Editing Malay language (section)

==Origin==
Malay historical linguists agree on the likelihood of the Malayic homeland being in western [[Borneo]].<ref>{{harvp|Adelaar|2004}}</ref> A form known as Proto-Malayic was spoken in Borneo at least by 1000&nbsp;BCE, it has been argued to be the ancestral language of all subsequent [[Malayic languages]]. Its ancestor, [[Proto-Malayo-Polynesian]], a descendant of the [[Proto-Austronesian language]], began to break up by at least 2000&nbsp;BCE, possibly as a result of the southward expansion of [[Austronesian peoples]] into [[Maritime Southeast Asia]] from the island of [[Taiwan]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Andaya|first=Leonard Y.|date=2001|title=The Search for the 'Origins' of Melayu|url=http://sabrizain.org/malaya/library/search.pdf|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|language=en|volume=32|issue=3|pages=315–330|doi=10.1017/S0022463401000169|s2cid=62886471}}</ref>
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Through the penetration and proliferation of [[Sanskrit]] vocabulary and the influence of major [[Indian religions]], the Proto-Malayic evolved into a form known as the Old Malay language.

The oldest surviving specimen of Old Malay, the [[Kedukan Bukit inscription]], dating from the end of the 7th century CE, was found on the banks of the River Tatang, a tributary of the River Musi, [[South Sumatra]]. "[[Melayu Kingdom|Malayu]]" was the name of an old kingdom located in [[Jambi|Jambi Province]] in Eastern Sumatra.

The use of Malay as a ''[[lingua franca]]'' throughout the [[Malay Archipelago]] is linked to the rise of [[Muslims|Muslim]] kingdoms and the spread of [[Islam]], itself a consequence of growing regional trade. A literary language was established in [[Malacca Sultanate|Malacca]]. After the defeat of Malacca by the Portuguese in 1511, the literary center shifted to the [[Johor-Riau Sultanate]] and the literary language is therefore often called Johor-Riau Malay, though it is a continuation of Malacca Malay. When Johor was divided between [[British Malaya]] ([[Johor]]) and the [[Dutch East Indies]] ([[Riau]]), its language was accorded official status in both territories.

Indonesia pronounced "Riau" (Malacca–Johor) Malay its official language (''Bahasa Indonesia'') when it gained independence. Since 1928, nationalists and young people throughout the Indonesian archipelago had declared Malay to be Indonesia's only official language, as proclaimed in the ''[[Sumpah Pemuda]]'' "Youth Vow." Thus Indonesia was the first country to designate Malay as an official language.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Languages of Indonesia (Sumatra) |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=IDS}}</ref>

In Malaysia, the 1957 [[Constitution of Malaysia#Article 152|Article 152]] of the Federation adopted Johor (Malacca) Malay as the official language (''Bahasa Malaysia''). The name "Malaysia", in both language and country, emphasised that the nation consisted of more than just ethnic [[Malay people|Malays]]. In 1986 the official name was changed to ''Bahasa Melayu'', but in 2007 it was changed back.<ref>[http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/bm/news.php?id=294230 Penggunaan Istilah Bahasa Malaysia Dan Bukan Bahasa Melayu Muktamad, Kata Zainuddin]. BERNAMA, 5 November 2007</ref>

"Bahasa Melayu" was defined as Brunei's official language in the country's 1959 Constitution. It is also based on the Malaccan standard.

The Indonesian and Malaysian [[register (sociolinguistics)|register]]s of Malay are separated by some centuries of different vocabulary development (see [[Differences between Malaysian and Indonesian]]; cf. [[Serbo-Croatian]]). This is, in part, partly due to the influence of different colonial languages; [[Dutch language|Dutch]] in the case of Indonesia (see [[Dutch East Indies]]) and [[English language|English]] in the case of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, which were formerly under [[British Empire|British rule]]. However, Indonesia and Malaysia largely unified their previously divergent orthographies in 1972, and they along with Brunei have set up a joint commission to develop common scientific and technical vocabulary and otherwise co-operate to keep their standards convergent.

Some Malay [[dialect]]s, however, show only limited [[mutual intelligibility]] with the standard language; for example, [[Kelantan-Pattani Malay|Kelantanese]] or [[Sarawak Malay|Sarawakian]] pronunciation is difficult for many fellow Malaysians to understand, while [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] contains many words unfamiliar to speakers of Malaysian, some because of [[Javanese language|Javanese]], [[Sundanese language|Sundanese]] or other [[Languages of Indonesia|local language]] influence and some because of the independent development of [[Indonesian slang language|Indonesian slang]] and colloquial parlance.

The language spoken by the [[Peranakans|Peranakan]] (Straits Chinese, a hybrid of Chinese settlers from the [[Ming dynasty|Ming Dynasty]] and local Malays) is a unique [[patois]] of Malay and the [[Hokkien|Hokkien Chinese]], which is mostly spoken in the former [[Straits Settlements]] of [[Penang]] and [[Malacca]] in Malaysia and the Indonesian Archipelago. -->