| Kedah Malay | |
| Nativename: | Pelat Utagha Bahasa Melayu Kedah, Bahasa Melayu Utara |
| Also Known As: | بهاس ملايو قدح |
| States: | Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia |
| Region: | Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perlis, northern Perak (Kerian, Manjung, Larut, Matang and Selama), Trang, Satun, Ranong, Tanintharyi, Langkat, Aceh |
| Ethnicity: | Kedahan Malays Thai Malays Burmese Malays Jaring Halus Malays |
| Speakers: | 2.6 million |
| Date: | 2004 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Austronesian |
| Fam2: | Malayo-Polynesian |
| Fam3: | (disputed) |
| Fam4: | Malayic |
| Dia1: | Kedah Persisiran |
| Dia2: | Kedah Utara |
| Dia3: | Perlis-Langkawi |
| Dia4: | Penang |
| Dia5: | Northern Perak |
| Dia6: | Satun |
| Script: | Latin script, Arabic script, Thai script |
| Iso3: | meo |
| Glotto: | keda1251 |
| Glottorefname: | Kedah Malay |
| Dia7: | Jaring Halus |
| Notice: | IPA |
Kedah Malay or Kedahan (; also known as Pelat Utara or Loghat Utara 'Northern Dialect') or as it is known in Thailand, Syburi Malay (Phasa Malāyū Saiburī) is a Malayic language mainly spoken in the northwestern Malaysian states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, and northern Perak and in the southern Thai provinces of Trang and Satun. The usage of Kedah Malay was historically prevalent in southwestern Thailand before being superseded by the Thai language. Enclaves of Kedah Malay can be found in Kawthaung District in Myanmar; Ranong and Krabi in upper southern Thailand; Jaring Halus, Langkat and Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia and up north in Bangkok, central Thailand, where most of the Kedah Malay speakers are descendants of historical settlers from Kedah.
Kedah Malay can be divided into several dialects, namely Kedah Persisiran (Littoral Kedah; which is the de facto prestige dialect of Kedah Malay), Kedah Utara (Northern Kedah), Perlis-Langkawi, Penang and some others outside Malaysia. Speakers in Trang as well as Satun are heavily influenced by the Thai language. However in the district of Baling, they speak a different variant more closely related to Kelantan-Patani Malay than it is to Kedah Malay.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palato-alveolar | Dorsal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | 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/ | |||
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Trill | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Semivowel | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ |
Kedah Malay has eight monophthongs, unlike Standard Malay which has six with pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //ɔ// not having phonemic status.
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Close-Mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Open-Mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Open | pronounced as /link/ |
Kedah Malay has four diphthongs pronounced as //ai, au, oi, ui// with pronounced as //ui// being a surplus diphthong that does not exist in Standard Malay.
Below is a comparison between Kedah Malay and Standard Malay.
| Sound | Position | Kedah Malaycorrespondence | Example(Standard Malay ≙ Kedah Malay) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as //il// | Word-final syllable | pronounced as //e// | pronounced as //katil// 'bed' | ≙ | pronounced as //kate// |
| pronounced as //el// | pronounced as //ɛ// | pronounced as //t͡ʃomel// 'cute' | pronounced as //t͡ʃomɛ// | ||
| pronounced as //oh// | pronounced as //o// | pronounced as //bodoh// 'stupid' | pronounced as //bodo// | ||
| pronounced as //o// | Both syllables of two-syllable words | pronounced as //ɔ// | pronounced as //sotoŋ// 'squid' | pronounced as //sɔtɔŋ// | |
| First syllable of certain two-syllable words | pronounced as //u// | pronounced as //boleh// 'can' | pronounced as //buleh// | ||
| pronounced as //i.a// | Anywhere | pronounced as //a// | pronounced as //si.apa// 'who' | pronounced as //sapa// | |
| pronounced as //ɛ// | pronounced as //bi.asa// 'normal' | pronounced as //bɛsa// | |||
| pronounced as //u.a// | pronounced as //o// | pronounced as //la.ut// 'sea' | pronounced as //lot// | ||
| pronounced as //ɔ// | pronounced as //ku.ala// 'estuary' | pronounced as //kɔla// | |||
| hang | awak/kamu/kau | 'you' (singular) | |
| hangpå/hampå | kalian | 'you' (plural) | |
| cek/aku | saya/aku | 'I' | |
| cek | saya | 'I' (young to old) | |
| cek | kamu | 'you' (old to young) | |
| depå/lepå | mereka | 'they' | |
| sépå (In a few certain areas) / kitorang | kami | 'we' (exclusive) |
| sapadiå, sapå | siapa/siapakah | 'who' | |
| apå,på,padiå,natangpå | apa/apakah | 'what' | |
| bilå,mengkalå | bila/bilakah | 'when' | |
| genå, lagumanå | bagaimana/bagaimanakah | 'how' | |
| manå | mana | 'where' | |
| pasaipå,meo|sepå,awat, buatpå, sebabpå | mengapa | 'why' | |
| bapå | berapa | 'how much' |
| camcå | sudu | 'spoon' | |
| habaq | cakap | 'talk' | |
| mai | datang, mari | 'come' | |
| mau | nak | 'want' | |
| payah | susah | 'difficult' | |
| lå, lani | sekarang | 'now' | |
| lagu | macam | 'sort' | |
| cabai | cili/lada | 'chilli' | |
| hakap | tamak | 'greedy' | |
| pi | pergi | 'go' | |
| sat | sebentar, sekejap | 'one second' | |
| mengkalā | bila, apabila | 'when' | |
| ketegaq | degil, keras kepala | 'naughty' | |
| geghék, | basikal | 'bicycle' | |
| mertun | tukul | 'hammer' | |
| lempaq | baling | 'throw' | |
| ghabat,ghagaih | memanjat | 'climb' | |
| ligan | kejar | 'chase' | |
| loqlaq | tak senonoh | 'indecent' | |
| ketit | gigit kecil | 'bite softly' | |
| tokak | gigit | 'bite' | |
| belemoih | comot | 'messy' | |
| cemuih | bosan | 'bored' |