The Malaysian language, or Standard Malay is the name regularly applied to
the Malay language used in Malaysia. Constitutionally however, the official
language of Malaysia is Malay but the government from time to time refers it
as Malaysian. Malaysian is a standardised register of the Johore-Riau
dialect of Malay. It is over 95% cognate with Indonesian. It has many native
speakers, as it is spoken by most of the Malaysian population as a first
language. It is a compulsory subject in primary and secondary school.
The Malaysian name for the language is Bahasa Malaysia. This term is
occasionally found in English. History
Article 152 of the Federation designates Malay as the official language. Between
1986 and 2007, the official term Bahasa Malaysia was replaced by "Bahasa
Melayu". Today, to recognise that Malaysia is composed of many ethnic
groups, the term Bahasa Malaysia has once again become the government's
preferred designation for the "Bahasa Kebangsaan" and the "Bahasa
Persatuan/Pemersatu". The language is sometimes simply referred to as Bahasa
or BM. Writing system
The Malaysian language is normally written using a Latin alphabet called
Rumi, though an Arabic alphabet called Jawi also exists. Rumi is official while
efforts are currently being undertaken to preserve Jawi script and to revive
its use in Malaysia. The Latin alphabet, however, is still the most commonly used
script in Malaysia, both for official and informal purposes.
Extent of use The Malaysian language became the sole
official language in West Malaysia in 1968, and in East Malaysia gradually
from 1974. English continues, however, to be widely used in professional and
commercial fields and in the superior courts. Other minority languages such as
Tamil, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka are also commonly used by the
country's large Indian and Chinese ethnic minority populations.
Borrowed words The Malaysian language has most of its
words borrowed from Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, Persian, Portuguese, Dutch,
certain Chinese dialects, Arabic and more recently, English. Modern Malaysian
is also heavily influenced by Indonesian. This phenomenon due to the
invasion of Indonesian culture like Drama, Soap Opera, and the Indonesian
song, and music. = Colloquial and contemporary usage=
Contemporary usage of Malay includes a set of slang words, and words that
formed by mixing of Malay and English which is call Bahasa Rojak. Many of
Malaysian today is more prefer to use this kind of language than Malay as
their own national language. A Dutch linguist, Professor Win A. L Stokhof in
one of the famous Kuala Lumpur newspaper which published on 2012 March 19, said:
"Malaysian language must becoming extinct, even the Malaysian people is
not giving an honor to their own native language...."
In his presentation in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Georgetown, he said the same
thing: "A language may becoming extinct or
disapperead, if the people is not giving an honor or they do not consider the
language as that can unite the community in their country and feel embarrassed or
unwilling to care for the correct use of their own native language"
"Malaysian doesn't like to using Malay. Their prefer to the English especially
in formal occasion, although in the daily their using Malay instead...."
Malay modern vocabulary, which may not be familiar to the older generation,
such as awek, balak or cun. New plural pronouns have also been formed out of
the original pronouns and the word orang, such as kitorang or diorang.
Code-switching between English and Malaysian and the use of novel loanwords
is widespread, forming Bahasa Rojak. Consequently, this phenomenon has raised
the displeasure of language purists in Malaysia, in their effort to uphold the
proper use of the national language. See also
Differences between the Malaysian and Indonesian languages
Indonesian language Jawi, an Arabic alphabet for Malay
Language politics Malaysian English, English language used
formally in Malaysia. Varieties of Malay
References External links
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Malay Online Web Application with 40
Interactive Free Lessons Malay–English Online Dictionary from
Webster's Dictionary Malay–English–Chinese Online Dictionary
from Cari Internet The Malay Spelling Reform, Asmah Haji
Omar, Pogadaev, V.A., Rott, N. V. Kamus Bahasa
Russia – Bahasa Malaysia. Lebih kurang 30 000 perkataan. Moscow: Russky Yazik,
1986