Malayan languages

Not to be confused with Malayalam.

Malay
Malayan
Region	Malay Archipelago
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Malayo-Sumbawan ? Malayic Malay
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ms
ISO 639-2	may (B) msa (T)
ISO 639-3	msa – inclusive code Individual codes: mfb – Bangka bjn – Banjar pse – Bengkulu bve – Berau bvu – Bukit kxd – Brunei liw – Col dup – Duano'/Orang Kuala hji – Haji ind – Indonesian jak – Jakun jax – Jambi vkk – Kaur meo – Kedah kvr – Kerinci mqg – Kutai Kota Bangun kvb – Kubu lce – Loncong lcf – Lubu zsm – Malaysian min – Minangkabau mui – Musi orn – Orang Kanaq ors – Orang Seletar mfa – Kelantan-Pattani pel – Pekal tmw – Temuan vkt – Kutai Tenggarong zmi – Negeri Sembilan
Glottolog	nucl1733  Malayan vehi1234  Vehicular Malay

The Malay or Malayan languages are a group of closely related languages spoken by Malays and related peoples across Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand, and the far southern parts of the Philippines. They have traditionally been classified as Malay, Para-Malay, and Aboriginal Malay, but this reflects geography and ethnicity rather than a proper linguistic classification. The Malayan languages are mutually intelligible to varying extents, though the distinction between language and dialect is unclear in many cases.

Para-Malay includes the Malayan languages of Sumatra. They are: Minangkabau, Central Malay (Bengkulu), Pekal, Musi (Palembang), Negeri Sembilan (Malaysia), and Duano’.

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, Loncong, Pattani Malay, and Banjarese. Menterap may belong here.

There are also several Malay-based creole languages, such as Betawi, Cocos Malay, Manado Malay and Sabah Malay, which may be more or less distinct from standard (Malaccan) Malay.

Usages

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, it is divided into western and eastern groups. Western Malay varieties is predominantly spoken in Sumatra and Borneo, which itself is divided into Bornean and Sumatran Malay, some of the most widely spoken Sumatran Malay varieties are Riau Malay, Langkat, Palembang Malay and Jambi Malay. Minangkabau, Kerinci 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/, Betawi and Perak as /kitɛ/.

Batavian and eastern dialects are sometimes regarded as Malay creole, because the speakers are not ethnically Malay.

Comparison of Malay varieties

A comparison of various varieties of Malay, plus three Para-Malay languages and one Aboriginal Malay language:

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 Malacca-Johor-Riau
Standard Malaysian	Kamu mahu pergi ke mana dengan basikal itu? Bolehkah saya ikut?	Malaysia
Standard Indonesian (formal)	Anda mau pergi ke mana dengan sepeda itu? Bolehkah saya ikut?	Indonesia
Batavian	Mao spèdahan ke manè? Nèbèng bolé, kagak?	Jakarta (Indonesia)
Johor/Selangor/Singapore/Riau Archipelago Malay	Kau nak pergi ke mane dengan basikal tu? Boleh saye ikut?	Central and Southern States of Peninsular Malaysia including Selangor and Johor, and basis of the standard Malaysian language.
Bengkulu	Kau ndak pergi mano kek sepedo tu? Aku bulih ikuik idak?	Bengkulu (Indonesia)
Jambi Malay	Kau nak pergi ke mano naek sepedo tu? Aku biso ikut dak?	Jambi (Indonesia)
Musi	Nak pegi mano kau bekereto tu? Tobo melok pacak dak?	South Sumatra (Indonesia)
Bangka Malay	Ka nek gi mane naek ketangin tu? Ku boleh ngikut dak?	Bangka Island (Indonesia)
Belitung Malay	Ikam nak pergi ke mane naek ketangin tu? Aku bisak ngikut ndak?	Belitung Island (Indonesia)
Banjar	Ikam/kawu handak tulak ka mana basapeda tu? Kawakah aku umpat?	South Kalimantan (Indonesia), Northern Perak (Malaysia)
Kedah Malay	Hang nak pi mana naik gerek tu? Aku ikut buleh dak?	Northern States of Peninsular Malaysia, Western part of Southern Thailand
Baling Malay	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 Malay	Mung nok gi mane naik basika tu? Buleh dok ambe ikok?	Terengganu (Malaysia), Easternmost part of Pahang, Northeast Johor, Riau Islands (Indonesia)
Kelantan-Pattani Malay	Demo nok gi mano naik gerek tuh? Buleh kawe ikuk?	Kelantan (Malaysia), Eastern part of Southern Thailand, Northern Terengganu
Pahang Malay	Awok nok kone naik sike tu? Boleh tok kome/koi/kas/kawan/kawas ikut?	Entire Pahang (Malaysia)
Perak Malay	Mike nak ke mane naik sika tu? Teman nak ngekor buleh?	Perak (Malaysia) except the northern part of Perak
Penang Malay	Hang nak pi mana naik basikal tu? Aku ikut boleh tak?	Penang and Northern Perak (Malaysia)
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/tu bés(i)kal/bosikol? Buli s(i)a ikut( ka)?	Sabah (Malaysia) and also Labuan
Pontianak Malay	Mane kitak nak pergi naik sepeda tu? Kamek bulih ikut tadak?	West Kalimantan (Indonesia)
Makassar Malay	Mau ko/ki' ke/pergi mana bawa' itu sepeda (kah)? Bisa Jeka' Ikut?	South and West Sulawesi, especially Makassar language area southern South peninsula of Sulawesi (Indonesia)
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 and Kuang, Selangor (Malaysia)
Negeri Sembilan Malay	Ekau nak poie mano naik basika tu? Boleh den ikut?	Negeri Sembilan (Malaysia)
Rawa	Kao nak poie mano nek basika to? Buleh ikoiyt ko indo?	Gopeng (Malaysia)
Aboriginal Malay languages
Temuan	Ajih nak pegik manak terenjai dengan mesikal tuk? Bulih akuk ekot nyap?	Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Johor (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/awak

mahu

pergi

dengan

basikal

itu

boleh

kah

saya

ikut

--

Malay language (informal)

~omitted~

mane

kau/ko

nak

pegi

ngan

basikal

tu

boleh

~omitted~

aku

ikut

--

Standard Indonesian (formal)

ke

mana

kamu/anda(when talking to strangers)

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

Batavian

ke

manè

~omitted and already understood in the context~

mao

~omitted~

~omitted and subtituted by the suffix '-an' on the word 'spèdè'~

spèdè

tu

bolé

nggè

~omitted~

nèbèng

1:naik

Singapore Malay (formal)

ke

mana

awak

hendak

pergi

dengan

basikal

itu

boleh

~omitted~

saya

ikut

--

Singapore Malay (informal)

~omitted~

mane

kau/ko

nak

gi

ngan

basikal

tu

boleh

~omitted~

aku

ikut

--

Johor/Selangor Malay

ke

mane

kau

nak

pergi

dengan

basikal

itu

boleh

~omitted~

saye

ikut

--

Bengkulu Malay

~omitted~

mano

kau

ndak

pergi

kek

sepedo

tu

bulih

idak

aku

ikuik

--

Jambi Malay

ke

mano

kau

nak

pergi

~substituted with 'naek'~

sepedo

tu

biso

dak

aku

ikut

1:naek

Palembang Malay

~omitted~

mano

kau

nak

pegi

be-

kereto

tu

pacak

dak

tobo

melok

-

Bangka Malay

ke

mane

ka

nek

pergi

~substituted with 'naek'~

ketangin

tu

boleh

dak

ku

ngikut

1:naek

Belitung Malay

ke

mane

ikam

nak

pergi

~substituted with 'naek'~

ketangin

tu

bisak

ndak

aku

ngikut

1:naek

Banjar

ka-

-mana

ikam/kawu

handak

tulak

ba-

sapeda

tu

kawa

kah

aku

umpat

-

Kedah Malay

~omitted~

mana

hang

nak

pi

~substituted with 'naik'~

gerek

tu

buleh

dak

aku

ikut

1:naik

Baling Malay

~omitted~

mano

mu / dema

nok

gi

~substituted with 'naik'~

gerek

tuh

buleh

dok

ku / ambe

ikut

1:naik

Terengganu Malay

~omitted~

mane

mung

nok

gi

~substituted with 'naik/nge'~

basika

tu

buleh

dok

ambe

ikok

1:naik/ghetek

Kelantan-Pattani Malay

~omitted~

mano

demo

nok

gi

~substituted with 'naik/ngey'~

basika

tuh

buleh

dok

kawe

turuk

1:naik

Pahang Malay

~omitted~

kone

awok

nok

gi

~substituted with 'naik/ngan'~

sike

tu

boleh

tok

kome/koi/kas/kawan/kawas

ikut

1:naik

Perak Malay

ke

mane

kome/mike

nak

~omitted~

~substituted with 'naik'~

sika

tu

buleh

~omitted~

teman

ngekor

1:naik

Penang Malay

~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 Malay

~omitted~

mane

kitak

nak

pergi

~substituted with 'naik'~

sepeda

tu

bulih

tadak

kamek

ikut

1:naik

Makassar Malay

ke

mana

Kau

ko / ki' (You Want)

pergi / pigi

sama

sepeda

itu

bisa

kah

saya / Jeka' (If I)

ikut

1:naik, 2:Jeka', 3:Bawa'

Minangkabau

ka-

-ma

kau

nio

pai

jo

kareta angin

tu

buliah

ndak

den

ikuik

--

Negeri Sembilan Malay

~omitted~

mano

ekau

nak

poie

~substituted with 'naik'~

basika

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

Temuan

~omitted~

manak

ajih

nak

pegik

~substituted with 'terenjai'~

basikal

tuk

bulih

nyap

akuk

ekot

--

ISO 639

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".

Code	Name	Native Speakers	Usage
msa	Malayan languages	281,000,000	Nusantara
btj	Bacanese Malay	6	Indonesia - Bacan
mfb	Bangka	340,000	Indonesia - Bangka-Belitung
-	Bangkok Malay	5,000	Thailand - Bangkok, offshoot of Kelantan-Pattani language
bjn	Banjar	3,500,000	Indonesia - South Kalimantan (native) Malaysia - Mainly in Perak, Selangor, Pahang and Johor
bve	Berau Malay	11,000	Indonesia - East Kalimantan (Berau regency)
kxd	Brunei	270,000	Main lingua franca of Brunei; also spoken in the northern parts of Sarawak (city of Miri, Malaysia and the towns of Limbang and Lawas of the Limbang Division), Labuan and the western parts of Sabah (districts of Papar, Malaysia, Kuala Penyu, Beaufort, Malaysia and Sipitang) (Malaysia)
bvu	Dayak Bukit Malay		Indonesia
pse	Central Malay	1,600,000	Indonesia - Bengkulu
coa	Cocos Islands Malay	1,100	Australia - Cocos (Keeling) Islands Malaysia - Sabah
liw	Col	150,000	Indonesia - Bengkulu
dup	Duano	16,000	Indonesia - Riau Malaysia - Johor
hji	Haji	18,000	Indonesia - Lampung
ind	Indonesian	43,000,000	Official language of Indonesia and also a major lingua franca, also used as a working/secondary official language in East Timor
jak	Jakun	25,000?	Malaysia - Johor and Pahang
jax	Jambi Malay	1,000,000	Indonesia - Jambi
vkk	Kaur	40,000	Indonesia - Bengkulu
meo	Kedah Malay	2,600,000	Malaysia - Western part of Kedah (Langkawi, Kubang Pasu, Alor Setar, Pokok Sena, Pendang, Yan, Sungai Petani, Kulim, Bandar Bharu, parts of Padang Terap), Perlis, Penang, Northern part of the state of Perak Thailand - Satun, Trang, Songkhla, Krabi, Phang Nga, Phuket, Ranong, Phattalung, Yala Myanmar - Taninthayi Indonesia - Jaring Halus, Langkat regency, North Sumatra (descendants of Kedahan migrants in the late 19th century)
-	Reman Malay	400,000?	Malaysia - Eastern part of Kedah (Baling, Sik, Padang Terap, parts of Kulim, Kubang Pasu and Pendang), Northeastern part of the state of Perak (Hulu Perak and Larut, Matang and Selama) Thailand - Mostly in Yala and Songkhla
kvr	Kerinci	290,000	Indonesia - Jambi (in Sungai Penuh and Kerinci Regency)
mqg	Kota Bangun Kutai Malay	300,000	Indonesia - East Kalimantan
kvb	Kubu	10,000	Indonesia - Jambi and South Sumatra
lce	Loncong	420	Indonesia - Bangka-Belitung
lcf	Lubu	30,000	Indonesia
mly	Malay (individual language)		Code was retired 2008-02-18, Split into: Standard Malay [zsm], Haji [hji], Papuan Malay [pmy] and Malay (individual language) [zlm]. Note: pmy is not part of the macrolanguage.
-	Perak Malay	1,400,000	Malaysia - Perak, the main dialect spoken in the state with high concentration of native speakers in the state capital, Ipoh
zlm	Malay (individual language)
-	Pahang Malay	?	Malaysia - Pahang
xmm	Manado Malay	850,000	Indonesia - Manado, North Sulawesi
min	Minangkabau	5,500,000	Indonesia - West Sumatra, lingua franca in the western coast of Aceh and North Sumatra, Indonesia Malaysia - Negeri Sembilan, eastern regions of Hulu Langat and Gombak (Selangor) and Rawa in Perak
zmi	Negeri Sembilan Malay	700,000?	Malaysia - Negeri Sembilan, a variant of the Minangkabau language
max	North Moluccan Malay (Ternate)	700,000	Indonesia
mui	Musi or Palembang Malay	3,100,000	Indonesia - Palembang, South Sumatra
orn	Orang Kanaq	80	Malaysia - Johor
ors	Orang Seletar	1,500	Malaysia - Johor and Singapore
mfa	Kelantan-Pattani Malay	5,000,000	Malaysia - Kelantan, also spoken in neighbouring Besut and Setiu (Terengganu) and in northernmost areas of Kuala Lipis (Pahang). Thailand - Pattani Province, Narathiwat Province, Yala Province and southern Songkhla Province.
pel	Pekal	30,000	Indonesia
-	Sarawak Malay	680,000 native speakers and 1.2 Million as their second or third language	Malaysia - Sarawak
msi	Sabah Malay (pidgin)	3,000,000 speakers mainly as a second or third language	Malaysia - Sabah and Labuan
zsm	Malaysian/Standard Malay	32,000,000 as L2	Standard language in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore
tmw	Temuan	23,000	Malaysia - Pahang, Selangor, Malacca, Johor and Negeri Sembilan
vkt	Tenggarong Kutai Malay	300,000	Indonesia
-	Terengganu Malay	1,100,000	Malaysia - Terengganu, also spoken in neighbouring Kuantan (Pahang) as well as Mersing (Johor)
urk	Urak Lawoi'	5,000	Thailand - Phuket and Krabi

See also

• Ethnic Malays
• Malajoe Batawi