Malaysian Malay () or Malaysian (Bahasa Malaysia)[Ibid. pp. 402, 413–417.] It is spoken by much of the Malaysian population, although most learn a vernacular Malay dialect or another native language first.[
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Terminology
In Malaysia
Article 152 of Malaysia's Constitution as drafted in 1957 (revised in 1963) merely mentions "Malay" ( Bahasa Melayu) as the designation of its "national language" without any further definition,
The exact wording of either names above can be politically contentious. Between 1986 during Mahathir Mohamad's tenure and 2007, the term bahasa Malaysia was replaced by " bahasa Melayu";
Other countries
In Singapore, "the Malay language" in the "Latin script" is afforded the status of national language in part 13 of its constitution's general provisions.[
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The national standard variety of Malay employed in formal communications of Brunei dubbed "Standard Brunei Malay"
Writing system
The Latin script, known in Malay as Rumi (Roman alphabet), is prescribed by law as the official script of Malaysian Malay, and the Arabic script called Jawi script (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.
Borrowed words
While literary Malay throughout the region has mostly absorbed from Sanskrit, Tamil language, Hindustani (Hindi–Urdu), Arabic, Persian language, Portuguese and Chinese language; the variety spoken within British colonies that eventually make up Malaysia following the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty borrowed majorly from English language (in particular many scientific and technological terms) compared to Dutch language 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 Neologism from native roots.
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Sanskrit: This language had a significant influence on the Malay language through trade and the spread of Hinduism-Buddhism 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).
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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).
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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).
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Chinese: Trade relations between Chinese merchants and the local population led to the borrowing of words such as tauhu (tofu), mi (noodles), lombong (mine).
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Portuguese: The Portuguese occupation of Malacca in the early 16th century introduced words like gereja (church), keju (cheese), jendela (window), and almari (cupboard).
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Dutch: Borrowing from Dutch occurred during the Dutch colonial period, including words like kabin (cabin), sekolah (school), kontrak (contract).
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English: The English language introduced many technical and modern words into Malay, especially during British Malaya. Examples include telefon (telephone), komputer (computer), bank, internet, and stesen (station).
Grammar
Colloquial and contemporary usage
Colloquial and contemporary usage of Malay includes modern Malaysian vocabulary, which may not be familiar to the older generation, such as:
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Awek (means girl, in place of perempuan).
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Balak (means guy, in place of jantan).
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Cun (means pretty, in place of cantik / jelita).
New plural pronouns have also been formed out of the original pronouns popularly nowadays and the word orang (person), such as:
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Korang ( kau + orang, "you all", in place of kalian / kamu semua).
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Kitorang ( kita + orang, the Clusivity "we", in place of kami).
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Diorang ( dia + orang, the Clusivity "they", in place of mereka).
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:
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Ramadhan (means the holy fasting month, in place of Ramadan).
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Aamiin (means asking Allah (Islam) to verify the prayer ( Du'a); real term is Ameen, in place of Amin).
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Fardhu (means obligatory ( in Islam), in place of Fardu).
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Redha (means accepting, in place of Reda).
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Mudharat (means harm, in place of Mudarat).
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Dhaif (means poverty, in place of Daif).
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Zohor (means mid-day or noon time, in place of Zuhur).
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Hadith (means Prophet (Mohamed) terms or speeches, in place of Hadis).
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.
See also
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Comparison of Standard Malay and Indonesian
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Indonesian language
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Jawi script, an Arabic script based writing system for Malay
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Language politics
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Malaysian English, English language used formally in Malaysia.
Further reading
External links
