Malay language

The Malay language is the mother tongue of the Malay people who are native to the Malay peninsula, southern Thailand, Singapore and parts of Sumatra. It is the official language of Malaysia, and Brunei, and one of the four official languages of Singapore. It is also used as a working language in East Timor.

In Malaysia, it is known as Bahasa Malaysia or Malaysian language, even though it is, in fact, Malay. Similarly, 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 Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia are in fact versions of the same language.

Differences between Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia

The differences between the two are comparable to the differences between British English and American English. Both are mutually intelligible, but with differences in spelling and vocabulary. Bahasa Indonesia differs from Bahasa Malaysia in having words of Javanese and Dutch. For example, the word for 'post office' in Bahasa Malaysia is "pejabat pos", whereas in Bahasa Indonesia it is "kantor pos", from the Dutch word for office, kantoor.

Extent of use

The extent to which Bahasa is used in these countries varies depending on historical and cultural circumstances. Bahasa Malaysia became the sole official language in 1968, but English is still widely used, especially by the minority Chinese and Indian communities, and because of its importance as the language of international business, and the situation in Brunei is similar. By contrast, Bahasa Indonesia has successfully become the lingua franca for its disparate islands and ethnic groups, and because the colonial language, Dutch, is no longer spoken. (In East Timor, which was a province of Indonesia between 1976 and 1999, it is widely spoken, and recognised under its Constitution as a 'working language'.) In Singapore, Malay was historically the lingua franca among people of different races, but this has given way to English, but it retains the status of national language, and the national anthem, Majulah Singapura is entirely in Malay. In southern provinces of Thailand, Malay is spoken but has no official status or recognition.

Loan Words

The Malay language has many words borrowed from Arabic, Sanskrit, Portuguese and more recently, English:

• bahasa - language (from Sanskrit)
• buku - book (from English)
• dunia - world (from Arabic)
• gereja - church (from Portuguese igreja)
• keju - cheese (from Portuguese queijo)
• roti - bread (from Sanskrit)
• sharia - Islamic law (from Arabic)
• sistem - system (from English)

Loan words from Malay in English include sarong and amok (wild), as in 'to run amok'. The term 'bint' for a young woman, from binte (daughter of) was used by British soldiers in colonial Malaya, but is now obsolete. Malay has also heavily influenced the forms of colloquial English spoken in Singapore, (Singlish) and Malaysia (Manglish).

Some simple phrases in Malay

• Selamat datang - Welcome
• Terima kasih - Thank you
• Selamat pagi - Good morning
• Selamat tengah hari - Good afternoon
• Selamat petang - Good evening
• Selamat malam - Good night
• Jumpa lagi - See you again
• Apa khabar? - How are you?
• Baik - Fine

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Not to be confused with the Malayalam language, spoken in India.