Malaysian language

Malaysian
Bahasa Malaysia بهاس مليسيا
Spoken in	Brunei Malaysia Singapore
Native speakers	10.3 million  (no date)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian (MP) Nuclear MP Malayo-Sumbawan Malayic Malayan Malay Malay language Malaysian
Writing system	Rumi (Latin alphabet) and Jawi (Arabic script) [2]).
Official status
Official language in	Malaysia Singapore
Regulated by	Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Institute of Language and Literature)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	either: zlm – Malaysian Malay zsm – Standard Malaysian

Malaysian or Standard Malay is the official language of Malaysia and a standardized form of the Malay language of the Austronesian family. It is over 80% cognate with Indonesian and is spoken natively by over 10 million people. As a second language, it is spoken by an estimated 18 million, mostly Malaysians from ethnic minorities.^[3]

History

In 1957, Article 152 of the Federation designated Malay as the official language. Between 1986 and 2007, the official term Bahasa Malaysia was replaced by "Bahasa Melayu". Today, Bahasa Malaysia is now once again the government's preferred designation for the "Bahasa Kebangsaan" (National Language).^[4] The language is sometimes simply referred to as Bahasa or BM.^[5]

Writing system

Main article: Malay alphabet

The Malaysian language is normally written using Latin alphabet called Rumi, although a modified Arabic script called Jawi also exists. Rumi is official while efforts are currently being undertaken to preserve Jawi script and to revive its use in Malaysia. The Latin alphabet, however, is still the most commonly used script in Malaysia, both for official and informal purposes.

Extent of use

The Malaysian language became the sole official language in West Malaysia in 1968, and in East Malaysia gradually from 1974.^{[clarification needed]} 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.

Sounds and grammar

Further information: Malay language

Borrowed words

Main article: List of Malay loanwords

The Malaysian language has many words borrowed from Arabic (mainly religious terms), Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, Persian, Portuguese, Dutch, certain Chinese dialects and more recently, English (in particular many scientific and technological terms). Modern Malaysian malay also heavily influenced by Indonesian.^[6]

Colloquial and contemporary usage

Main article: Bahasa Rojak

Contemporary usage of Malay includes a set of slang words, formed by innovations of standard Malay words or incorporated from other languages, spoken by the urban speech community, which may not be familiar to the older generation, such as awek (girl), balak (guy) or cun (pretty). New plural pronouns have also been formed out of the original pronouns and the word orang (person), such as kitorang (kita + orang, the exclusive "we", in place of kami) or diorang (dia + orang, "they"). 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 language purists in Malaysia, in their effort to uphold the proper use of the national language.

See also

• Differences between the Malaysian and Indonesian languages
• Indonesian language
• Jawi, an adapted Arabic alphabet for Malay
• Language politics
• Malaysian English, English language used formally in Malaysia.
• Varieties of Malay

References

1. ^ Malaysian language at Ethnologue
2. ^ "Kedah MB defends use of Jawi on signboards". The Star. 26 August 2008. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/26/nation/22168989&sec=nation. 
3. ^ Ethonologue, "Standard Malay"
4. ^ Back to Bahasa Malaysia. Thestar.com.my (2007-06-04). Retrieved on 2010-10-19.
5. ^ Penggunaan Istilah Bahasa Malaysia Dan Bukan Bahasa Melayu Muktamad, Kata Zainuddin. BERNAMA, 5 November 2007
6. ^ Sneddon, James N. "The Indonesian Language: it's history and role in modern society".

External links

• The Extent of the Influence of Tamil on the Malay Language: A Comparative Study – Dr. T.Wignesan(This paper was given at the VIIIth World Tamil Studies Congress, held in the Tamil University in Tanjavur, India, on December–January 1994-95 Now published in the critical collection: T.Wignesan. Sporadic Striving amid Echoed Voices, Mirrored Images & Stereotypic Posturing in Malaysian-Singaporean Literatures. Allahabad: Cyberwit.net, 2008, xix-244p.)
• Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Institute of Language and Literature Malaysia, in Malay only)
• Malay Online Web Application with 40 Interactive Free Lessons
• Malay–English Online Dictionary (from Malay to English only) from Webster's Dictionary
• Malay–English–Chinese Online Dictionary from Cari Internet
• Online Malay Text-to-Speech Demo
• The Malay Spelling Reform, Asmah Haji Omar, (Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society, 1989-2 pp. 9–13 later designated J11)
• Pogadaev, V.A., Rott, N. V. Kamus Bahasa Russia – Bahasa Malaysia. Lebih kurang 30 000 perkataan. Moscow: Russky Yazik, 1986