Malay language

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Not to be confused with the Malayalam language, spoken in India. {{language |name=Malay |nativename=Bahasa Melayu, بهاس ملايو |familycolor=Austronesian |states=Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, southern Thailand, southern Philippines, adjacent parts of Indonesia |region=Southeast Asia |speakers=200-300 million |rank=54 |fam2=Malayo-Polynesian |fam3=Western Malayo-Polynesian |fam4=Sundic |fam5=Malayic |fam6=Malayan |fam7=Local Malay |nation=Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore |agency=Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Institute of Language and Literature) |iso1=ms|iso2b=may|iso2t=msa |lc1=msa|ld1=Malay (generic)|ll1=none |lc2=mly|ld2=Malay (specific)|ll2=none |lc3=btj|ld3=Bacanese Malay |lc4=bve|ld4=Berau Malay |lc5=bvu|ld5=Bukit Malay |lc6=coa|ld6=Cocos Islands Malay |lc7=jax|ld7=Jambi Malay |lc8=meo|ld8=Kedah Malay |lc9=mqg|ld9=Kota Bangun Kutai Malay |lc10=xmm|ld10=Manado Malay |lc11=max|ld11=North Moluccan Malay |lc12=mfa|ld12=Pattani Malay |lc13=msi|ld13=Sabah Malay |lc14=vkt|ld14=Tenggarong Kutai Malay}}

The Malay language, also known locally as Bahasa Melayu, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Malay people who reside in the Malay peninsula, southern Thailand, Singapore, central eastern Sumatra, the Riau islands, and parts of the coast of Borneo. It is the official language of Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore. It is also used as a working language in East Timor. It is practically the same as or mutually intelligible with Bahasa Indonesia, the official language of Indonesia, but differentiated in name for political reasons. The official standard for Malay, as agreed upon by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, is Bahasa Baku, the language of the Riau Archipelago, long considered the birthplace of the Malay language.

In Malaysia, the language is known as Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Malaysia, which means the Malay, or Malaysian, language. The latter term, which was introduced by the National Language Act 1967, was predominant until the 1990s, when most academics and government officials reverted to the older term, which is used in the Malay version of the Federal Constitution. Indonesia adopted a form of Malay as its official language upon independence, naming it Bahasa Indonesia. In Singapore and Brunei it is known simply as Malay or Bahasa Melayu. The reason for adopting these terms is political rather than a reflection of linguistic distinctiveness, as standard Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia are mutually intelligible. However, many Malay dialects are not as mutually intelligible: for example, Kelantanese pronunciation is difficult even for some Malaysians to understand, while Javanese Malay tends to have a lot of words unique to it which will be unfamiliar to other speakers of Malay. The language spoken by the Peranakan (Straits Chinese, a hybrid of Chinese settlers from the Ming Dynasty and local Malays) is a unique patois of Malay and the Chinese dialect of Hokkien, which is mostly spoken in the former Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. The use of this interesting language is dying out, however, with the Peranakan now choosing to speak either Hokkien or English.

Malay is normally written using the Roman alphabet, although a modified Arabic script called Jawi also exists. It is an agglutinative language, meaning that the meaning of the word can be changed by adding the necessary prefixes or suffixes. Root words are either nouns or verbs, e.g. masak (to cook) yields memasak (cooks, is cooking, etc.), memasakkan (cooks, is cooking for etc.), dimasak (cooked - passive) as well as pemasak (cook - person), masakan (cooking, cookery). Many initial consonants undergo mutation when prefixes are added: e.g. sapu (sweep) becomes penyapu (broom); panggil (to call) becomes memanggil (calls, is calling, etc.), tapis (sieve) becomes menapis (sieves, is sieving, etc.)

Another distinguishing feature of Malay is its use of measure words (penjodoh bilangan).

Contents 1 Extent of use 2 Phonology 3 Borrowed words 4 Some simple phrases in Malay 5 See also 6 External link

Extent of use

The extent to which Malay is used in these countries varies depending on historical and cultural circumstances. Bahasa Melayu (Malay Language) became the sole official language of Malaysia in 1968, but English is still widely used, especially by the second largest and third largest ethnic groups in Malaysia (Chinese and Indian), and because of its importance as the language of international business, and the situation in Brunei is similar. In Malaysia, the status of Bahasa Melayu as the national language is guaranteed by the Constitution (art. 152 of the Federal Constitution).

In Singapore, Malay was historically the lingua franca among people of different races and 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. 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.

By contrast, Bahasa Indonesia 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 between 1976 and 1999, Bahasa Indonesia is widely spoken, and recognised under its Constitution as a 'working language'.)

Phonology

Consonants				Vowels & diphthongs
Letter	English	IPA		Letter	English	IPA
b	b	[b]		a	ah	[a, ɑ]
c	ch	[ʧ, tʂ]		e	eh	[e, ɛ]
d	d	[d]		i	ee	[i]
dz	th, dh	[ð]		o	oh	[o, ɔ]
f	f	[f]		u	oo	[u]
g	hard g (as in go)	[g]
h	h	[h]		ai	bye	[aɪ̯, ɑɪ̯]
j	j	[ʤ, dʐ]		au	bough	[aʊ̯, ɑʊ̯]
k	k	[k]		ua	ua	[ua]
kh	loch	[x]
l	l	[l]
m	m	[m]
n	n	[n]
ny	ny, ñ	[ɲ]
ng	ng	[ŋ]
ngg	ngg	[ŋg]
p	p	[p]
q	gh, k	[q]
r	r (rolled)	[ɾ, r]
s	s	[s]
sy	sh	[ʃ, ʂ]
t	t	[t]
ts	th	[θ]
v	v	[v, ʋ]
w	w	[w]
x	x, s, z	[ks, s, z]
y	y	[j]
z	z	[z]

Borrowed words

The Malay language has many words borrowed from Arabic (in particular many religious terms), Sanskrit, Portuguese, Dutch, certain Chinese dialects and more recently, English (in particular many scientific and technological terms). Some examples follow:

• bahasa - language (from Sanskrit)
• bendera - flag (from Portuguese bandeira)
• bihun - rice vermicelli (from Hokkien bi-hun)
• bomba - fire brigade (from Portuguese bomba, "pump")
• buku - book (from English)
• duka - sadness (from Sanskrit dukkha)
• dunia - world (from Arabic dunya)
• gereja - church (from Portuguese igreja)
• guru - teacher (from Sanskrit)
• kamus - dictionary (from Arabic)
• kapal - ship (from Tamil kappal)
• katil - bed (from Tamil kattil)
• kaunter - counter or desk (from English)
• keju - cheese (from Portuguese queijo)
• komputer - computer (from English)
• kongsi - share (from Hokkien kong-si)
• limau - lemon (from Portuguese limão, or directly from Arabic laimun)
• longkang - drain (from Hokkien long-kang)
• manusia - human being (from Sanskrit mannushya)
• mentega - butter (from Portuguese manteiga)
• mee/mi - noodles (from Hokkien miⁿ)
• misai - moustache (from Tamil meesai)
• roti - bread (from Sanskrit)
• sains - science (from English)
• sengsara - suffering (from Sanskrit samsara)
• syariah - Islamic law (from Arabic)
• sistem - system (from English)
• suka - happiness (from Sanskrit sukkha)
• tauhu - beancurd (from Hokkien tao-hu)
• teh - tea (from Hokkien tε)
• teko - teapot (from Hokkien tε-ko)
• had - limit (from Arabic hadd)
• waktu - time (from Arabic waqt)
• kuda - horse (from Urdu kudh)
• unta - camel (from Urdu unth)
• utara - North (from Sanskrit uttara)
• tarikh - date (from Arabic tarikh)
• zirafah - giraffe (from Arabic zarafah)

Some Malay words have been borrowed into English. See the list of words of Malay origin at Wiktionary, the free dictionary and Wikipedia's sibling project.

Malay language has also heavily influenced the forms of colloquial English spoken in Malaysia (Manglish).

Some simple phrases in Malay

Malay Phrase	English Translation
Selamat datang	Welcome
Selamat jalan	Have a safe journey
Terima kasih	Thank you
Sama sama	You are welcome (as in a response to Thank You)
Selamat pagi	Good morning
Selamat tengah hari	Good afternoon
Selamat petang	Good evening (note that 'Selamat petang' must not be used at night as in English. For a general greeting, use 'Selamat sejahtera')
Selamat Sejahtera	Hello
Selamat malam	Good night (Use when ending a meet during the night. To greet someone at night, use 'Selamat Sejahtera')
Jumpa lagi	See you again
Apa khabar?	How are you?
Khabar baik	Fine, good
Saya sakit	I am ill
Ya	Yes
Tidak	No
Saya sayang akan kamu	I love you (in a more of a family or affectionate sort of love. e.g.: mother to daughter)
Saya cintakan mu	I love you (romantic love)
Saya tidak faham	I do not understand
Saya tidak tahu	I do not know
(Minta) maaf	Sorry or Excuse Me ('minta' is to request. Begin with 'Minta Maaf' when trying to talk to strangers)
Tumpang tanya	"Excuse me" (used when trying to ask something)
(Minta) tolong	please help (me) (only 'tolong!' means just "help!")

About 10% of Malay words are originated from Sanskrit and some Indian languages.

For example the words

• Bumi - earth

• Sabun - Soap

• Putera - Prince (son)

• Mangga - Mango

• Buat - Do (Sanskrit wuat)

• Raja - King

• Maha - Great

• Maaf - Sorry

See also

• The list of Malay words and list of words of Malay origin at Wiktionary, the free dictionary and Wikipedia's sibling project
• Jawi, an adapted Arabic alphabet for Malay.
• Indonesian language
• Differences between Malay and Indonesian
• Malay-based creoles
• Malay dialects in Indonesia
• Manado Malay
• Manglish, an English-based creole spoken in Malaysia.
• Hamzah Fansuri, a famous Malay poet

External link

• Ethnologue report for Malay
• Basic Course in the Malay Language (GOH Peng Joo)
• Malay-English Dictionary (Dr Bhanot's)
• Malay-English Dictionary (All Free Dictionaries)
• Malay - English Dictionary (Webster's; from Malay to English only)
• Good Translation Service. English-Malay & Malay-Englishbg:Малайски език

ca:Malai da:Malajisk es:Idioma malayo eo:Malaja lingvo fa:زبان مالایی fr:Malais ko:말레이어 id:Bahasa Melayu ms:Bahasa Melayu nl:Maleisisch ja:マレー語 pl:Język malajski ru:Малайский язык fi:Malaijin kieli sv:Malajiska th:ภาษามาเลย์ zh:马来语