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| Sarawak Malay | |
|---|---|
| Kelakar Sarawak | |
| Native to | Sarawak |
Native speakers | (undated figure of 900,000–1,200,000[citation needed]) |
Austronesian
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | (covered byzlm) |
zlm-sar | |
| Glottolog | sara1351 |
Sarawak Malay (Standard Malay:Bahasa Melayu Sarawak orBahasa Sarawak,Jawi:بهاس ملايو سراوق, Sarawak Malay:Kelakar Sarawak) is aMalayic language native to the State of Sarawak. It is a common language used by natives ofSarawak[1] and also as the importantmother tongue for theSarawakian Malay people.
The Sarawakian Malay language also bears strong similarities with the West Kalimantan Malay language aroundSanggau,Sintang andSekadau in the northern part of theWest Kalimantan province ofIndonesia.
According to Asmah Haji Omar (2015), Sarawak Malay can be divided into three dialects, the Kuching dialect spoken inKuching andKota Samarahan, the Saribas dialect spoken inSaribas, and the Sibu dialect spoken inSibu. InMiri andLimbang, a variety of Malay closer toBrunei Malay is spoken.[2]
The consonantal inventory of Sarawak Malay consists of 19 phonemes as seen in the table below.[3]
| Labial | Dental | Denti-alv./ | Post-alv./ | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Plosive/ | voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | ʔ | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | h | ||||
| voiced | ɣ | ||||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||
Note(s):
Sarawak Malay has the same vowel inventory as Standard Malay,/a,i,e,u,o,ə/. However, the distribution of these vowels is a little different.[8]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-Mid | e | o | |
| Mid | ə | ||
| Open-Mid | (ɛ) | (ɔ) | |
| Open | a |
Note(s):
Sarawak Malay only has one diphthong,/oj/, found in words likepaloi (idiot)/paloj/.[10]
Sarawak Malay has anagent focus oractiveprefix,ng- which corresponds to theStandard Malay prefix,meng-. When attached to a stem, if the stem starts with a consonant, the prefixassimilates to the consonant inplace of articulation, and the original initial consonant of the stem is deleted. If the stem starts with a vowel, the prefix is just attached with no other changes. The affixation process is shown in the table below:[11]
| Initial Consonant | Assimilated Prefix | Example Stem | Result of Affixation | Standard Malay Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ⟨p⟩ | ⟨m⟩ | putus (to snap) | mutus | memutus |
| ⟨b⟩ | beli (to snap) | meli | membeli | |
| ⟨t⟩ | ⟨n⟩ | tulak (to push) | nulak | menolak |
| ⟨d⟩ | dengar (to listen) | nengar | mendengar | |
| ⟨s⟩ | ⟨ny⟩ | sangkut (to hang) | nyangkut | menyangkut |
| ⟨c⟩ | cuba (to try) | nyuba | mencuba | |
| ⟨j⟩ | julok (to pick) | nyulok | menjolok | |
| ⟨-⟩ | ⟨ng⟩ | amal (to practise) | ngamal | mengamal |
| ⟨k⟩ | kata (to say) | ngata | mengata | |
| ⟨g⟩ | gusok (to rub) | ngusok | menggosok |
Sarawak Malay has a rich vocabulary of which many words, while also found in Standard Malay, have completely different meanings.[12]
| 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.[13]
| 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,[14] with the first and second person pronouns (both singular and plural) both being related to the first person plural pronouns ( andkita) of Standard Malay.
| 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 / awak 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.[15][16][17]
| Standard Malay | Sarawak Malay | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| anjing | asuk | 'dog' |
| ayam / manuk (archaic) | manok | 'chicken' |
| 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' |
| kucing | pusak | 'cat' |
| jalan raya | jeraya | 'road' |
| juga | juak | 'also' |
| sombong | lawa | 'arrogant' |
| kenapa | kenak | 'why' |
| kenyang | kedak | 'full' (eating) |
| mahu | maok | 'to want' |
| merah jambu | kalas | 'pink' |
| pisau | ladin (Malay/Melanau)dandin / pisok | 'knife' |
| sekarang / kini | kinek | 'now' |
| singgah | berambeh | 'to go to' |
| tembikai | semangka | 'watermelon' |
| tak / tidak | si / sik | 'negative marker' |
| tipu | bulak | 'to lie' |
| ya / haah | 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' |
Contemporary usage of Sarawak Malay 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 | Sarawak Malay | SMS Text |
|---|---|---|
| you | kitak | ktk |
| me | kamek | kmk |
| no | sik | x |
| message | mesej | msg |
| nothing | sikda | xda |
| why | kenak | knk |
TVS, a regional television broadcaster serving Sarawak from the state government-owned Sarawak Media Group has programming tailored in the language.[18]