Similarities Between Sanskrit and Malay

By Bahador Alast

The Indian influence on the Malay peninsula can be observed in many ways, with language being one of them. Sanskrit has had a huge impact on the Malay language. For many centuries, Malaysia, and much of Southeast Asia, was under Indian sphere of cultural influence. The close linguistic relationship between India and Malaysia can be observed today in the many common words that exist between Malay and Sanskrit-derived languages.

Sanskrit (संस्कृत) is one of the oldest Indo-Aryan languages. It has influenced several Indo-European, Iranian, as well as European languages. It is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and some texts of Buddhism and Jainism. Today, Sanskrit is still spoken as a primary language in some parts of India. Sanskrit has had a significant impact on languages outside of the Indian subcontinent. Sanskrit manuscripts and inscriptions have been found in China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Mongolia, Thailand, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Japan, and other parts of the world. It is very common to find words that are derived from Sanskrit in Chinese, Sino-Tibetan languages, Thai, Khmer, and Lao. Austronesian languages, such as Javanese, Malay, Tagalog, and Indonesian, also derive a portion of their vocabulary from Sanskrit. European languages, including English, also contain words derived from Sanskrit.

Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family spoken in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and also used in some parts of the Philippines as a trading language. Prior to the arrival of Islam in Southeast Asia, the Pallava, Nagari, and old Sumatran scripts were used in writing the Malay language. As their rulers converted to Islam, and the religion began to spread across the region, a modified form of the Arabic script (Jawi) was formed. The arrival of the Europeans brought the Latin script, and in recent times, the Latin-derived Rumi alphabet has become the most commonly used for both official and informal purposes. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and send us all your questions and take part in our regular polls to determine future videos: 

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C&P: 22 FEBRUARY 2021 : 10 REJAB 1442H: 6.25 PM