Editing Malay language (section)

==Varieties and related languages==
{{Main|Malayic languages|Malay trade and creole languages}}
[[File:Betawi.jpg|thumb|[[Jakarta]]n [[Creole language|Creole]] Malay ([[Betawi language]])]]

There is a group of closely related languages spoken by [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malays]] and related peoples across [[Brunei]], [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], [[Southern Thailand]], [[East Timor]], and the far southern parts of the [[Philippines]]. They have traditionally been classified as Malay, Para-Malay, and Aboriginal Malay, but this reflects geography and ethnicity rather than a proper linguistic classification. The Malayic languages are [[mutually intelligible]] to varying extents, though the distinction between language and dialect is unclear in many cases.

Para-Malay includes the Malayic languages of [[Sumatra]]. They are: [[Minangkabau language|Minangkabau]], [[Central Malay]] (Bengkulu), [[Pekal language|Pekal]], Talang Mamak, [[Musi language|Musi]] (Palembang), [[Negeri Sembilan Malay|Negeri Sembilan]] (Malaysia), and [[Duano language|Duano’]].<ref>''Ethnologue'' 16 also lists Col, Haji, Kaur, Kerinci, Kubu, Lubu'.</ref>

Aboriginal Malay are the Malayic languages spoken by the [[Orang Asli]] ([[Proto-Malay]]) in [[Peninsular Malaysia|Malaya]]. They are [[Jakun language|Jakun]], [[Orang Kanaq language|Orang Kanaq]], [[Orang Seletar language|Orang Seletar]], and [[Temuan language|Temuan]].{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}

The other Malayic languages, included in neither of these groups, are associated with the expansion of the Malays across the archipelago. They include Riau-Johor Malay ([[Malaysian language|Malaysian]] and [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]), [[Kedah Malay]], [[Brunei Malay]], [[Berau Malay]], [[Bangka Malay]], [[Jambi Malay]], [[Kutai Malay]], [[Terengganu Malay]], Riau Malay, [[Orang Laut language|Loncong]], [[Pattani Malay]], [[Bacan Malay]], and [[Banjar language|Banjarese]]. [[Menterap language|Menterap]] may belong here.

There are also several [[Malay-based creole languages]], such as [[Betawi language|Betawi Malay]], [[Cocos Malay]], [[Makassar Malay]], [[Ambonese Malay]], [[Dili Malay]], [[Kupang Malay]], [[Manado Malay]], [[Papuan Malay]], [[Orang Pulo language|Thousand Islands Malay]], [[Larantuka Malay]], [[Alor Malay]], [[Balinese Malay]], and [[Sabah Malay]], which may be more or less distinct from standard (Malaccan) Malay.

Due to the early settlement of a [[Cape Malay]] community in [[Cape Town]], who are now known as [[Coloured]]s, numerous [[History of the Malay language#Classical Malay|Classical Malay]] words were brought into [[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]].

===Usages===
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2021}}
[[File:Alamat lankapuri cover.png|upright=0.8|thumb|right|The [[Alamat Langkapuri]] from [[British Ceylon]] (present-day [[Sri Lanka]]). Initially published between 1869 and 1870 and written in [[Jawi script]], it is noted to be among the first Malay-language newspaper. The readership consist of the [[Sri Lankan Malays|Malay-diaspora in Ceylon]] as well as in the Malay archipelago.]]

The extent to which Malay and related Malayan languages are used in the countries where it is spoken varies depending on historical and cultural circumstances. Malay is the national language in Malaysia by [[Constitution of Malaysia#Article 152 – National Language and Other Languages|Article 152]] of the [[Constitution of Malaysia]], and became the sole official language in [[West Malaysia]] in 1968, and in [[East Malaysia]] gradually from 1974. [[English language|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. The situation in Brunei is similar to that of Malaysia.

In Singapore, Malay was historically the ''[[lingua franca]]'' among people of different nationalities. Although this has largely given way to English, Malay still retains the status of national language and the [[national anthem]], [[Majulah Singapura]], is entirely in Malay. In addition, parade commands in the military, police and civil defence are given only in Malay.

Most residents of the five southernmost provinces of [[Thailand]]—a region that, for the most part, used to be part of an ancient Malay kingdom called [[Pattani kingdom|Pattani]]—speak a dialect of Malay called [[Yawi language|Yawi]] (not to be confused with Jawi), which is similar to Kelantanese Malay, but the language has no official status or recognition.

Owing to earlier contact with the [[Philippines]], Malay words—such as ''dalam hati'' (sympathy), ''luwalhati'' (glory), ''tengah hari'' (midday), ''sedap'' (delicious)—have evolved and been integrated into [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]] and other [[languages of the Philippines|Philippine languages]].

[[File:Youthpledge.jpg|thumb|The [[Youth Pledge]] was the result of the Second Youth Congress held in [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] in October 1928. On the last pledge, there was an affirmation of Indonesian language as a ''unifying language'' throughout the archipelago.]]
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Nila speaking Indonesian.webm|thumb|[[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] speaker]]
By contrast, Indonesian has successfully become the ''lingua franca'' for its disparate islands and ethnic groups, in part because the colonial language, Dutch, is no longer commonly spoken. (In [[East Timor]], which was governed as a province of Indonesia from 1976 to 1999, Indonesian is widely spoken and recognized under its [[Constitution]] as a 'working language'.)
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Zairul speaking Malay.webm|thumb|[[Malaysian Malay|Malaysian]] speaker]]
Besides [[Indonesia language|Indonesian]], which developed from the Riau Malay dialect,<ref name="Melayu Online">{{cite web|url=http://melayuonline.com/ind/culture/dig/1349/bahasa-melayu-riau-dan-bahasa-nasional|title=Bahasa Melayu Riau dan Bahasa Nasional|publisher=Melayu Online|access-date=29 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122024301/http://melayuonline.com/ind/culture/dig/1349/bahasa-melayu-riau-dan-bahasa-nasional|archive-date=22 November 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> there are many Malay varieties spoken in Indonesia; they are divided into western and eastern groups. Western Malay dialects are predominantly spoken in [[Sumatra]] and [[Borneo]], which itself is divided into Bornean and Sumatran Malay; some of the most widely spoken Sumatran Malay dialects are [[Riau|Riau Malay]], [[Langkat]], [[Musi language|Palembang Malay]] and [[Jambi Malay]]. [[Minangkabau people|Minangkabau]], [[Kerinci people|Kerinci]] and [[Bengkulu]] are believed to be Sumatran Malay descendants. Meanwhile, the [[Jakarta]] dialect (known as [[Betawi language|Betawi]]) also belongs to the western Malay group.
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Senful speaking Malay.webm|thumb|A young man speaks Kedah Malay.]]
The eastern varieties, classified either as dialects or [[Malay trade and creole languages|creoles]], are spoken in the eastern part of the Malay or Nusantara archipelago and include [[Makassar Malay]], [[Manado Malay]], [[Ambonese Malay]], [[North Moluccan Malay]], [[Kupang Malay]], [[Dili Malay]], and [[Papuan Malay]].
 
The differences among both groups are quite observable. For example, the word ''kita'' means 'we, us' in western, but means 'I, me' in Manado, whereas 'we, us" in Manado is ''torang'' and Ambon ''katong'' (originally abbreviated from Malay ''kita orang'' 'we people'). Another difference is the lack of possessive pronouns (and suffixes) in eastern dialects. Manado uses the verb ''pe'' and Ambon ''pu'' (from Malay ''punya'' 'to have') to mark possession. So 'my name' and 'our house" are translated in western Malay as ''namaku'' and ''rumah kita'' but ''kita pe nama'' and ''torang pe rumah'' in Manado and ''beta pu nama'', ''katong pu rumah'' in Ambon dialect.

The pronunciation may vary in western dialects, especially the pronunciation of words ending in the vowel 'a'. For example, in some parts of Malaysia and in Singapore, ''kita'' (inclusive 'we, us, our') is pronounced as {{IPA|/kitə/}}, in Kelantan and Southern Thailand as {{IPA|/kitɔ/}}, in Riau as {{IPA|/kita/}}, in Palembang as {{IPA|/kito/}}, in Betawi and Perak as {{IPA|/kitɛ/}} and in Kedah and Perlis as /kitɑ/.

Batavian and eastern dialects are sometimes regarded as Malay creole, because the speakers are not ethnically Malay.