Malay phrasebook
Malay (Bahasa Melayu, officially called Bahasa Malaysia in Malaysia) is the sole official language of Malaysia and Brunei, and one of the four official languages in Singapore, the de facto language of Cocos (Keeling) Islands in Australia, and is well used in Christmas Island. Standard Malay (bahasa baku, which literally means "standard language", and formally called Bahasa Melayu Baku) is closely related to Indonesian, and speakers of both standards can generally understand each other. The main differences are in the loan words: Malay was more influenced by English, while Indonesian was more influenced by Dutch. Both languages contain numerous loan words from Sanskrit, Tamil, Arabic, Persian, Portuguese and various Chinese dialects.
However, beware of false friends if you speak Indonesian, as some words have very different meanings. Examples include budak, which means 'child' in Malay but 'slave' in Indonesian or pusing, which means 'turn' in Malay but 'headache' in Indonesian. See Indonesian phrasebook#Differences with Malay for examples of common false friends and vocabulary differences.
Tagalog, the main language of the Philippines, is related to Malay, and while the two languages are not mutually intelligible, you will notice many cognates. There are also numerous false friends between Malay and Tagalog, such as Tagalog salamat (thank you) vs Malay selamat (safe; often used in greetings such as selamat pagi for "good morning" or selamat datang for "welcome"), Tagalog kiri (flirt) vs Malay kiri (left [direction]), Tagalog suka (vinegar) vs Malay suka (like [verb]) and Tagalog ulam (main dishes) vs Malay ulam (salad of leaves with shrimp paste and chili).
Some parts of Malaysia, especially Terengganu and Kelantan, as well as Southern Thailand, have dialects of Malay that are difficult for speakers of standard Malay to understand, though all locals in Malaysia are taught standard Malay in school. There is also a unique Malay-based creole known as Baba Malay that is spoken by the Peranakan (mixed Chinese and Malay) community in Malacca, which incorporates many loan words from Hokkien.
GrammarAt its core, Malay grammar is very simple. Verbs do not conjugate, while nouns and adjectives do not decline.g.
WritingMalay can be written using two scripts: the Roman alphabet, known as Rumi, and an Arabic-derived script known as Jawi.
Pronunciation guideMalay is very easy to pronounce: it has one of the most phonetic writing systems in the world, with only a small number of simple consonants and relatively few vowel sounds.
English borrowingsQuite a lot of English words have been borrowed into Malay, and they are largely spelled according to Malay pronunciation. Many of them are terms for technology, offices, disciplines and occupations.
Phrase listColloquial Malay shortens commonly used words mercilessly.
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Malay phrasebook" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0