Malay Trade And Creole Languages
In addition to its classical and literary form, Malay has various regional dialects established before the rise of the Malaccan Sultanate. But beyond these, Malay spread through interethnic contact and trade across the Malay archipelago as far as the Philippines. This contact resulted in a lingua franca that was called Bazaar Malay or low Malay. It is generally believed that Bazaar Malay was a pidgin, perhaps influenced by contact between Malay and Chinese traders.
Besides the general simplification that occurs with pidgins, the Malay lingua franca had several distinctive characteristics. One that possessives were formed with punya 'its owner'; another that plural pronouns were formed with orang 'person'. The only Malayic affixes that remained productive were tər- and bər-.
Other features:
- Ada became a progressive particle.
- Reduced forms of ini 'this' and itu 'that' before a noun became determiners.
- The verb pərgi 'go' was reduced, and became a preposition 'towards'.
- Causative constructions were formed with kasi or bəri 'to give' or bikin or buat 'to make'.
- A single preposition, often sama, was used for multiple functions, including direct and indirect object.
For example,
- Rumah-ku 'my house' becomes Saya punya rumah
- Saya pukul dia 'I hit him' becomes Saya kasi pukul dia
- Megat dipukul Robert 'Megat is hit by Robert' becomes Megat dipukul dek Robert
Bazaar Malay is still used to a limited extent in Singapore and Malaysia. The most important consequence, however, has been that pidgin Malay creolized, creating several new languages.
Read more about Malay Trade And Creole Languages: Baba Malay, Betawi Malay, Malaccan Creole Malay, Sri Lanka Malay, Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin, Macassar Malay, Balinese Malay, East Indonesian Malay
Famous quotes containing the words trade and/or languages:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“People in places many of us never heard of, whose names we can’t pronounce or even spell, are speaking up for themselves. They speak in languages we once classified as “exotic” but whose mastery is now essential for our diplomats and businessmen. But what they say is very much the same the world over. They want a decent standard of living. They want human dignity and a voice in their own futures. They want their children to grow up strong and healthy and free.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)