Malayic languages

Subgroup of the Austronesian language family From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Malayic languages are a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family.[1] The most prominent member is Malay, a pluricentric language given national status in Brunei and Singapore while also providing the basis for national standards Malaysian in Malaysia and Indonesian in Indonesia.[2][3] The Malayic branch also includes local languages spoken by ethnic Malays (e.g. Jambi Malay, Kedah Malay), further several languages spoken by various other ethnic groups of Sumatra, Indonesia (e.g. Minangkabau) and Borneo (e.g. Banjarese, Iban) even as far as Urak Lawoi in the southwestern coast of Thailand.

Geographic
distributionMaritime Southeast Asia
Linguistic classificationAustronesian
Proto-languageProto-Malayic
Subdivisions
  • (disputed)
Quick facts Geographic distribution, Linguistic classification ...
Malayic
Geographic
distribution		Maritime Southeast Asia
Linguistic classificationAustronesian
Proto-languageProto-Malayic
Subdivisions
  • (disputed)
Language codes
Glottologmala1538
Historical distribution of the Malayic languages in Maritime Southeast Asia (including Malay-based creoles):
  The Ibanic, Western Malayic Dayak (Kanayatn/Kendayan-Salako) subgroups, and southern Malayic Dayak varieties.
  Other Malayic varieties; genetic relationships between them are still unclear (most often left unclassified).
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The most probable candidate for the urheimat of the Malayic languages is western Borneo prior to spread in Sumatra.[4]

History

The term "Malayic" was first coined by Dyen (1965) in his lexicostatistical classification of the Austronesian languages. Dyen's "Malayic hesion" had a wider scope than the Malayic subgroup in its currently accepted form, and also included Acehnese, Lampung and Madurese. Nothofer (1988) narrowed down the range of Malayic, but included the non-Malayic languages Rejang and Embaloh:

The present scope of the Malayic subgroup, which is now universally accepted by experts in the field, was first proposed by K.A. Adelaar (1992, 1993), based on phonological, morphological and lexical evidence.

Languages

Malayic languages are spoken on Borneo, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Java and on several islands located in the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca. This list is limited to Malayic languages traditionally spoken by their respective ethnic groups, for non-traditional languages, see Malay trade and creole languages.

Borneo

More information Language, Country or administrative division ...
Language Country or administrative division
Banjar (incl. Bukit Malay) Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan
Brunei Malay (incl. Kedayan) Brunei, Labuan, Sabah, Sarawak
Berau Malay East Kalimantan
Ibanic branch (Iban, Remun, Mualang, Seberuang) Sarawak, West Kalimantan
Kapuas Hulu Malay West Kalimantan
Kendayan West Kalimantan
Keninjal West Kalimantan
Ketapang Malay West Kalimantan
Kotawaringin Malay Central Kalimantan
Kutai (Kota Bangun and Tenggarong varieties) East Kalimantan
Malayic Dayak Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan
Melawi Malay West Kalimantan
Pontianak Malay West Kalimantan
Sanggau Malay West Kalimantan
Sambas Malay West Kalimantan
Sarawak Malay Sarawak
Sintang Malay West Kalimantan
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Sumatra

Malay Peninsula

More information Language, Country or administrative division ...
Language Country or administrative division
Jakun Pahang, Johor
Johor-Riau-Malacca (Malaccan) Malay along the western coasts of the Malay Peninsula, starting from southern Perak (Muallim District) to Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan (Port Dickson District), Malacca, Johor and Singapore.
Kedah Malay Kedah, Penang, Perlis, northwestern Perak, Satun (Thailand), Tanintharyi (Myanmar)
Kelantan-Patani Malay Kelantan, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Songkhla (Thepha District and Saba Yoi District), Terengganu (Besut and Setiu)
Negeri Sembilan Malay Negeri Sembilan, Malacca (Naning), some areas in Pahang and Johor
Pahang Malay Pahang, Terengganu (around areas of Pasir Raja), Negeri Sembilan (around Jelebu District)
Penang Malay Penang
Perak Malay Perak
Reman Malay (offshoot of Kelantan-Patani language) Kedah (mainly in Baling District but also in Sik District and Yan District), Perak (Hulu Perak District)
Orang Kanaq Johor
Orang Seletar Johor
Temuan Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Pahang
Terengganu Malay Terengganu, Pahang (mainly Kuantan District and Rompin District), Johor (Mersing District and Tanjung Sedili)
Tioman Malay Pahang (Tioman Island), Johor (Aur Island and Pemanggil Island)
Urak Lawoi' Thailand (Phuket, Krabi, Satun)
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Java

South China Sea

Subgrouping

Internal classification

While there is general consensus about which languages can be classified as Malayic, the internal subgrouping of the Malayic languages is still disputed.

Adelaar (1993)

Adelaar (1993) classifies the Malayic languages as follows.[5]

Ross (2004)

Based on grammatical evidence, Ross (2004) divides the Malayic languages into two primary branches:[6]

  • Malayic
    • Western Malayic Dayak (Kendayan, Salako)
    • Nuclear Malayic (all other lects)

This classification was mirrored in the Glottolog (Version 3.4).

Anderbeck (2012)

Following Tadmor (2002), Anderbeck (2012) makes a distinction between Malay and Malayic in his discussion about the dialects of the Sea Tribes in Riau Archipelago. He tentatively classifies all Malayic languages as belonging to a "Malay" subgroup, except Ibanic, Kendayan/Selako, Keninjal, Malayic Dayak (or "Dayak Malayic") and the "fairly divergent varieties" of Urak Lawoi' and Duano.[7][a]

  • Malayic
    • Ibanic
    • Kendayan/Selako
    • Keninjal
    • Malayic Dayak
    • Urak Lawoi'
    • Duano
    • Malay (including all other Malayic varieties)

Anderbeck's classification has been adopted in the 17th edition of the Ethnologue, with the sole exception of Duano, which is listed in the Ethnologue among the "Malay" languages.[b]

Smith (2017)

In his dissertation on the languages of Borneo, Smith (2017) provides evidence for a subgroup comprising Malayic isolects in western Borneo and southern Sumatra, which he labels "West Bornean Malayic".[9]

Glottolog

Glottolog 5.2 classifies the Malayic languages into several groups, namely:[10]

Position within Austronesian

The inclusion of the Malayic languages within the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup is undisputed, and there is general consensus that the Chamic languages are closely related to Malayic. The wider affiliations of the Malayic languages are however controversial. There are two major proposals: Adelaar (2005) places Malayic within the Malayo-Sumbawan subgroup, which comprises the following languages:[11]

Blust (2010) and Smith (2017) assign Malayic to the Greater North Borneo subgroup:[12][13]

The Malayo-Sumbawan hypothesis is mainly based on phonological evidence with a few shared lexical innovations, while the Greater North Borneo hypothesis is based on a large corpus of lexical evidence.

See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    As with Adelaar, Anderbeck reckons the difficulty in assigning absolute subgrouping within Malayic subfamily, and suggests an alternative approach which is "to dissolve the Malay node and keep everything in the Malayic group".
  2. [b]
    This classification is still in use in the current 22nd edition (2019).[8]
  3. [c]
    Alongside other various South Sumatran isolects which exhibit the *-R > *-ʔ innovation in a specific set of lexemes.

References

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