Brunei Malay Explained

Brunei Malay
Also Known As:Bahasa Melayu Brunei
States:Brunei, Malaysia
Ethnicity:Bruneian Malay, Kedayan
Date:2013–2019
Ref:e25
Familycolor:Austronesian
Fam2:Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:Malayic
Script:Latin (Malay alphabet)
Arabic (Jawi)
Map:Brunei Malay Spoken Area.png
Iso3:kxd
Glotto:brun1242
Glottorefname:Brunei

The Brunei Malay language, also called Bruneian Malay language (; Jawi: Malay: {{Script/Arabic|بهاس ملايو بروني), is the most widely spoken language in Brunei and a lingua franca in some parts of Sarawak and Sabah, such as Labuan, Limbang, Lawas, Sipitang and Papar.[1] [2] Though Standard Malay is promoted as the official national language of Brunei, Brunei Malay is socially dominant and it is currently replacing the minority languages of Brunei,[3] including the Dusun and Tutong languages,[4] existing in a diglossic speech, wherein Brunei Malay is commonly used for daily communication, coexisting with the aforementioned regional languages and Malay creoles, and standard Malay used in formal speech; code switching between standard Malay and Brunei Malay is spoken in informal speech as a lingua franca between Malay creoles and regional languages. It is quite similar to Standard Malay to the point of being almost mutually intelligible with it,[5] being about 84% cognate with standard Malay.[6] Standard Malay is usually spoken with Brunei pronunciation.

Phonology

The consonantal inventory of Brunei Malay is shown below:[7]

Glottal
Nasalpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Plosive/
Affricate		pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/(pronounced as /link/)
pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Fricative(pronounced as /link/)pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/(pronounced as /link/)pronounced as /link/
(pronounced as /link/)(pronounced as /link/)
pronounced as /link/
pronounced as /link/
pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/

Notes:

  1. pronounced as //t// is dental in many varieties of Malay, but it is alveolar in Brunei.
  2. pronounced as //k// is velar in initial position, but it is realised as uvular pronounced as /[q]/ in coda.
  3. Parenthesised sounds occur only in loanwords.
  4. All consonants can occur in word-initial position, except pronounced as //h//. Therefore, Standard Malay 'forest' became in Brunei Malay, and Standard Malay 'black' became .
  5. All consonants can occur in word-final position, except the palatals pronounced as //tʃ, dʒ, ɲ// and voiced plosives pronounced as //b, d, ɡ//. Exceptions can be found in a few borrowed words such as 'March' and 'kebab'.
  6. Some analysts exclude pronounced as //w// and pronounced as //j// from this table because they are 'margin high vowels',[8] while others include /w/ but exclude /j/.

Brunei Malay has a three-vowel system: pronounced as //i//, pronounced as //a//, pronounced as //u//.[9] Acoustic variation in the realisation of these vowels is shown in the plot on the right, based on the reading of a short text by a single female speaker.

While pronounced as //i// is distinct from the other two vowels, there is substantial overlap between pronounced as //a// and pronounced as //u//. This is partly because of the vowel in the first syllable of words such as ('to blow') which can be realised as pronounced as /[ə]/. Indeed, the Brunei Malay dictionary uses an 'e' for the prefix in this word, listing it as,[10] though other analyses prefer to show prefixes such as this with 'a', on the basis that Brunei Malay just has three vowel phonemes.[11]

Language use

See main article: Languages of Brunei. Brunei Malay, Kedayan and Kampong Ayer can be regarded as dialects of Malay. Brunei Malay is used by the numerically and politically dominant Brunei people, who traditionally lived on water, while Kedayan is used by the land-dwelling farmers, and the Kampong Ayer dialect is used by the inhabitants of the river north of the capital.[12] [13] It has been estimated that 94% of the words of Brunei Malay and Kedayan are lexically related.[14]

Coluzzi studied the street signs in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital city of Brunei Darussalam. The researcher concluded that except Chinese, "minority languages in Brunei have no visibility and play a very marginal role beyond the family and the small community."[15]

Vocabulary words

Bruneian Malay Peninsular Malaysia Malay(Klang Valley standard)Meaning/Note
Aku/kuFirst person singular
First person singular when in conversation with a Royal Family Member
Second person singular
From and . It is used like the Malay word .
Second person plural
Third person singular
First person plural (inclusive)
To be used either like or
Male third person singular
Female third person singular
To address a listener of older age. Also first person plural
To address a loved one
Ani This
That
Where (at)?
Where to?
Male (human)
Female (human)
Bini-bini
A gentleman
His Majesty
Yes
No
To close (a door, etc.)
To eat
To like
Funny (adj.), derived from Charlie Chaplin
cf. Malaysian, Singaporean
To be quick, (in a) hurry(ing) (also an interjection)
At a later time, soon
Straight ahead; immediately
Used as a term when in a state denial (as in 'No way!' or 'It can't be')
'Might as well ... '
Generally refers to a white Westerner.
Refers to a Bruneian of Indian descent. (This is generally regarded as pejorative.)[16]

Studies

The vocabulary of Brunei Malay has been collected and published by several western explorers in Borneo including Pigafetta in 1521, De Crespigny in 1872, Charles Hose in 1893, A. S. Haynes in 1900, Sidney H. Ray in 1913, H. B. Marshall in 1921, and G. T. MacBryan in 1922, and some Brunei Malay words are included in A Malay-English Dictionary by R. J. Wilkinson.[17] [18] [19]

The language planning of Brunei has been studied by some scholars.[20] [21]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Clynes, A. (2014). Brunei Malay: An Overview. In P. Sercombe, M. Boutin, & A. Clynes (Eds.), Advances in Research on Linguistic and Cultural Practices in Borneo (pp. 153–200). Phillips, ME: Borneo Research Council. Pre-publication draft available at http://fass.ubd.edu.bn/staff/docs/AC/Clynes-Brunei-Malay.pdf
  2. Deterding, David & Athirah, Ishamina. (2017). Brunei Malay. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 47(1), 99–108.
  3. McLellan, J., Noor Azam Haji-Othman, & Deterding, D. (2016). The language situation in Brunei Darussalam. In Noor Azam Haji-Othman, J. McLellan, & D. Deterding (Eds.), The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam: A kingdom of unexpected linguistic diversity (pp. 9–16). Singapore: Springer.
  4. Noor Azam Haji-Othman & Siti Ajeerah Najib (2016). The state of indigenous languages in Brunei. In Noor Azam Haji-Othman, J. McLellan, & D. Deterding (Eds.), The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam: A kingdom of unexpected linguistic diversity (pp. 17–28). Singapore: Springer.
  5. A. Clynes and D. Deterding. 2011. Standard Malay (Brunei). Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 41. 2. 259–68. 10.1017/S002510031100017X. dmy-all. free.
  6. P.W. Martin and G. Poedjosoedarmo (1996). An overview of the language situation in Brunei Darussalam. In P.W. Martin, C. Ozog & G. Poedjosoedarmo (Eds.), Language use & language change in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 1–23). Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies. p. 7.
  7. Clynes, Adrian & Deterding, David. (2011). Standard Malay (Brunei). Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 41(2), 259–268.
  8. Mataim Bakar. (2007). The phonotactics of Brunei Malay: An Optimality Theoretic account. Bandar Seri Begawan: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei.
  9. Poedjosoedarmo, G. (1996). Variation and change in the sound systems of Brunei dialects of Malay. In P. Martin, C. Ozog, & Gloria Poedjosoedarmo (Eds.), Language use and language change in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 37–42). Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
  10. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei. (2007). Kamus Bahasa Melayu Brunei (Edisi Kedua) [Brunei Malay dictionary, 2nd edition]. Bandar Seri Begawan: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei.
  11. Jaludin Chuchu. (2000). Morphology of Brunei Malay. Bangi: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
  12. Gallop, 2006. "Brunei Darussalam: Language Situation". In
  13. Wurm, Mühlhäusler, & Tryon, Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia and the Americas, 1996:677
  14. Nothofer, B. (1991). The languages of Brunei Darussalam. In H. Steinhauer (Ed.), Papers in Austronesian Linguistics (pp. 151–172). Canberra: Australian National University.
  15. Coluzzi, Paolo. (2012). The Linguistic Landscape of Brunei Darussalam: Minority Languages and the Threshold of Literacy. South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 12, 1-16. Retrieved 14 April 2019 from http://fass.ubd.edu.bn/SEA/volume12.html
  16. Najib Noorashid (2016). The 'K' word referring to Indians in Brunei. Paper presented at the Brunei-Malaysia 2016 Forum, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, 16–17 November 2016.
  17. Martin, P. W. (1994). Lexicography in Brunei Darussalam: An overview. In B. Sibayan & L. E. Newell (Eds.), Papers from the First Asia International Lexicography Conference, Manila, Philippines, 1992. LSP Special Monograph Issue, 35 (pp. 59–68). Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines. http://www-01.sil.org/asia/philippines/ling/peter_w._martin._lexicography_in_brunei_darussalam....pdf
  18. Book: Anton Abraham Cense. E.M. Uhlenbeck. Critical Survey of Studies on the Languages of Borneo. 2013. Springer Science & Business Media. 978-94-011-8925-5. 8.
  19. Book: Jatswan S. Sidhu. Historical Dictionary of Brunei Darussalam. 2009. Scarecrow Press. 978-0-8108-7078-9. 283.
  20. Coluzzi, Paolo. (2011). Majority and minority language planning in Brunei Darussalam. Language Problems and Language Planning, 35(3), 222-240.
  21. Clynes, Adrian. (2012). Dominant language transfer in minority language documentation projects: Some examples from Brunei. Language Documentation & Conservation, 6, 253-267.

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