Editing Perak (section)

=== Languages ===
[[File:Malay signboard with English location name in Ipoh.jpg|thumb|right|[[Malay language]] road sign with English location name in Ipoh]]
[[File:Roadsign in Ipoh city centre (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Road sign near [[Ipoh City Council]]]]

As a multi-ethnic state, Perak is also linguistically diverse. The main local variety of Malay spoken in the state is [[Perak Malay]], which is characterised by its "e" (as in "red", {{IPAblink|e}}) and its "r", like the [[French language|French]] "r" ({{IPAblink|ʁ}}). It is commonly spoken in central Perak, more specifically in the districts of [[Kuala Kangsar District|Kuala Kangsar]] and [[Perak Tengah District|Perak Tengah]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Sir Hugh Charles Clifford|author2=Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham|title=A Dictionary of the Malay Language|url=https://archive.org/details/adictionarymala00swetgoog|year=1894|publisher=Authors at the Government's Printing Office}}</ref><ref name="Malay dialects of Perak">{{cite book|chapter-url=http://language.cs.usm.my/publications/tienping/ialp2012-synthesis.pdf|author1=Tien-Ping Tan|author2=Sang-Seong Goh|author3=Yen-Min Khaw|title=2012 International Conference on Asian Language Processing |chapter=A Malay Dialect Translation and Synthesis System: Proposal and Preliminary System |via=Speech Processing Group, School of Computer Sciences, [[Universiti Sains Malaysia]]|year=2012|pages=1–4 [109–112]|doi=10.1109/IALP.2012.14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024033022/http://language.cs.usm.my/publications/tienping/ialp2012-synthesis.pdf|archive-date=24 October 2019|url-status=dead|isbn=978-1-4673-6113-2|s2cid=15342784}}</ref> Speakers of the northern [[Kedah Malay]] dialect are also found in the northern part of Perak, comprising [[Kerian]], Pangkor Island, and [[Larut, Matang and Selama District|Larut, Matang and Selama]] districts.<ref>{{cite thesis|url=http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol23_s1_2016/kajh23s12016_01.pdf|title=Hybrid Language and Identity among the Samsam, Baba Nyonya and Jawi Peranakan Communities in North Peninsular Malaysia|author=Noriah Mohamed|publisher=Universiti Sains Malaysia|year=2016|pages=1–23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024021613/http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol23_s1_2016/kajh23s12016_01.pdf|archive-date=24 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the northeastern part of Perak (Hulu Perak), and some parts of Selama and Kerian, the Malay people speak another distinct Malay language variant known as [[Reman Malay]] or locally known as ''Basa Ulu/Grik'' (named after [[Grik]]), which is most closely related to [[Kelantan-Pattani Malay]] in Kelantan and [[southern Thailand]] (Yawi) due to geographical proximity and historical assimilation.<ref name="Malay dialects of Perak"/> In the southern parts of Perak (Hilir Perak and Batang Padang), and also in the districts of Kampar and Kinta and several parts of Manjung, the dialect spoken is heavily influenced by the southern Malay dialects of the peninsula such as Selangor, Malacca, and Johore-Riau Malay. It is also influenced by several languages of the Indonesian archipelago: [[Javanese language|Javanese]], [[Banjar language|Banjar]], [[Rawa (tribe)|Rawa]] (a variety of [[Minangkabau language|Minangkabau]]), [[Batak languages|Batak]] ([[Mandailing language|Mandailing]]), and [[Buginese language|Buginese]], as a result of historical immigration, civil wars such as the Klang War, and other factors.<ref name="Malay dialects of Perak"/>

Among Perak's various Chinese ethnicities, [[Malaysian Cantonese]] has become the [[lingua franca]], although a number of [[Chinese dialect|dialects]] are spoken including [[Cantonese]], [[Hakka]], [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]], [[Teochew dialect|Teochew]], [[Hokkien]], and [[Fuzhou dialect|Hokchiu]].<ref name="Omar2015"/><ref>{{cite book|author1=Jacquetta Megarry|author2=Stanley Nisbet|author3=Eric Hoyle|title=World Yearbook of Education: Education of Minorities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wIErNLnCT1MC&pg=PA166|date=8 December 2005|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-39297-6|pages=166–}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2017/12/09/the-rise-and-fall-of-languages-and-dialects/|title=The rise and fall of languages and dialects|author=A. Y. Yong|work=The Star|date=9 December 2017|access-date=24 October 2019}}</ref>

The Tamil community mainly speaks a [[Malaysian Tamil|Malaysian]] dialect of the [[Tamil language]]; the [[Malaysian Malayali|Malayalees]] speak [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]]; the Telugus speak the [[Telugu language]]; and the Sikhs speak [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]].<ref name="Omar2015"/> Over time, [[Tamil language|Tamil]] became a lingua franca among Perak's different Indian communities as Tamil-speaking people became the majority in several west coast Malaysian states with higher Indian populations.<ref name="British in the Malay States"/><ref name="Omar2015"/> A small number of [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]] speakers also found in parts of the state capital, Ipoh.<ref name="Omar2015"/>

Several Orang Asli languages are spoken within the state, all belonging to the [[Aslian languages|Aslian]] branch of the [[Austroasiatic languages]]. These languages are [[Lanoh language|Lanoh]], [[Temiar language|Temiar]], [[Jahai language|Jahai]], [[Kensiu language|Kensiu]], [[Kintaq language|Kintaq]], and [[Semai language|Semai]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Members of the Siamese community mainly speak a [[Southern Thai language|Southern Thai]] variant, and are fluent in Malay, also having some knowledge of some of the Chinese dialects. With the multi-ethnic make-up of Perak's society, some people speak more than one language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=100379|title=Language unites Malay and Siamese community|work=Bernama|publisher=Daily Express|date=5 June 2015|access-date=24 October 2019|quote=Thai was widely used among the Malays who live in villages shared by the Siamese community, especially in states like Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024041319/http://dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=100379|archive-date=24 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2019/10/17/how-knowing-mandarin-helps-this-perak-veterinarian-in-her-work/1801084|title=How knowing Mandarin helps this Perak veterinarian in her work|author=Sylvia Looi|newspaper=The Malay Mail|date=17 October 2019|access-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024041813/https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2019/10/17/how-knowing-mandarin-helps-this-perak-veterinarian-in-her-work/1801084|archive-date=24 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>