Malay

Malay is an Austronesian language officially spoken in Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore, and unofficially spoken in parts of Thailand and the Philippines. It is also the lingua franca in Malaysia and Brunei, and is commonly spoken among the Malay diaspora around the world.

History

The Malay language has its origins in the "Old Malay " language, which was used in the 7th century in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. The language evolved into "Classical Malay" which was used in the Malay sultanates. The language was then influenced by the Dutch, Portuguese and English during the colonial period.

Classification

Malay is a member of the Austronesian family of languages, which includes languages from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia. Malay is the only member of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup to be extensively used on the Asian mainland.

Geographic distribution

Malay is spoken in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, parts of Thailand and southern Philippines. Malay speakers also reside in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States.

Official status

Malay is the national language of Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is also one of the four official languages of Singapore.

Dialects

There are several dialects of Malay, including Malaysian Malay, Indonesian Malay, Brunei Malay, Kedah Malay, Pattani Malay, and others.

Writing system

The Malay language uses the Latin script (Rumi), but there was a time when a script based on Arabic (Jawi) was used.

Phonology

The phonology of Malay includes a system of 19 consonants, 20 vowels, and 4 diphthongs.

Grammar

Malay grammar is very different from English grammar. It uses affixes to denote grammatical relations.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary of Malay comes from a variety of sources, including Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, Dutch, and English.

See also

• Malaysian language
• Indonesian language
• Brunei language
• Austronesian languages

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