The Malay language is a member of the Malayan section of the
Malayo-Polynesian class of languages, but it is by no means a
representative type of the section which has taken its name from it.
The area over which it is spoken comprises the peninsula of Malacca
with the adjacent islands (the Rhio-Lingga Archipelago), the greater
part of the coast districts of Sumatra and Borneo, the seaports of
Java, the Sunda and Banda Islands. It is the general medium of
communication throughout the archipelago from Sumatra to the
Philippine Islands, and it was so upwards of three hundred and fifty
years ago when the Portuguese first appeared in those parts.
There are no Malay manuscripts extant, no monumental records with
inscriptions in Malay, dating from before the spreading of Islam in
the archipelago, about the end of the 13th century. By some it has
been argued from this fact that the Malays possessed no kind of
writing prior to the introduction of the Arabic alphabet (W. Robinson,
J. J. de Hollander); whereas others have maintained, with greater show
of probability, that the Malays were in possession of an ancient
alphabet, and that it was the same as the Rechang (Marsden,
Friederich), as the Kawi (Van der Tuuk), or most like the Lampong
(Kern)--all of which alphabets, with the Battak, Bugi and Macassar,
are ultimately traceable to the ancient Cambojan characters. With the
Mahommedan conquest the Perso-Arabic alphabet was introduced among the
Malays; it has continued ever since to be in use for literary,
religious and business purposes. Where Javanese is the principal
language, Malay is sometimes found written with Javanese characters;
and in Palembang, in the Menangkabo country of Middle Sumatra, the
Rechang or Renchong characters are in general use, so called from the
sharp and pointed knife with which they are cut on the smooth side of
bamboo staves. It is only since the Dutch have established their
supremacy in the archipelago that the Roman character has come to be
largely used in writing and printing Malay. This is also the 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 Indian archipelago. It possesses the five vowels _a_,
_i_, _u_, _e_, _o_, both short and long, and one pure diphthong, _au_.
Its consonants are _k_, _g_, _ng_, _ch_, _j_, _ñ_, _t_, _d_, _n_, _p_,
_b_, _m_, _y_, _r_, _l_, _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 mute, a liquid and mute and 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
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 star; but the word might also mean a large
scar, to throw down, to spread, rigid, mutilated, enceinte, a kind of
cucumber, a redoubt, according as it is pronounced, _bantang_,
_banting_, _bentang_, _buntang_, _buntung_, _bunting_, _bonteng_,
_benteng_.
Malay is essentially, with few exceptions, a dissyllabic language, and
the syllabic accent rests on the penultimate unless that syllable is
open and short; e.g. datang, namaña, besár, diumpatkanñalah. Nothing
in the form of a root word indicates the grammatical category to which
it belongs; thus, _kasih_, kindness, affectionate, to love; _ganti_, a
proxy, to 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 tongues. Examples are--_guruh_, a rumbling
noise, _gumuruh_, to make such a noise; _tunjuk_, to point,
_telunjuk_, the forefinger; _chuchuk_, to pierce, _cheruchuk_, a
stockade. The import of the prefixes--me (meng, meñ, men, mem), pe
(peng, peñ, pen, pem ber (bel), per, pel, ka, di, ter,--and
affixes--an, kan, i, lah--will best appear from the following
examples--root word _ajar_, to teach, to learn; _mengajar_, to
instruct (expresses an action); _bleajar_, to study (state or
condition); _mengajari_, to instruct (some one, trans.);
_mengajarkan_, to instruct (in something, causative); _pengajar_, the
instructor; _pelajar_, the learner; _pengajaran_, the lesson taught,
also the school; _pelajaran_, the lesson learnt; _diajar_, to be
learnt; _terajar_, learnt; _terajarkan_, taught; _terajari_,
instructed; _[peraja_ (from _raja_, prince), to recognize as prince;
_perajakan_, to crown as prince; karajaan, royalty]; _ajarkanlah_,
teach! Examples of reduplication are--_ajar-ajar_, a sainted person;
_ajar-berajar_ (or _belajar_), to be learning and teaching by turns;
similarly there are forms like _ajar-mengajar_, _berajar-ajaran_,
_ajar-ajari_, _memperajar_, _memperajarkan_, _memperajari_,
_terbelajarkan_, _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 taal_ (Batavia, 1864) and I.
Pijnappel, _Maleisch-Hollandsch Woordenboek_ (Amsterdam, 1875),
"Inleiding." In every other respect the language is characterized by
great simplicity and indefiniteness. There is no inflexion to
distinguish number, gender or case. Number is never indicated when the
sense is obvious or can be gathered from the context; otherwise
plurality is expressed by adjectives such as _sagala_, all, and
_bañak_, many; more rarely by the repetition of the noun, and the
indefinite singular by _sa_ or _satu_, one, with a class-word. Gender
may, if necessary, be distinguished by the words _laki-laki_, male,
and _perampuan_, female, in the case of persons, and of _jantan_ and
_betina_ in the case of animals. The genitive case is generally
indicated by the position of the word after its governing noun. Also
adjectives and demonstrative pronouns have their places after the
noun. Comparison is effected by the use of particles. Instead of the
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 master's slave, i.e. I. These nouns vary according to the
different localities. Another peculiarity of Malay (and likewise of
Chinese, Shan, Talaing, Burmese and Siamese) is the use of certain
class-words or coefficients with numerals, such as _orang_ (man), when
speaking of persons, _ekor_ (tail) of animals, _keping_ (piece) of
flat things, _biji_ (seed) of roundish things; e.g. _lima biji,
telor_, five eggs. The number of these class-words is considerable.
Malay verbs have neither person or number nor mood or tense. The last
two are sometimes indicated by particles or auxiliary verbs; but these
are generally dispensed with if the meaning is sufficiently plain
without them. The Malays avoid the building up of long sentences. The
two main rules by which the order of the words in a sentence is
regulated are--subject, verb, object; and qualifying words follow
those which they qualify. This is quite the reverse of what is the
rule in Burmese.
The history of the Malays amply accounts for the number and variety of
foreign ingredients in their language. Hindus appear to have settled
in Sumatra and Java as early as the 4th century of our era, and to
have continued to exercise sway over the native populations for many
centuries. These received from them into their language a very large
number of Sanskrit terms, from which we can infer the nature of the
civilizing influence imparted by the Hindu rulers. Not only in words
concerning commerce and agriculture, but also in terms connected with
social, religious and administrative matters that influence is
traceable in Malay. See W. E. Maxwell, _Manual of the Malay Language_
(1882), pp. 5-34, where this subject is treated more fully than by
previous writers. This Sanskrit element forms such an integral part of
the Malay vocabulary that in spite of the subsequent infusion of
Arabic and Persian words adopted in the usual course of Mahommedan
conquest it has retained its ancient citizenship in the language. The
number of Portuguese, English, Dutch and Chinese words in Malay is not
considerable; their presence is easily accounted for by political or
commercial contact.
The Malay language abounds in idiomatic expressions, which constitute
the chief difficulty in its acquisition. It is sparing in the use of
personal pronouns, and prefers impersonal and elliptical diction. As
it is rich in specific expressions for the various aspects of certain
ideas, it is requisite to employ always the most appropriate term
suited to the particular aspect. In Maxwell's _Manual_, pp. 120 seq.,
no less than sixteen terms are given to 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 _Low Malay_. The latter is no separate
dialect at all, but a mere brogue or jargon, the medium of intercourse
between illiterate natives and Europeans too indolent to apply
themselves to the acquisition of the language of the 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 speaker's
acquaintance with Malay proper. A few words are used, however, only in
speaking with persons of royal rank--e.g. _santap_, to eat (of a raja)
instead of _makan_; _beradu_, to sleep, instead of ti_dor_; _gring_,
unwell, instead of _sakit_; _mangkat_, to die, instead of _mati_, &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 medieval Java and Sumatra were called, and it
accordingly means the language spoken along the coasts of the two
great islands.
Literature.
The Malays cannot, strictly speaking, be said to possess a literature,
for none of their writings can boast any literary beauty or value.
Their most characteristic literature is to be found, not in their
writings, but in the folk-tales which are transmitted orally from
generation to generation, and repeated by the wandering minstrels
called by the people _Peng-lipor Lara_, i.e. "Soothers of Care." Some
specimens of these are to be found in the _Journal of the Straits
Branch of the Asiatic Society_ (Singapore). The collections of _Malay
Proberbs_ made by Klinkert, Maxwell and Clifford also give a good idea
of the literary methods of the Malays. Their verse is of a very
primitive description, and is chiefly used for purposes of
love-making. There are numerous rhymed 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 diary of events kept during Sir Stamford
Raffle's administration by his Malay scribe.
AUTHORITIES.--Hugh Clifford, _In Court and Kampong_ (London, 1897);
_Studies in Brown Humanity_ (London, 1898); _In a Corner of Asia_
(London, 1899); _Bush-whacking_ (London 1901); Clifford and
Swettenham, _Dictionary of the Malay Language_, parts i. to v. A-G.
Taiping (Perak, 1894-1898); John Crawfurd, _History of the Indian
Archipelago_ (3 vols., Edinburgh, 1820); _Grammar and Dictionary of
the Malay Language_ (2 vols., London, 1852); _A Descriptive Dictionary
of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Countries_ (London, 1856); _Journal
of the Indian Archipelago_ (12 vols., Singapore, 1847-1862); _Journal
of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, 33 Nos.
(Singapore, 1878-1900); H. C. Klinkert, _Nieuw Maleisch-Nederlandisch
Woordenboek_ (Leiden, 1893); John Leyden, _Malay Annals_ (London,
1821); William Marsden, _The History of Sumatra_ (London, 1811);
_Malay Dictionary_ (London, 1824); Sir William Maxwell, _A Manual of
the Malay Language_ (London, 1888); T. J. Newbold, _Political and
Statistical Account of the British Settlements in the Straits of
Malacca_; W. W. Skeat, _Malay Magic_ (London, 1900); Skeat and
Blagden, _Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula_ (London, 1906); Sir
Frank Swettenham, _Malay Sketches_ (London, 1895); _The Real Malay_
(London, 1899); _British Malaya_ (London, 1906); H. von-de Wall,
edited by H. N. van der Tuuk, _Maleisch-Nederlandisch Woordenboek_
(Batavia, 1877-1880); _Malay Dictionary_ (Singapore, 1903), Wilkinson.
(H. Cl.)
MALAY STATES (BRITISH). The native states of the Malay Peninsula under
British protection are divided into two groups: (1) federated, and (2)
non-federated.