The Malaysian language (Malay: bahasa Malaysia, Jawi: بهاس مليسيا) or Malaysian Malay (Malay: bahasa Melayu Malaysia), is the name regularly applied to the standardized form of Malay language used in Malaysia (as opposed to the variety used in Indonesia, which is referred to as the "Indonesian" language). Constitutionally, however, the official language of Malaysia is stated as "Malay", but the term "Malaysian" or bahasa Malaysia is used on official contexts from time to time. Malaysian is standardized from the Johore-Riau dialect of Malay. It is spoken by much of the Malaysian population, although most learn a vernacular form of Malay or another native language first.[1] Malay is a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools.[5]

A request that this article title be changed to Bahasa Malaysia is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed.

Malaysian
bahasa Malaysia بهاس مليسيا
Pronunciation	[baˈhasə mə'lejsiə]
Native to	Malaysia
Native speakers	Spoken by the vast majority of those in Malaysia, although most learn a local Malay dialect or another native language first.[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Malayo-Sumbawan (?) Malayic Malay Malaysian
Early forms	Old Malay Malacca ("Riau-Johore") Malay[2][3]
Writing system	Latin (Rumi) Arabic (Jawi)[4] Malaysian Braille
Signed forms	Bahasa Malaysia Kod Tangan
Official status
Official language in	Malaysia
Regulated by	Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Institute of Language and Literature)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	zsm
Glottolog	stan1306

Status

Article 152 of the Federation designates Malay as the official language.[6] Between 1986 and 2007, the official term bahasa Malaysia was replaced by "bahasa Melayu". Since then, to recognize that Malaysia is composed of many ethnic groups (and not only the ethnic Malays), the term bahasa Malaysia has once again become the government's preferred designation for the bahasa kebangsaan (national language) and the bahasa perpaduan/penyatu (unifying language/lingua franca).[7][8][9][10] However, both terms remain in use.[11][12] The language is also referred to as BM, or simply Bahasa.

English continues to be widely used in professional and commercial fields and in the superior courts.

Writing system

The script of the Malaysian language is prescribed by law as the Latin alphabet, known in Malay as Rumi (Roman alphabets), provided that the Arabic alphabet called Jawi (or Malay script) is not proscribed for that purpose. Rumi is official while efforts are currently being undertaken to preserve Jawi script and to revive its use in Malaysia.[13][14][15] The Latin alphabet, however, is still the most commonly used script in Malaysia, both for official and informal purposes.

Borrowed words

The Malaysian language has most of its borrowings absorbed from Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindustani, Persian, Portuguese, Dutch, Sinitic languages, Arabic and more recently, English (in particular many scientific and technological terms). Modern Malaysian Malay has also been influenced lexically by the Indonesian variety, largely through the popularity of Indonesian dramas, soap operas, and music.[16]

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:

• Awek (means girl, in place of perempuan).
• Balak (means guy, in place of jantan).
• 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:

• Korang (kau + orang, "you all", in place of kalian / kamu semua (or hangpa / ampa in Kedah)).
• Kitorang (kita + orang, the exclusive "we", in place of kami).
• Diorang (dia + orang, the exclusive "they", in place of mereka (or depa in Kedah)).

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:

• Ramadhan (means the holy fasting month, in place of Ramadan).
• Aamiin (means asking Him to verify the prayer (Du'a); real term is Ameen, in place of Amin).
• Fardhu (means obligatory (in Islam), in place of Fardu).
• Redha (means accepting, in place of Reda).
• Mudharat (means harm, in place of Mudarat).
• Dhaif (means poverty, in place of Daif).
• Zohor (means mid-day or noon time, in place of Zuhur).
• 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

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

References

Further reading

External links

Malay edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For a list of words relating to Malaysian language, see the Malaysian language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• 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 Online Dictionary
• 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

На других языках

[de] Malaysische Sprache

[es] Idioma malasio

[fr] Malaisien (langue)

[it] Lingua malaysiana