The Malayic languages are a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family. The most prominent member is Malay, which is the national language of Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia; it further serves as basis for

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesia ...

, the national language of Indonesia. The Malayic branch also includes the local languages spoken by

Indonesians Indonesians (Indonesian: ''orang Indonesia'') are citizens or people originally from Indonesia, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. There are more than 1,300 ethnicities in Indonesia, making it a multicultural archipelagic coun ...

and ethnic Malays (e.g. Banjarese, Kutai language, Kutai, Kedah Malay), further several languages spoken by various other ethnic groups of Sumatra, Indonesia (e.g. Minangkabau language, Minangkabau) and Borneo (e.g. Iban language, Iban). The most probable candidate for the urheimat of the Malayic languages is western Borneo.

History

The term "Malayic" was first coined by in his lexicostatistical classification of the Austronesian languages. Dyen's "Malayic hesion" had a wider scope than the Malayic subgroup in its currently accepted form, and also included Acehnese language, Acehnese, Lampung language, Lampung and Madurese language, Madurese. narrowed down the range of Malayic, but included the non-Malayic languages Rejang language, Rejang and Embaloh language, Embaloh: *Rejang language, Rejang *Embaloh language, Embaloh *Kendayan language, Salako *Iban-Malayan **Ibanic languages, Iban **Malayan The present scope of the Malayic subgroup, which is now universally accepted by experts in the field, was first proposed by K.A. Adelaar (#CITEREFAdelaar1992, 1992, #CITEREFAdelaar1993, 1993), based on phonological, morphological and lexical evidence.

Languages

Malayic languages are spoken on Borneo, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Java and on several islands located in the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca. Borneo *Bamayo language, Bamayo, Banjar language, Banjar, Berau Malay, Berau, Brunei Malay, Brunei, Bukit Malay, Bukit, Kendayan language, Kendayan, Keninjal language, Keninjal, Kutai Malay, Kota Bangun Kutai, Kutai Malay, Tenggarong Kutai, Ibanic languages, Ibanic (Iban language, Iban, Remun language, Remun, Mualang language, Mualang, Seberuang language, Seberuang) Malay Peninsula *Jakun language, Jakun, Kedah Malay, Kedah, Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantan-Patani, Negeri Sembilan Malay, Negeri Sembilan, Orang Kanaq language, Orang Kanaq, Orang Seletar language, Orang Seletar, Perak Malay, Perak, Pahang Malay, Pahang, Reman Malay, Reman, Temuan language, Temuan, Terengganu Malay, Terengganu Sumatra *Central Malay, Col language, Col, Haji language, Haji, Jambi Malay, Kaur language, Kaur, Kerinci language, Kerinci, Kubu language, Kubu, Lubu language, Lubu, Minangkabau language, Minangkabau, Musi language, Musi, Pekal language, Pekal Java *Betawi language, Betawi South China Sea/Strait of Malacca *Bangka language, Bangka, Duano language, Duano, Loncong language, Loncong, Orang Seletar language, Orang Seletar, Urak Lawoi' language, Urak Lawoi'

Subgrouping

Internal classification

While there is general consensus about which languages can be classified as Malayic, the internal subgrouping of the Malayic languages is still disputed.

Adelaar (1993)

Adelaar (1993) classifies the Malayic languages as follows. *Ibanic languages, Iban *(''Main branch'') **Standard Malay **Minangkabau language, Minangkabau **Central Malay, Middle Malay ** Banjarese **Betawi language, Jakartanese **Others

Ross (2004)

Based on grammatical evidence, Ross (2004) divides the Malayic languages into two primary branches: *Western Malayic Dayak (Kendayan language, Kendayan, Salako) *Nuclear Malayic (all other lects) This classification is mirrored in the Glottolog, Glottolog (Version 3.4).

Anderbeck (2012)

Following , Anderbeck (2012) makes a distinction between Malay and Malayic in his discussion about the dialects of the Orang Laut, Sea Tribes in Riau Archipelago. He tentatively classifies all Malayic languages as belonging to a "Malay" subgroup, except Ibanic, Kendayan/Selako, Keninjal language, Keninjal, Malayic Dayak language, Malayic Dayak (or "Dayak Malayic") and the "fairly divergent varieties" of Urak Lawoi' language, Urak Lawoi' and Duano language, Duano. *Ibanic *Kendayan/Selako *Keninjal *Malayic Dayak *Urak Lawoi' *Duano *Malay language#Varieties and related languages, Malay (including all other Malayic varieties) Anderbeck's classification has been adopted in the 17th edition of the Ethnologue, with the sole exception of Duano, which is listed in the Ethnologue among the "Malay" languages.

Smith (2017)

In his dissertation on the languages of Borneo, Smith (2017) provides evidence for a subgroup comprising Malayic isolects in western Borneo and southern Sumatra, which he labels "West Bornean Malayic". However, he leaves other isolects unclassified. *West Bornean Malayic **Kendayan language, Kendayan-Salako language, Salako (= Ross' "Western Malayic Dayak") **Central Malay, Besemah **Ibanic languages, Ibanic ***Iban language, Iban ***Seberuang language, Seberuang ***Mualang language, Mualang ***Keninjal language, Keninjal *''Other Malayic'' (not a genetic subgroup) **Standard Malay **Betawi language, Betawi **Ketapang ** Banjarese **Kutainese language, Kutai **Brunei Malay

Position within Austronesian

The inclusion of the Malayic languages within the Malayo-Polynesian languages, Malayo-Polynesian subgroup is undisputed, and there is general consensus that the Chamic languages are closely related to Malayic. The wider affiliations of the Malayic languages are however controversial. There are two major proposals: Adelaar (2005) places Malayic within the Malayo-Sumbawan languages, Malayo-Sumbawan subgroup, which comprises the following languages: *Malayo-Sumbawan **Malayo-Chamic-BSS ***Malayic languages ***Chamic languages ***Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa languages **Sundanese language, Sundanese **Madurese language, Madurese Blust (2010) and Smith (2017) assign Malayic to the Greater North Borneo languages, Greater North Borneo subgroup: *Greater North Borneo **North Borneo languages **Melanau–Kajang languages, Central Sarawak languages **Kayan–Murik languages **Land Dayak languages **Malayo–Chamic ***Chamic languages ***Malayic languages **Rejang language **Sundanese language The Malayo-Sumbawan hypothesis is mainly based on phonological evidence with a few shared lexical innovations, while the Greater North Borneo hypothesis is based on a large corpus of lexical evidence.

Proto-Malayic

Phonology

Proto-Malayic has a total of 19 consonants and 4 vowels. There are 2 diphthongs: * *-ay * *-aw

Word structure

Proto-Malayic lexemes are mostly disyllabic, though some have one, three, or four syllables. Lexemes have the following syllable structure: :''Note'': C = consonant, V = vowel, N = nasal stop, nasal

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * Nothofer, Bernd. 1975. The reconstruction of Proto-Malayo-Javanic. (Verhandelingen van het KITLV, 73.) The Hague: Nijhoff. * * * * {{Borneo Malayic languages, Languages of Indonesia Languages of Malaysia Malayo-Chamic languages