Malay Chetty creole language explained

Malay Chetty creole
Familycolor:	Creole
Also Known As:	Malaccan Creole Malay Malacca Malay Creole Chitties/Chetties Creole
States:	Malaysia
Ethnicity:	Chitty people
Glotto3:	mala1482
Glottorefname3:	Malaccan Creole Malay
Fam1:	Malay-based creole
Iso3:	ccm
Notice:	IPA
Region:	Malacca
Speakers:	300

The Malay Chetty creole language (also known as Malaccan Creole Malay, Malacca Malay Creole^[1] and Chitties/Chetties Malay) is a Malay-based creole spoken by the Chetties (also known as Indian Peranakans), a distinctive group of Tamil people found mainly in Malacca in Malaysia and Singapore, who have adopted Chinese and Malay cultural practices whilst also retaining their Hindu heritage.

Spoken since the 16th century by descendants of Tamil merchants of the Malacca Straits, Malay Chetty creole may be historically related to Sri Lanka Creole Malay. The current language status is moribund, due to inter-marriage and out-migration. There has been a language shift towards Malay instead.

Malay Chetty creole is a mix of Malay, Tamil and English, although the latter's presence in the creole is not as prominent compared to the first two languages. Because of the strong influence of Malay, Malay Chetty creole is not very different from other Malay dialects, especially the Middle Malacca Malay dialect. Nonetheless, it does have its own unique features.

Malay Chetty creole shares many features with Baba Malay, suggesting that they may have come from the same source language that is Bazaar Malay.

Phonology

Comparison with Standard Malay

Deletion of the Phonemes r and h

• Final pronounced as //r// is omitted
  • pronounced as //bənar// ≙ pronounced as /[bəna]/ 'true'
• /h/ is omitted in initial, final and mid positions except in a few words
  • pronounced as //hid͡ʒau// ≙ pronounced as /[id͡ʒo]/ 'green'
  • pronounced as //tahu// ≙ pronounced as /[tau]/ 'to know'
  • pronounced as //darah// ≙ pronounced as /[dara]/ 'blood'

Monophthongisation

• Final pronounced as //ai// is reduced to half-closed front pronounced as /[e]/
  • pronounced as //pakai// ≙ pronounced as /[pake]/ 'to wear'
• Final pronounced as //au// is reduced to half-closed back pronounced as /[o]/
  • pronounced as //pulau// ≙ pronounced as /[pulo]/ 'island'

Phoneme Deletion in Consonant Clusters in Trisyllabic Words

• Mid consonant cluster /mb/ is reduced to pronounced as /[m]/
  • pronounced as //səmbilan// ≙ pronounced as /[səmilan]/ 'nine'

Phoneme Insertion

• Glottal pronounced as /[ʔ]/ is inserted at word final position in words that end with pronounced as //a, i, u//
  • pronounced as //bawa// ≙ pronounced as /[bawaʔ]/ 'to bring'
  • pronounced as //t͡ʃari// ≙ pronounced as /[t͡ʃariʔ]/ 'to search'
  • pronounced as //garu// ≙ pronounced as /[garoʔ]/ 'to scratch'

Vocabulary

Vocabulary Comparison!Standard Malay!Malay Chetty creole!English Translation

		'sweets'
		'adopted child'
		'auntie'/'female sibling of mother'
		'say'
		'light'
		'land'/'lowland'
		'ink'
		'sin'
		'stutter'
		'you'
		'you' (plural)
		'uncle'
		'auntie'
		'cup'
		'midwife'
		'breathe'
		'today'
		'go'

References

Citations

1. Web site: Malaccan Malay Creole. 2021-04-29. Ethnologue. en.

Bibliography

• Web site: Paulo . Derrick A . 21 October 2018 . Meet the Chetti Melaka, or Peranakan Indians, striving to save their vanishing culture . 28 April 2021 . CNA.
• Mohamed . Noriah . June 2009 . The Malay Chetty Creole Language of Malacca: A Historical and Linguistic Perspective . . 82 . 1 (296) . 58–59 . 41493734 . 23 May 2021 . JSTOR.