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MALAY LANGUAGE
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See also:MALAY See also:LANGUAGE . AND LITERATURE The Malay language is a member of the Malayan See also:section of the Malayo-Polynesian class of See also:languages, but it is by no means a representative type of the section which has taken its name from it. The See also:area over which it is spoken comprises the See also:peninsula of Malacca with the adjacent islands (the Rhio-Lingga See also:Archipelago), the greater See also:part of the See also:coast districts of See also:Sumatra and See also:Borneo, the seaports of See also:Java, the Sunda and See also:Banda Islands. It is the See also:general See also:medium of communication throughout the archipelago from Sumatra to the Philippine Islands, and it was so upwards of three See also:hundred and fifty years ago when the Portuguese first appeared in those parts. There are no Malay See also:manuscripts extant, no monumental records with See also:inscriptions in Malay, dating from before the spreading of See also:Islam in the archipelago, about the end of the 13th See also:century. By some it has been argued from this fact that the See also:Malays possessed no See also:kind of See also:writing See also:prior to the introduction of the Arabic See also:alphabet (W. See also:Robinson, J. J. de Hollander) ; whereas others have maintained, with greater show of See also:probability, that the Malays were in See also:possession of an See also:ancient alphabet, and that it was the same as the Rechang (See also:Marsden, Friederich), as the Kawi (See also:Van der Tuuk), or most like the Lampong (See also:Kern)—all of which alphabets, with the Battak, Bugi and See also:Macassar, are ultimately traceable to the ancient Cambojan characters. With the See also:Mahommedan See also:conquest the Perso-Arabic alphabet was introduced among the Malays; it has continued ever since to be in use for See also:literary, religious and business purposes. Where Javanese is the See also:principal language, Malay is sometimes found written with Javanese characters; and in Palembang, in the Menangkabocountry of See also:Middle Sumatra, the Rechang or Renchong characters are in general use, so called from the See also:sharp and pointed See also:knife with which they are cut on the smooth See also:side of See also:bamboo staves. It is only since the Dutch have established their supremacy in the archipelago that the See also:Roman See also:character has come to be largely used in writing and See also:printing Malay. This is also the See also:case in the Straits Settlements. By the simplicity of its phonetic elements, the regularity of its grammatical structure, and the copiousness of its nautical vocabulary, the Malay language is singularly well fitted to be the lingua franca throughout the See also:Indian archipelago. It possesses the five vowels a, i, it, e, o, both See also:short and See also:long, and one pure diphthong, au. Its consonants are k, g, ng, ch, j, n, t, d, n, p, b, m, y, r, w, s, h. Long vowels can only occur in open syllables. The only possible consonantal nexus in purely Malay words is that of a nasal and See also:mute, a liquid and mute and See also:vice versa, and a liquid and nasal. Final k and h are all but suppressed in the utterance. Purely Arabic letters are only used in Arabic words, a See also:great number of which have been received into the Malay vocabulary. But the Arabic character is even less suited to Malay than to the other Eastern languages on which it has been foisted. As the short vowels are not marked, one would, in seeing, e.g. the word bntng, think first of bintang, a See also:star; but the word might also mean a large scar, to throw down, to spread, rigid, mutilated, See also:enceinte, a kind of See also:cucumber, a See also:redoubt. according as it is pronounced, bantang, banting, bentang, buntang, buntung, See also:bunting, bonteng, benteng. Malay is essentially, with few exceptions, a dissyllabic language, and the syllabic See also:accent rests on the penultimate unless that syllable is open and short; e.g. datang, namana, bestir, diumpatkannalah. Nothing in the See also:form of a See also:root word indicates the grammatical See also:category to which it belongs; thus, ketsih, kindness, affectionate, to love; ganti, a See also:proxy, to See also:exchange, instead of. It is only in derivative words that this vagueness is avoided. Derivation is effected by infixes, prefixes, affixes and reduplication. Infixes occur more rarely in Malay than in the cognate See also:tongues. Examples areguruh, a rumbling See also:noise, gumuruh, to make such a noise; tunjuk, to point, telunjuk, the forefinger; chuchuk, to See also:pierce, cheruchuk, a stockade. The import of the prefixes—me (meng, men, men, mem), Ise (peng, See also:pen, pen, pem), ber (See also:bel), per, pet, ka, di, ter,—and affixes—an, kan, i, lah—will best appear from the following examples —root word ajar, to See also:teach, to learn; mengajar, to instruct (expresses an See also:action) ; belajar, to study (See also:state or See also:condition) ; mengajari, to instruct (some one, trans.); mengajarkan, to instruct (in something, causative) ; pengajar, the instructor; pelajar, the learner; pengajaran, the See also:lesson taught, also the school; pelajaran, the lesson learnt; diajar, to be learnt; terajar, learnt; terajarkan, taught; terajari, instructed; [peraja (from See also:raja, See also:prince), to recognize as prince; perajakan, to See also:crown as prince; karajdan, See also:royalty] ; ajarkanlah, teach ! Examples of reduplication are—ajar-ajar, a sainted See also:person; ajar-berajar (or berajar), to be learning and teaching by turns; similarly there are forms like ajar-mengajar, berajar-ajargn, ajar-ajari, memperajar, memperajarkan, memperajari, terbclajarkan, perbelajarkan, &c. Altogether there are upwards of a hundred possible derivative forms, in the idiomatic use of which the Malays exhibit much skill. See especially H. von Dewall, De vormveranderingen der Maleische See also:taal (See also:Batavia, 1864) and J. Pijnappel, Maleisch-Hollandsch Woordenboek (See also:Amsterdam, 1875), " Inleiding." In every other respect the language is characterized by great simplicity and indefiniteness. There is no See also:inflexion to distinguish number, gender or case. Number is never indicated when the sense is obvious or can be gathered from the context; otherwise See also:plurality is expressed by adjectives such as sagala, all, and See also:ban"ak, many; more rarely by the repetition of the noun, and the indefinite singular by sa or situ, one, with a class-word. Gender may, if necessary, be distinguished by the words laki-laki, male, and perampuan, See also:female, in the case of persons, and of jantan and beano in the case of animals. The genitive case is generally indicated by the position of the word after its governing noun. Also adjectives and See also:demonstrative pronouns have their places after the noun. Comparison is effected by the use of particles. Instead of the See also:personal pronouns, both in their full and abbreviated forms, conventional nouns are in frequent use to indicate the social position or relation of the respective interlocutors, as, e.g. hamba tuan, the See also:master's slave, i.e. I. These nouns vary according to the different localities. Another peculiarity of Malay (and likewise of See also:Chinese, Shan, See also:Talaing, Burmese and Siamese) is the use of certain class-words or coefficients with numerals, such as orang (See also:man),when speaking of persons, ekor (tail) of animals, kg ping (piece) of See also:flat things, biji (See also:seed) of roundish things; e.g. See also:lima biji, telor, five eggs. The number of these class-words is considerable. Malay verbs have neither person or number nor See also:mood or tense. The last two are sometimes indicated by particles or See also:auxiliary verbs; but these are generally dispensed with if the meaning is sufficiently See also:plain without them. The Malays avoid the See also:building up of long sentences. The two See also:main rules by which the See also:order of the words in a See also:sentence is regulated are—subject, verb, See also:object; and qualifying words follow those which they qualify. This is quite the See also:reverse of what is the See also:rule in Burmese. The See also:history of the Malays amply accounts for the number and variety of See also:foreign ingredients in their language. See also:Hindus appear to have settled in Sumatra and Java as See also:early as the 4th century of our era, and to have continued to exercise sway over the native See also:Costume, Weapons, etc. populations for many centuries. These received from them into their language a very large number of See also:Sanskrit terms, from which we can infer the nature of the civilizing See also:influence imparted by the See also:Hindu rulers. Not only in words concerning See also:commerce and See also:agriculture, but also in terms connected with social, religious and administrative matters that influence is traceable in Malay. See W. E. See also:Maxwell, See also:Manual of the Malay Language (1882), pp. 5-34, where this subject is treated more fully than by previous writers. This Sanskrit See also:element forms such an integral part of the Malay vocabulary that in spite of the subsequent infusion of Arabic and See also:Persian words adopted in the usual course of Mahommedan conquest it has retained its ancient citizenship in the language. The number of Portuguese, See also:English, Dutch and Chinese words in Malay is not considerable; their presence is easily accounted for by See also:political or commercial contact. The Malay language abounds in idiomatic expressions, which constitute the See also:chief difficulty in its acquisition. It is sparing in thb use of personal pronouns, and prefers impersonal and elliptical diction. As it is See also:rich in specific expressions for the various aspects of certain ideas, it is requisite to employ always the most appropriate See also:term suited to the particular aspect. In Maxwell's Manual, pp. 120 seq., no less than sixteen terms are given to See also:express the different kinds of striking, as many for the different kinds of speaking, eighteen for the various modes of carrying, &c. An unnecessary distinction has been made between High Malay and See also:Low Malay. The latter is no See also:separate See also:dialect at all, but a See also:mere See also:brogue or See also:jargon, the medium of intercourse between illiterate natives and Europeans too indolent to apply themselves to the acquisition of the language of the See also:people; its vocabulary is made up of Malay words, with a conventional admixture of words from other languages; and it varies, not only in different localities, but also in proportion to the individual See also:speaker's acquaintance with Malay proper. A few words are used, however, only in speaking with persons of royal See also:rank—e.g. santap, to eat (of a raja) instead of makan; berddu,to See also:sleep, instead of tidor: gring, unwell, instead of sakit; mangkat, to See also:die, instead of See also:coati, &c. The use is different as regards the term Jawi as applied to the Malay language. This has its origin in the names Great Java and Lesser Java, by which the See also:medieval Java and Sumatra were called, and it accordingly means the language spoken along the coasts of the two great islands. The Malays cannot, strictly speaking, be said to possess a literature, for none of their writings can boast any literary beauty or value. Llteratore. Their most characteristic literature is to be found, not in their writings, but in the folk-tales which are transmitted orally from See also:generation to generation, and repeated by the wandering minstrels called by the people Peng-lipor See also:Lara, i.e. " Soothers of Care." Some specimens of these are to be found in the See also:Journal of the Straits See also:Branch of the See also:Asiatic Society (See also:Singapore). The collections of Malay Proberbs made by Klinkert, Maxwell and See also:Clifford also give a See also:good See also:idea of the literary methods of the Malays. Their See also:verse is of a very See also:primitive description, and is chiefly used for purposes of love-making. There are numerous rhymed See also:fairy tales, which are much liked by the people, but they are of no literary merit. The best Malay books are the Hikayat Hang Tuak, Bestamam and the Hikayat Abdullah. The latter is a See also:diary of events kept during See also:Sir See also:Stamford See also:Raffle's See also:administration by his Malay See also:scribe.
AUTnoRITIES.—See also:Hugh Clifford, In See also:Court and Kampong (See also:London, 1897) ; Studies in See also: J. Newbold, Political and Statistical See also:Account of the See also:British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca; W. W. See also:Skeat, Malay Magic (London, 1900) ; Skeat and Blagden, See also:Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula (London, 1906); Sir See also:Frank Swettenham, Malay Sketches (London, 1895); The Real Malay (London, 1899) ; British Malaya (London, 1906); H. von de See also:Wall, edited by H. N. van der Tuuk, Maleisch-Nederlandisch Woordenboek (Batavia, 1877–1880); Malay Dictionary (Singapore, 1903), See also:Wilkinson. (H. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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