| Malaysian Malay | |
| Nativename: | Malay: Bahasa Melayu Malaysia |
| Also Known As: | Malay: Bahasa Malaysia Standard Malay Malay: Bahasa Melayu Piawai |
| Pronunciation: | in Malay pronounced as /baˈha.sə mə.la.ju mə'lej.sjə/ |
| States: | Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei |
| Speakers: | Native: Few |
| Date: | 2022 |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Speakers2: | L2: Spoken by the vast majority of those in Malaysia, although most learn a local Malay dialect or another native language first. |
| Speakers Label: | Speakers |
| Familycolor: | Austronesian |
| Fam2: | Malayo-Polynesian |
| Fam3: | Malayic |
| Fam4: | Malay |
| Ancestor: | Old Malay |
| Ancestor2: | Classical Malay (Johor-Riau Malay)[1] [2] |
| Script: | Latin (Rumi) Arabic (Jawi)[3] Malaysian Braille |
| Nation: | |
| Agency: | Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Malaysian Institute of Language and Literature) Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei (Brunei Language and Literature Bureau)[4] Majlis Bahasa Melayu Singapura (Singapore Malay Language Council)[5] |
| Iso3: | zsm |
| Sign: | Manually Coded Malay |
| Glotto: | stan1306 |
| Glottorefname: | Standard Malay |
| Lingua: | 33-AFA-ab |
| Notice: | IPA |
| Ancestor3: | Pre-Modern Malay (British Malayan Malay) |
| Mapcaption: | Countries where Malaysian Malay is spoken: |
| Map: | File:Malay language Spoken Area Map v1.png |
| Mapsize: | 450px |
Malaysian Malay (ms| Bahasa Melayu Malaysia) or Malaysian (Malay: Bahasa Malaysia)[6] —endonymically within Malaysia as Standard Malay (Malay: Bahasa Melayu piawai) or simply Malay (Malay: Bahasa Melayu, abbreviated to BM)— is a standardized form of the Malay language used in Malaysia and also used in Brunei and Singapore (as opposed to the variety used in Indonesia, which is referred to as the "Indonesian" language). Malaysian Malay is standardized from the Johore-Riau dialect of Malay, particularly a branch spoken in the state of Johore south of the Malay Peninsula.[7] It is spoken by much of the Malaysian population, although most learn a vernacular Malay dialect or another native language first.
Article 152 of Malaysia's Consitution as drafted in 1957 (revised in 1963) merely mentions "Malay" (Bahasa Melayu) as the designation of its "national language" without any further definition,[8] but the term bahasa Malaysia is used in official contexts from time to time. The use of the latter term can be politically contentious; in 1999 the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka rejected the publication of some short stories as the preface to the publication used the term bahasa Malaysia instead of bahasa Melayu.[9] Between 1986 and 2007, the term bahasa Malaysia was replaced by "bahasa Melayu". In 2007, to recognize that Malaysia is composed of many ethnic groups (and not only the ethnic Malays), the term bahasa Malaysia became the government's preferred designation for the national language.[10] [11] [12] [13] Internally as of present, the Dewan Bahasa prefers the term bahasa Melayu in its literature[14] whereas Malaysia's Ministry of Education prefers both Bahasa Melayu in its syllabi material[15] as well as Bahasa Malaysia in its official communications.[16]
In Singapore, "Malay" as an official language allocated in its constitution's "General Provisions" (Part 13) is not defined in detail other than "in the Roman script",[17] the name as well as Bahasa Melayu is used continuously in its own educational literature;[18] however, there is presumption that the standard "Malay" used by Singapore is the same as that utilised by the Malaysian government in contrast to the standard used by Indonesia (though with little differences in vocabulary).
Article 152 of the Malaysian Constitution mentions the Malay language as the national language while the National Language Act 1963/67 strengthens the status of the Malay language as the official language.
The use of the term Bahasa Malaysia was also official in the publication of books and government agencies before the 20th era. This matter was coordinated by the first Prime Minister of Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman in order to distinguish Indonesian language after the 13 May incident.[19]
During the era of Mahathir Mohamad, the Malaysian Government coordinated all book publications to use the term Bahasa Melayu instead of Bahasa Malaysia to respect the constitution and the national language act. This led to the publication of many scholarly books that mixed the use of either Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Malaysia until the 2010s during Abdullah Ahmad Badawi era and the beginning Najib Razak era and finally the term Bahasa Melayu was successfully harmonized in the education system in the 2020s.[20]
The national standard variety of Malay employed in Brunei largely follows the Malaysian standard; the main differences being minor variation in pronunciation and some lexical influence from Brunei Malay, the local non-standard variety of Malay.[21]
See main article: article and Malay alphabet. The Latin alphabet, known in Malay as Rumi (Roman alphabets), is prescribed by law as the official script of Malaysian Malay, and the Arabic alphabet called Jawi (or Malay script) is not legally prescribed for that purpose. Rumi is official while efforts are currently being undertaken to preserve the Jawi script and to revive its use in Malaysia.[22] [23] [24] The Latin alphabet, however, is still the most commonly used script in Malaysia, both for official and informal purposes.
See main article: article and List of loanwords in Malay. While literary Malay throughout the region has mostly absorbed from Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindustani (Hindi–Urdu), Arabic, Persian, Portuguese and Sinitic languages; the variety spoken within British colonies that eventually make up Malaysia following the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty borrowed majorly from English (in particular many scientific and technological terms) compared to Dutch as spread within the East Indies.
Since Malayan independence and later Federation formation, its own Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka followed a purist approach in lexicography away from Western loanwords (even favouring established roots like Sanskrit and Arabic) as well as neologizing from native roots.[25] In recent years, Malaysian has also been influenced lexically by the Indonesian variety largely through the popularity of neighbouring mass media like dramas, soap operas, and music – akin to the effect of American media towards other Englishes like those of Britain and Australia.[26]
This language had a significant influence on the Malay language through trade and the spread of Hindu-Buddhist religions that arrived in the Malay Archipelago from the 1st to the 14th century. Borrowed words include bahasa (language), raja (king), syurga (heaven), neraka (hell), desa (village).
2. Arabic:
With the arrival of Islam in the region during the 7th century, Arabic began influencing the Malay language, especially in religious and philosophical terminology. Examples include kitab (book), masjid (mosque), ilmu (knowledge), iman (faith), zakat (almsgiving).
3. Tamil:
The influence of the Tamil language came primarily through maritime trade between India and the Malay Archipelago. Borrowed words from Tamil include kedai (shop), mangga (mango), and vadai (a type of snack).
4. Chinese:
Trade relations between Chinese merchants and the local population led to the borrowing of words such as tauhu (tofu), mee (noodles), lombong (mine).
5. Portuguese:
The Portuguese occupation of Malacca in the early 16th century introduced words like gereja (church), keju (cheese), jendela (window), and almari (cupboard).
6. Dutch:
Borrowing from Dutch occurred during the Dutch colonial period, including words like kabin (cabin), sekolah (school), kontrak (contract).
7. English:
The English language introduced many technical and modern words into Malay, especially during British colonial rule. Examples include telefon (telephone), komputer (computer), bank, internet, and stesen (station).
See main article: Malay grammar.
See main article: article and Bahasa Rojak.
Colloquial and contemporary usage of Malay includes modern Malaysian vocabulary, which may not be familiar to the older generation, such as:
New plural pronouns have also been formed out of the original pronouns popularly nowadays and the word orang (person), such as:
In addition, Arabic terms that is originally used in Standard Malay nowadays has been popularly changed where some of the words and pronunciations in the involved terms have been added by the local conservative Muslims by disputing the terms suggested by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), claiming that the involved terms with implementation of the additional words and pronunciations is the real correct terms as same as stated in the Qur'an, where it is predominantly used by the local Muslim netizens in the social medias nowadays. The several involved terms in comparison to Standard Malay that is popularly used, such as:
Code-switching between English and Malaysian and the use of novel loanwords is widespread, forming Bahasa Rojak. Consequently, this phenomenon has raised the displeasure of linguistic purists in Malaysia, in their effort to uphold use of the prescribed standard language.
Malaysia
Singapore