

• Kaipuleohone has an archived notes on Sarawak Malay