Sarawak Malay
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2012) |
| Sarawak Malay | |
|---|---|
| Kelakar Sarawak | |
| Native to | Sarawak |
Native speakers | 900,000 - 1,200,000 |
Austronesian
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
zlm-sar | |
| Glottolog | None |
Sarawak Malay (Standard Malay: Bahasa Melayu Sarawak or Bahasa Sarawak, Jawi: بهاس ملايو سراوق, Sarawak Malay: Kelakar Sarawak) is a Malayic language native to the State of Sarawak. It is a common language used by natives of Sarawak. This variant is related to Bruneian Malay, spoken in the districts of Limbang and Lawas (Sarawak) and bears strong similarities with Sanggau, Sintang and Sekadau Malay spoken in the northern part of the West Kalimantan province in Indonesia.[citation needed] There is some debate on whether it is a vernacular variety of Malay or a separate language altogether.[1] It is more similar to Ibanic languages compared to the Malay dialects of Sumatra and the Malayan Peninsula, and is different enough from standard Malay that speakers outside of Sarawak are often unable to understand it without prior study.[citation needed].
Dialects[edit]
According to Asmah Haji Omar (1993), Sarawak Malay can be divided into three dialects which are:[2]
- Kuching
- Saribas
- Sibu
Features[edit]
Sarawak Malay has features that are unfound in Standard Malay:[2]
- Sarawak Malay has only one diphthong which is /oj/ unlike Standard Malay which has three which are /oj, aj, aw/.
- The diphthongs /aj, aw/ in Standard Malay correspond to monophthongs /e, o/ in Sarawak Malay so pandai /pandaj/ and pulau /pulaw/ in Standard Malay are [pan.de] and [pu.lo] in Sarawak Malay.
- Verbs conjugated in the "agent focus" sense (e.g. biar > membiar) conjugate differently in Sarawak Malay:
- In Sarawak Malay, the initial consonant in a syllable coda of the conjugated form of the word (e.g. the initial middle 'm' in memberi) in Standard Malay is the initial consonant in Sarawak Malay mencari [məɲ.t͡ʃa.ri] is nyari [ɲ̩a.ɣi] because the 'n' in mencari is a [ɲ]. This is also found in how memberi [məm.bə.ri] is meri [mə.ɣi] in Sarawak Malay because of the middle 'm' in memberi.
- In the Kuching dialect and the Sibu dialect, open-ended final /a/ is an [a] just like in Standard Malay but in the Saribas dialect, it is instead an [o] so ada /ada/ is [a.da] in the Kuching and SIbu dialects and in Standard Malay but is pronounced as [a.do] in the Saribas dialect.
- In Sarawak Malay, /r/ is an uvular or velar fricative ([ʁ] and [ɣ] respectively), unlike in Standard Malay where it is an alveolar trill [r].
Vocabulary[edit]
Sarawak Malay has a rich vocabulary of which many words, while also found in Standard Malay, have completely different meanings.[3]
| Word | Meaning in
Sarawak Malay |
Meaning in
Standard Malay |
|---|---|---|
| agak | 'to meet' | 'to guess' |
| kelakar | 'to talk' | 'funny' |
| tangga | 'to look' | 'stairs' |
| tikam | 'to throw' | 'to stab' |
| tetak | 'to laugh' | 'to cut' |
| marak | 'to waste' | 'to refract' |
The numbers of Sarawak Malay differ a bit from their Standard Malay counterparts.[4]
| Sarawak Malay | Standard Malay | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| satu | satu | 'one' |
| duak | dua | 'two' |
| tiga | tiga | 'three' |
| empat | empat | 'four' |
| limak | lima | 'five' |
| nam | enam | 'six' |
| tujoh | tujuh | 'seven' |
| lapan | lapan | 'eight' |
| semilan | sembilan | 'nine' |
| sepuloh | sepuluh | 'ten' |
The pronouns too differ quite significantly.[5]
| Sarawak Malay | Standard Malay | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| kamek | saya/aku | 'I/me' |
| kamek empun | saya/aku punya | 'my/mine' |
| kamek orang | kita/kami | 'we' |
| kitak | kau/kamu/awak | 'you' (informal, singular) |
| kitak empun | kau/kamu/awak punya | 'your/yours' |
| kitak orang | kamu semua | 'you' (plural) |
| nya | dia | 'he/she/it' |
| nya empun | dia punya | 'his/her/hers' |
| sidak nya empun | mereka punya | 'theirs' |
| sidak nya kedirik | mereka sendiri | 'themselves' |
Below is a non-exhaustive list of lexical differences between Standard Malay and Sarawak Malay.[citation needed]
| Standard Malay | Sarawak Malay | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| baring | gurin | 'to lie down' |
| bodoh | paloi | 'stupid' |
| berlari | berekot | 'to run' |
| garang | gaok | 'angry' |
| hijau | gadong, ijo | 'green' (colour) |
| kapal terbang | belon | 'aeroplane' |
| kecil | kecik/salus | 'small' |
| juga | juak | 'also' |
| sombong | lawa | 'arrogant' |
| kenapa | kenak | 'why' |
| kenyang | kedak | 'full' (eating) |
| mahu | maok | 'to want' |
| merah jambu | kalas | 'pink' |
| sekarang/kini | kinek | 'now' |
| singgah | berambeh | 'to go to' |
| tembikai | semangka | 'watermelon' |
| tak/tidak | si/sik | 'negative marker' |
| tipu | bulak | 'to lie' |
| ya/ha'ah | aok | 'yes' |
| lihat/tengok | tangga | 'to see' |
| berkira | cokot | 'picky' |
Many of the words used in Sarawak Malay nowadays were borrowed from many languages such as English. Some English words that have been borrowed and have undergone significant pronunciation changes are as follows:
| English loanword | Original English
form |
|---|---|
| eksen | 'action' |
| bol | 'ball' |
| kaler | 'colour' |
| kapet | 'carpet' |
| pancet | 'punctured' |
| henpon | 'handphone' |
| moto | 'motor' |
| prempan | 'frying pan' |
| uren | 'orange' |
| raun | 'round' |
Word formation[edit]
The word formation rules of Sarawak Malay are very different from those of the standard Malay language. Without prior exposure, most West Malaysians have trouble following Sarawakian conversations. Sabahan is also different from Sarawak Malay, however they do share some lexicon, such as the word Bah, which is used to stress a sentence. E.g.: Don't do like that - "Iboh polah kedak ya bah." It is similar in use to "lah" in Singlish and in West Malaysia. E.g.: Don't do like that 'lah'. Some words in Sarawakian Malay have a similar pronunciation of ai as ei, as in some districts of Perak: serai > serei, kedai > kedei. Some Sarawakian Malay verbs have a final glottal stop after a vowel or in place of final /r/: kena > kenak, air > aik, beri > berik. like in the Aboriginal Malay languages of West Malaysia.
Many words in Sarawak Malay diverge from the original pronunciation and some are totally different. E.g.:
| English | Bahasa Malaysia | Bahasa Sarawak[6] |
|---|---|---|
| Sweeping | Menyapu | Nyapu |
| Coconut | Kelapa / Nyiur | Nyior[7] |
| More | Lagi | lagik/ Agik/Gik |
| Road | Jalan Raya | Jeraya |
| Clever | Pandai | Pandei |
| Teach | Mengajar | Ngaja |
| Yes | Ya | aok |
| Cat | Kucing | Pusak |
| Dog | Anjing / Asu (less used) | Asuk |
| Chicken | Ayam / Manuk (archaic) | Manok |
| Knife | Pisau | ladin (Malay/Melanau) Dandin/ pisok |
Colloquial and contemporary usage[edit]
Contemporary usage of Bahasa Sarawak includes contemporary Malay words or incorporated from other languages, spoken by the urban speech community, which may not be familiar to the older generation. E.g.: SMS language. E.g.:
| English | Bahasa Sarawak | SMS Text |
|---|---|---|
| You | Kitak | ktk |
| me | Kamek | kmk |
| No | Sik | x |
| Message | Mesej | msg |
| Nothing | Sikda | xda |
| why | kenak | knk |
References[edit]
- ^ "Sarawak, a land of many tongues". theborneopost.com. Borneo Post. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ a b Bolhassan, Nabilah (2019). "Dialek Melayu Sarawak dan Bahasa Melayui Baku:Satu Kajian Perbandingan". Malaysian Journal of Social Science (in Malay). 4: 12–14 – via KUIM.
- ^ Bolhasan, Nabilah (2019). "Dialek Melayu Sarawak dan Bahasa Melayu Baku:Satu Kajian Perbandingan". Malaysian Journal of Social Science (in Malay). 4: 14–18 – via KUIM.
- ^ The Sound of the Sarawak Malay language / dialect (UDHR, Numbers, Greetings, Words & Sample Text), archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2021-07-31
- ^ "Personal Pronouns in Melayu Sarawak". Borneo Dictionary. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
- ^ Daftar kata dialek Melayu Sarawak : dialek Melayu Sarawak-bahasa Malaysia, bahasa Malaysia-dialek Melayu (in Malay) (2 ed.). Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. 1998. ISBN 9836263241.
- ^ In Indonesian Language: Kelapa means "coconut", Niyur means "coconut tree".
External links[edit]
- Kaipuleohone has an archived notes on Sarawak Malay