The official Standard Malaysian Language that is used in written
materials and for formal communication in Malaysia is called “Bahasa
Malaysia” which means the language of Malaysia. During the 1970s, the
official Standard Malay Language was called "Bahasa Kebangsaan” (The
National Language) and in 1990s; “Bahasa Melayu”. “Melayu” is a term
referring to the varieties of Malay dialects used by the ethnic group
of Austronesian people living mainly in the Malay Peninsula, including
the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the
west coast of Borneo and in nearby islands.
In the year 2000, the Malaysian Education Minister Tan Sri Musa
Mohamad issued a directive to implement Bahasa Malaysia to all schools
and abolished Bahasa Baku which was another variant of Malay Language
used. (New Straits Times, 24th January 2000) Since then, public
communication in speeches, broadcasts, written documents and
commercial transactions have gradually applied the Official Standard
Bahasa Malaysia in favour of other varieties of Malay such as Bahasa
Baku or impure Bahasa such as “Bahasa Rojak” (Malay blended with other
languages and dialects) or “Bahasa Manglish” (Malay mixed with
English).
Bahasa Malaysia is based on the dialect of Johor-Riau Malay originally
spoken in Johor, Riau, Malacca and Singapore and in the court of the
Malacca Sultans during Sri Vijaya Empire, also known as the Johor-Riau
Empire, which lasted sometime before the birth of Christ and until
1824. Johor is the southern most state of the Malay Peninsula, and
Riau is the central province of Sumatra island of Indonesia.
The dialect of Riau-Johor Malay was chosen to be the lingua franca for
traders and governance of Malaysia as it is simple to apply and the
language allow easy integration of new words.
Johor and Riau lie on the strategic sea trade route passing from the
South China Sea to the Indian Ocean and also through the Straits of
Malacca. Due to this geographical position, the Johor-Riau Malay
language had developed to include influences from the Arab world,
India, Persia, Portugal, Netherlands, England and China via dealings
with traders, via the spread of Islam and British colonization. Hence,
it is common to come across Arabic, Hindi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Persian,
Portuguese, Dutch, English and certain Chinese dialectal vocabulary
words infused into Bahasa Malaysia.
Efforts to standardize the Malay language at the regional level were made:
- with Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei agreeing to keep the basis of
their official Malay language as Bahasa Melayu (Bahasa Riau) of the
Riau Archipelago.
- between Malaysia and Indonesia. However, this regional
standardisation has yet to be successful. Bahasa Indonesia continues
to carry heavy influence and usage of Dutch words. Likewise the
prominent footprints of British influence remains in Bahasa Malaysia
for example in the word “Prosedur” which means Procedure.
Difference between Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia
Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia may seem almost identical, but
for native speakers, the differences can lead to miscommunication in
spoken or written communication. For broadcasters and entertainers
hoping to reach a wider sensitive audience in screenings of movies,
sale of entertainment media and documentaries, it is considered to be
more sensible to use both Indonesian and Malay subtitles, alongside
with other language subtitles. A Malay translator or Malay interpreter
from Malaysia would be able to distinguish and display the Malay
translation appropriately and in the right context. The following are
some examples of the differences.
- Standard Bahasa Malay users speak at a more flowing pace; and
words that end with the letter "a" is often spoken with an unstressed
and toneless neutral vowel sound. Bahasa Indonesia users speak in
abrupt, sharp, clear-cut, crisp manner; their "r"s are notably
trilled, and all words are usually pronounced exactly as they are
spelt.
- Indonesian and Malay were under different colonial masters for
centuries. Hence, each country underwent different vocabulary
development. Dutch vocabulary influence in the case of Indonesia,
formerly the Dutch East Indies and English vocabulary influence in the
case of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, which were formerly under
British rule.
- Bahasa Indonesia was also influenced by various Malayan and
Indonesian language varieties spoken by a multiethnic Indonesia of
over 230 million inhabitants.
Standard Bahasa Malaysia Writing System
Presently, the two official scripts in Malaysia is the modified Latin
or Roman alphabets and Jawi.
The modified Latin alphabets that Bahasa Malaysia uses are the 26
Roman alphabets and 10 combinations of consonants and vowels for
representing additional sounds that are special to Bahasa Malaysia.
These are ai, au, ua, dz, kh, ny, ng, ngg, sy, and ts. The special
sounds evolved from a history of Indian and Arabic influence; and
Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist influence, apart from British influence.
Evidences of the earliest Malay scripts were Indian scripts found in
southern Sumatra and on the island of Bangka and dated from 683-6 AD.
Later in the 14th Century, the Malaysians adopted a modified version
of the Arabic writing system called Jawi. Jawi has 6 extra alphabets چ
(ca), ﭪ (pa), ڠ (nga), ڬ (ga), ۏ (va) and ڽ (nya) in addition to the
standard Arabic alphabets ي أ ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن ه و.
By the early 20th Century and with the influence of Dutch, British and
Portuguese traders, Jawi alphabets were gradually converted to their
Latin equivalent alphabets and became the official writing system for
Bahasa Malaysia.
Jawi is still being used for religious and cultural purposes. Jawi
scripts can be seen on bank notes, and on “Halal” certificates or
signs in companies that engage activities that is lawful according to
the Islamic law. The professional Malay Interpreter or Malay
Translator can help in the process and documentation for achieving
“Halal” certification pertaining to the targeted market that can
greatly increase export sales. Advice with regards to relevance of use
of Jawi scripts in translations can also be given especially for
marketing brochures or materials. For example, “Halal” food signs are
seen in restaurant menus to indicate that the food is prepared
according to Islamic law; that is, the explicitly forbidden substances
such as pork, alcohol, carrion are absent in the food.
In Malaysia, daily usage of Jawi is maintained in the state of
Kelantan in Malaysia whereby majority of the population consists of
conservative Malays. In terms of media communication and conferences
whereby languages other than Bahasa Malaysia is delivered, it is
therefore reasonable for the audience to expect a Bahasa Malaysia
interpreter or Bahasa Melayu interpreter or Malay interpreter to be
present.
Bahasa Malaysia Pronunciation – Basics
One way to go about learning Bahasa Malaysia language or Malay
language is to start verbalising the Romanised Malay language. A Malay
language teacher or tutor (or even a Malay translator or Malay
interpreter) would advise the following Bahasa Malaysia rules:
Malaysian Language Vowels
- .The vowel is short if the syllable ends with a consonant or the
vowel which is the final one and it is half long
- The vowel is long if the syllable ends in a vowel
a short as in art; long as in father;
e short as in pen; long as in they
i short as in fin; long as in seen
o short as in nor; long as in slow
u short as in pull ; long as in tool
Malaysian Language Consonants
The consonants pronunciation are similar to English except for:
C is pronounced with a “ch” as in charge
G is pronounced with a hard “g” as in goal
H is aspirated as in in the Mexican name “Juanita”
K as a final letter is pronounced with an abrupt stop
Unique Combinations to Bahasa Malaysia
ai is pronounced similar to ay or “y” in by
au is pronounced similar to “ow” in owl
ua is pronounced similar to the short version of vowels “u” and “a” together
dz is pronounced similar to “z” in English as in zeal
kh is pronounced similar to “k” in English as in kangaroo
ng is pronounced similar to “ng” in young
ny is pronounced similar to “ni” in Bosnia
ngg is pronounced as “ng” plus “g”
sy is pronounced similar to “sh” in shower
ts is pronounced similar to “th” in thin
Bahasa Malaysia Grammar - Basics
A Malay language teacher or Bahasa Malaysia language teacher would
indicate that Bahasa Malaysia (or loosely termed Bahasa Melayu) uses
affixes to show change in meaning or grammar, by attaching or
inserting these affixes:
- to the beginning; for example in “membuka” which means “to open”
from the root word “buka” which means “open” or
- to the end of a word; for example in “lepaskan” which means “to
release” from the root word ”lepas” which means “escaped”
3.within the word; for example in “kemahuan” which means “desire” from
the root word, “mahu” which means “want”
- and by doubling; for example in “barang-barang” which means “things”.
Therefore, there are no definite or indefinite articles. Verbs are not
conjugated according to the present perfect, past or future tense,
rather the timing is interpreted by adding words such as "kelmarin"
(yesterday), "sudah" (already), "besok" or “esok”(tomorrow), etc.
- and by doubling; for example in “barang-barang” which means “things”.Therefore, there are no definite or indefinite articles. Verbs are not conjugated according to the present perfect, past or future tense, rather the timing is interpreted by adding words such as "kelmarin" (yesterday), "sudah" (already), "besok" or “esok”(tomorrow), etc.
Worth Knowing
As you get to hear more Bahasa Malaysia, you may come across a few
words that may seem inconsistent with general pronunciation rules. A
Bahasa Malaysia translator (or Malay translator) and a Bahasa Malaysia
interpreter (or Malay interpreter ) may advise that these
peculiarities are unique to Bahasa Malaysia and not in Bahasa
Indonesia. In Malaysia:
- the “a” syllable may sometimes replace the first syllable “e”. For
example, “enam” meaning six becomes “anam”.
.
- sometimes, the vowels “i” and “e” are interchanged. For example,
“sempang” meaning crossroad becomes “simpang”.
- sometimes, the vowels “o” and “u” are interchanged. For example,
“ubat” meaning medicine becomes “obat”.
Origin of Malaysian Language
The Old Malay language or Classical Malay language belongs to the
language family of Malayo-Polynesian languages which is also a
subgroup of the Austronesian language family. The Malayo-Polynesian
language includes the Indonesian and the Philippine languages.
Therefore, a Bahasa Malaysia translator (or Malay translator) and
Bahasa Malaysia interpreter (or Malay interpreter) from Malaysia can,
with sufficient time, make a few guesses as to certain Bahasa
Indonesia vocabulary words that are not present in the Bahasa Malaysia
language, before translating the Bahasa Indonesia document.
Global Status
The status of a language, in this case Standard Bahasa Malaysia, is
determined by a) the population size of users, b) their economic and
c) political power and d) historical factors, that is, whether the
language is the dominant language of the nation or region.
a) Size of users of Malaysian Language
According to the Department of Statistics, Malaysia and census updated
on 2nd July 2010, the total population of Malaysians was 28.5 million
whereby 27.2% are below 15 years old, 68.1% are between 15 and 64
years old, and 4.7% above 65 years old (recommended retirement age).
Bahasa Malaysia translations (or Malay translations) by Bahasa
Malaysia translators (or Malay translators) of detail statistical
reports have often help companies to better understand the market in
Malaysia before launching their products. For example, in the area of
population distribution, purchasing power and buying patterns of the
target state in Malaysia.
b) Economy
It is interesting to note that from the article on May 13, 2009 in
“The Sun” Newspaper, Malaysian Economy recorded a growth of 10.1% in
the first quarter of 2010, which is a marked increase compared to 4.4%
growth in the fourth quarter of previous year.
All major economic sectors showed strong growth. The manufacturing
sector grew by 16.9% compared to 5% at the fourth quarter last year.
This is mainly due to growth in electric and electronics (34.4%),
transport equipment (25.3%) and furniture (18.7%) sectors. The
services sector also recorded strong performance of 8.5% compared to
5.2% in the fourth quarter of 2009, driven by utilities (16.6%), real
estate and business services (14.2%), wholesale and retail (9.6%) and
transport and storage (9.2%) sectors .The construction sector
continued to expand 8.7% while the mining sector turned around to
register 2.1% growth. The agriculture sector expanded 6.8% mainly due
to higher production of rubber, livestock and timber.
Growth during the quarter was driven by “strong domestic expenditure
sustained by expansion in private and public consumption at 5.1% and
6.3% respectively.
Investment grew strongly at 5.4%, reflecting recovery in investor
confidence, he said, adding the external sector registered sterling
performance with total exports increasing 19.3%, amidst recovery in
global economy and trade.
Similarly, total imports expanded by 27.5%, on account of higher
imports of intermediate (37.9%), consumption (18.5%) and capital goods
(9.6%), pointing towards more robust domestic economic activities.”
c) Politics
Occasionally, Bahasa Malaysia translators (or Malay translators) and
Bahasa Malaysia interpreters (or Malay interpreters) are engaged to
help assess the long term stability of Malaysia by translations of
latest political news or policy changes, for a multinational company
that is considering to invest in huge capital outlays, local
distribution networks and many branches.
The following is a glimpse of Malaysia’s political arena.
According to the article written on 10th June 2002 by Rod Davies,
Orient Pacific Century, Malaysia Market Capsule Review; Malaysia is
“Extremely stable politically during the last 20 years of first steady
growth and then one of the fastest in the world until late 1997.
Politics remains dominated by UMNO, the Malay based party which
receives widespread support regardless of religion, ethnicity, or
urban/country residence, with Mahathir at its helm for a couple of
decades. It is by far the major component of the Barisan Nasional (BN)
co-alition that rules Malaysia, other parties being smaller and
considerably less influential Chinese and Indian based parties and
some provincial parties based in Malaysian Borneo (Sarawak and
Sabah).”
d) Historical Factors
The 1968 Constitution of Malaysia requires Bahasa Malaysia which is
based upon Bahasa Melayu to be the national and sole official language
of Malaysia. In 1974 East Malaysia followed suit. Although English
continues to be used in commercial dealings and in the superior
courts, majority of the Malaysians are educated in the language of
Bahasa Malaysia.
Malay Translation
If you like to sell your products or services to the Malaysian market
you need to use experienced and qualified Malay translators providing Malay translation services who understand the local
culture. Please contact our Malay translators and Malay interpreters on +6563391886
|
