Malay (Bahasa Melayu)

Malay (Bahasa Melayu)

Deyan Kamo "welcome"

Introduction

History
Malay, also known as Bahasa Melayu, is an Austronesian language spoken by the native Malay people on both sides of the Straits of Malacca that separate Sumatra from the Malay Peninsula. Since the Malacca Straits have always been a busy sea route, travellers came into contact with the language of the Malay people and spread it throughout the Indonesian islands. As a result, Malay became the lingua franca of the Indonesian archilepago, and eventually the main reason why it was chosen as the national language of the Indonesian Republic in the 20th century.

When Islam came to South Asia, it spread along trade routes and coastal areas where Malay was used. Malay became an important vehicle for the propagation of Islam in the archipelago. Likewise, it played a role in the spread of Christinaity to eastern portions of Indonesia.

Status
Malay is the official language of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, and is one of the four official languages of Singapore. It is used as a working language in East Timor. It is also spoken in Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and the U.S. It is estimated that it is spoken by close to 18 million people (Ethnologue).

The official standard for Malay, as agreed upon by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, is Bahasa Riau (Language of the Riau Archipelago), considered to be the birthplace of the Malay language. It has different names depending on the country:

In Malaysia, it is known as Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Malaysia. Bahasa Malaysia became the sole official language of Malaysia in 1968, but English is still widely used, especially by the minority Chinese and Indian communities, because of its importance as the language of international business.
In Brunei and Singapore, it is known as Malay or Bahasa Melayu. In Brunei, English is widely used, especially by its Chinese and Indian minorities, because of its importance as the language of international business. In Singapore, Malay was historically the lingua franca among people of different races, but this has given way to English. Today, it retains the status of a national language.
In Indonesia, it is called Bahasa Indonesia. It has become the lingua franca for its numerous ethnic groups. In East Timor (a province of Indonesia from 1976 to 1999), Bahasa Indonesia is widely spoken, and recognized by its Constitution as a working language.

The differences between Malay (Bahasa Melayu) and Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) are comparable to those between British and American English, with varying degrees of intelligibility among its various dialects. The main differences are in pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary.

Structure

Sound System

Malaysian Women

Sound system
See Bahasa Indonesia

Grammar

Grammar
See Bahasa Indonesia.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary
Malay has many words borrowed from Arabic, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Dutch, certain Chinese dialects, and more recently from English. Here are some examples:

Malay word	Source of borrowing
bendera	Portuguese bandera "flag"
bihun	Hokkien bi-hun "rice vermicelli"
dunia	Arabic dunya "world"
buku	English book
guru	Sanskit guru "teacher"
kuda	Hindi kudh "horse"

Writing

Writing
The earliest known inscriptions in Malay found on the island of Sumatra date back to 683 AD. They were written in an Indian script. When Islam arrived in southeast Asia during the 14th century, a modified form of the Arabic script known as the Jawi script was adopted for writing Malay. Jawi was subsequently replaced by the Latin alphabet in the 17th century, during Dutch and British colonial rule.

The Jawi script is still used today as one of two official scripts in Brunei, and in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, particularly in religious contexts.

Although the representations of speech sounds are now largely identical in the Indonesian and Malay varieties, a number of minor spelling differences remain, usually reflecting the romanizations used in British versus Dutch colonies.

Take a look at Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Malay and Indonesian.

Can you see similarities in the two texts?
Do you think these two texts are mutually comprehensible to speakers of these two languages?

Bahasa Melayu

Semua manusia dilahirkan bebas dan samarata dari segi kemuliaan dan hak-hak. Mereka mempunyai pemikiran dan perasaan hati dan hendaklah bertindak di antara satu sama lain dengan semangat persaudaraan.

Bahasa Indonesia

Semua orang dilahirkan merdeka dan mempunyai martabat dan hak-hak yang sama. Mereka dikaruniai akal dan hati nurani dan hendaknya bergaul satu sama lain dalam semangat persaudaraan.

Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Resources

Malay Language Learning Resources
Less Commonly Taught Languages Course Offerings
UCLA Language Materials Project
A Basic Course on Bahasa Malaysia
Southeast Asian Site of Northern Illinois University - Indonesian

How difficult is it to learn Malay?
There is no established difficulty rating for Malay. One could surmise, however, that it is a Category II language in terms of difficulty for speakers of English.

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