𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐘 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐆𝐄

RESOURCE: MALAY WORLD

16 SEPTEMBER 2023

The modern Malay language is one of the major languages of the world.⁽¹⁾ It is an important language, not only spoken natively in the Malay areas of Southeast Asia, but also serves as a national language in four countries: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. ⁽²⁾

Malay originated from the 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨-𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 languages that arrived together with the Austronesian expansions into Southeast Asia from 2000 B.C.⁽³⁾ By the early Millenium CE, Malayic tribes established settlements in coastal areas of Mainland Southeast Asia and the outlying Islands. ⁽³⁾

Based on the re-construction of Proto-Chamic, structural similarities between 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨-𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 and 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐜 languages are particularly clear in their phonologies. ⁽⁴⁾ This is based on the discovery of Đ𝐨̂𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐞̂𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚̂𝐮 inscription from the 4th century CE. Linguists speculate a 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐜-𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 dialect continuum in Mainland Southeast Asia before it was disrupted by the southward expansion of Khmer and later Thai, beginning from the 6th century. ⁽⁴⁾

Regional varieties of Malayic languages developed separately from here on, producing variants like the Old Malay, Classical Malay, and other local dialects. ⁽⁵⁾ The 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲, characterized by heavy influence of Indian languages, is most associated with stone inscriptions of Srivijaya. The oldest of these inscriptions was from the 7th century. The 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲 on the other hand, was largely influenced by the Middle Eastern languages after Islamization, of which the oldest inscription was from the Terengganu Inscription dated 1303. The precise relationship between Classical Malay and Old Malay is problematic and uncertain, ⁽⁶⁾ due to the existence of several morphological and syntactic peculiarities, and affixes of the Old Malay that are familiar from the related Batak language but are not found in the oldest texts of Classical Malay. ⁽⁵⁾ It may be the case that the language termed as “𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲” 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲. ⁽⁵⁾

The Classical Malay that was developed from the local languages in the 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐚, became an important literary language beginning from the era of 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐚 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 in the 15th century. ⁽⁷⁾The flowering of Classical Malay literature in the Malay peninsula that continued under 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 until 19th century, had produced thousands of literary works that enrich the development of Malay language. The language became an aspect of the prestige of the Malay sultanates and considered as a language of the learned in Southeast Asia in 17th and 18th century comments. ⁽⁸⁾ Throughout the centuries, it spread to the whole Southeast Asia through trade, Islamic proliferation, Malay diaspora, and colonization, and progressively became the 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐚 of the region. ⁽⁹⁾

The Malay language evolved into a modern language through the literary works of 𝐀𝐛𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢 (1796–1854), a Malacca-born Munshi of Singapore, highly regarded as the father of modern Malay literature. ⁽¹⁰⁾ During the first 𝐊𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐚 of Indonesia held in 1926, in the 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐡 𝐏𝐞𝐦𝐮𝐝𝐚, Malay was proclaimed as the 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚.⁽¹¹⁾⁽¹²⁾ The language was later renamed "𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧" during the second congress in 1928. ⁽¹¹⁾⁽¹²⁾

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬

⁽¹⁾ Collins (1998), p. 80

⁽²⁾ Collins (1998), p. 82

⁽³⁾ Andaya (2001), p. 317

⁽⁴⁾ Adelaar (2004), p. 12

⁽⁵⁾ Teeuw (1959), p. 141-143

⁽⁶⁾ Adelaar (1985), p. 191

⁽⁷⁾ Sneddon (2003), p. 74-77

⁽⁸⁾ Milner (2010), p. 81

⁽⁹⁾ Sneddon (2003), p. 59

⁽¹⁰⁾ Brakel (1976), p. 142

⁽¹¹⁾ Fishman (2011), p. 137

⁽¹²⁾ Schieffelin, Woolard, Kroskrity (1998), p. 273

𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲

1. Andaya, Leonard Y. (2001), "𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 '𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑠' 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑢" (PDF), Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 32 (3): 315–330, doi:10.1017/s0022463401000169, S2CID 62886471
2. Adelaar, K. A. (2004). 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚? 𝑇𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑, 𝑚𝑖𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. Bijdragen Tot de Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde, 160(1), 1–30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27868100
3. Sneddon, J. N. (2003). 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 : 𝑖𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦. Sydney : University of New South Wales Press. ISBN:978-0868405988
4. Teeuw, A. (1959). 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒. 𝐴 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑦. Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 115(2), 138-156. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-90002240
5. Brakel, L. F. (1976). 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑏𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑘. 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠. Abt. 3, South-East Asia. Bd. 3. Abschnitt 1. Germany: Brill.
6. Collins, James T (1998), 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑦, 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒: 𝐴 𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝐻𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, ISBN 978-979-461-537-9
7. Adelaar, K.A. (1985) 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜-𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑐𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦, PhD thesis, Leiden University [rev. ed. 1992, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics].
8. Milner, Anthony (2010), 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑠 (𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ-𝐸𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐), Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 978-1-4443-3903-1
9. Schieffelin, Bambi B.; Woolard, Kathryn Ann; Kroskrity, Paul V. (1998). 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐼𝑑𝑒𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑒𝑠: 𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑦. (1998). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195105629
10. Fishman, Joshua A. (2011) 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔: "𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠" 𝑃ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑛. Germany: De Gruyter. ISBN 9783110848984

Copy and paste:

6/2/2024 > 25 Rejab 1445H: 12.12 am