Malay language

Malay language (Malay: Bahasa Melayu) is an Austronesian language that is spoken by millions of people worldwide, primarily in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and Thailand. It is the national language of Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia and it is one of the four official languages of Singapore.

History

The Malay language has its origins in the Austronesian migration. It has been influenced by Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, Dutch, and English due to trade and colonization. The earliest known inscriptions in Malay were found in southern Sumatra and on the islands of Bangka and Belitung, dating from 7th-8th century AD.

Classification

Malay belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. It is related to other Austronesian languages such as Tagalog, Javanese, and Polynesian.

Dialects

There are several dialects of Malay, including Malaysian Malay, Indonesian, Brunei Malay, Kedah Malay, Pattani Malay, and others. Each dialect has its own unique characteristics and variations in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

Writing system

The Malay language was originally written using the Pallava alphabet, which was replaced by the Kawi script and then the Arabic script (known as Jawi). The Latin script, introduced during the colonial period, is now the most commonly used script to write Malay.

Grammar

Malay grammar is typologically similar to that of other Austronesian languages. It is an agglutinative language, which means that words are formed by joining morphemes together. The basic word order is subject-verb-object (SVO), but it can be flexible due to the use of topic and focus markers.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary of Malay is largely native, but it has borrowed many words from other languages, especially Sanskrit, Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch, and English.

Phonology

The phonology of Malay is characterized by a system of 20 consonants and 6 vowels. It also has a complex system of phonotactics, which governs the distribution of sounds in a word.

See also

• Malaysian language
• Indonesian language
• Brunei language
• Austronesian languages
• Malayo-Polynesian languages