Brunei Malay

Brunei Malay, also called Bruneian Malay (; Jawi: ), is the most widely spoken language in Brunei Darussalam and a lingua franca in some parts of Sarawak and Sabah, such as Labuan, Limbang, Lawas, Sipitang, Beaufort, Kuala Penyu and Papar.Clynes, A. (2014). Brunei Malay: An Overview. In P. Sercombe, M. Boutin, & A. Clynes (Eds.), Advances in Research on Linguistic and Cultural Practices in Borneo (pp. 153–200). Phillips, ME: Borneo Research Council. Pre-publication draft available at http://fass.ubd.edu.bn/staff/docs/AC/Clynes-Brunei-Malay.pdfDeterding, David & Athirah, Ishamina. (2017). Brunei Malay. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 47(1), 99–108. doi:10.1017/S0025100316000189 Though Standard Malay is promoted as the official national language of Brunei, Brunei Malay is socially dominant and it is currently replacing the minority languages of Brunei,McLellan, J., Noor Azam Haji-Othman, & Deterding, D. (2016). The language situation in Brunei Darussalam. In Noor Azam Haji-Othman, J. McLellan, & D. Deterding (Eds.), The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam: A kingdom of unexpected linguistic diversity (pp. 9–16). Singapore: Springer. including the Dusun and Tutong languages,Noor Azam Haji-Othman & Siti Ajeerah Najib (2016). The state of indigenous languages in Brunei. In Noor Azam Haji-Othman, J. McLellan, & D. Deterding (Eds.), The use and status of language in Brunei Darussalam: A kingdom of unexpected linguistic diversity (pp. 17–28). Singapore: Springer. existing in a diglossic speech, wherein Brunei Malay is commonly used for daily communication, coexisting with the aforementioned regional languages and Malay creoles, and standard Malay used in formal speech; code switching between standard Malay and Brunei Malay is spoken in informal speech as a lingua franca between Malay creoles and regional languages. It is quite similar to Standard Malay to the point of being almost mutually intelligible with it, being about 84% cognate with standard Malay.P.W. Martin and G. Poedjosoedarmo (1996). An overview of the language situation in Brunei Darussalam. In P.W. Martin, C. Ozog & G. Poedjosoedarmo (Eds.), Language use & language change in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 1–23). Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies. p. 7. Standard Malay is usually spoken with Brunei pronunciation.

Phonology The consonantal inventory of Brunei Malay is shown below:Clynes, Adrian & Deterding, David. (2011). Standard Malay (Brunei). Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 41(2), 259–268. doi:10.1017/S002510031100017X Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal Plosive/Affricate() Fricative()()()()() Trill Lateral Approximant

Notes: is dental in many varieties of Malay, but it is alveolar in Brunei. is velar in initial position, but it is realised as uvular in coda. Parenthesised sounds occur only in loanwords. All consonants can occur in word-initial position, except . Therefore, Standard Malay 'forest' became in Brunei Malay, and Standard Malay 'black' became . All consonants can occur in word-final position, except the palatals and voiced plosives . Exceptions can be found in a few borrowed words such as 'March' and 'kebab'. Some analysts exclude and from this table because they are 'margin high vowels',Mataim Bakar. (2007). The phonotactics of Brunei Malay: An Optimality Theoretic account. Bandar Seri Begawan: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei. while others include /w/ but exclude /j/.

Brunei Malay has a three-vowel system: , , .Poedjosoedarmo, G. (1996). Variation and change in the sound systems of Brunei dialects of Malay. In P. Martin, C. Ozog, & Gloria Poedjosoedarmo (Eds.), Language use and language change in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 37–42). Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies. Acoustic variation in the realisation of these vowels is shown in the plot on the right, based on the reading of a short text by a single female speaker.

While is distinct from the other two vowels, there is substantial overlap between and . This is partly because of the vowel in the first syllable of words such as ('to blow') which can be realised as . Indeed, the Brunei Malay dictionary uses an 'e' for the prefix in this word, listing it as ,Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei. (2007). Kamus Bahasa Melayu Brunei (Edisi Kedua) [Brunei Malay dictionary, 2nd edition]. Bandar Seri Begawan: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei. though other analyses prefer to show prefixes such as this with 'a', on the basis that Brunei Malay just has three vowel phonemes.Jaludin Chuchu. (2000). Morphology of Brunei Malay. Bangi: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Language use

Brunei Malay, Kedayan, and Kampong Ayer can be regarded as dialects of Malay. Brunei Malay is used by the numerically and politically dominant Brunei people, who traditionally lived on water, while Kedayan is used by the land-dwelling farmers, and the Kampong Ayer dialect is used by the inhabitants of the river north of the capital.Gallop, 2006. "Brunei Darussalam: Language Situation". In Wurm, Mühlhäusler, & Tryon, Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia and the Americas, 1996:677 It has been estimated that 94% of the words of Brunei Malay and Kedayan are lexically related.<ref name="Not1991">Nothofer, B. (1991). The languages of Brunei Darussalam. In H. Steinhauer (Ed.), Papers in Austronesian Linguistics (pp. 151–172). Canberra: Australian National University.</ref>

Coluzzi studied the street signs in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital city of Brunei Darussalam. The researcher concluded that except Chinese, "minority languages in Brunei have no visibility and play a very marginal role beyond the family and the small community."Coluzzi, Paolo. (2012). The Linguistic Landscape of Brunei Darussalam: Minority Languages and the Threshold of Literacy. South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 12, 1-16. Retrieved 14 April 2019 from http://fass.ubd.edu.bn/SEA/volume12.html

Vocabulary Brunei Malay Malaysian MalayMeaning First person singular First person singular when in conversation with a Royal Family Member Second person singularFrom and . It is used like the Malay word .Second person pluralThird person singularFirst person plural (inclusive)To be used either like or Male third person singular Female third person singular To address a listener of older age. Also first person pluralTo address a loved one ThisThat Where (at)? Where to? Male (human) Female (human)A gentleman His Majesty Yes No To close (a door, etc.) To eat To like Funny (adj.), derived from Charlie Chaplincf. Malaysian , Singaporean To be quick, (in a) hurry(ing) (also an interjection) At a later time, soonStraight ahead; immediatelyUsed as a term when in a state denial (as in 'No way!' or 'It can't be')'Might as well ... '; Generally refers to a white Westerner.Refers to a Bruneian of Indian descent. (This is generally regarded as pejorative.)Najib Noorashid (2016). The 'K' word referring to Indians in Brunei. Paper presented at the Brunei-Malaysia 2016 Forum, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, 16–17 November 2016.

Studies The vocabulary of Brunei Malay has been collected and published by several western explorers in Borneo including Pigafetta in 1521, De Crespigny in 1872, Charles Hose in 1893, A. S. Haynes in 1900, Sidney H. Ray in 1913, H. B. Marshall in 1921, and G. T. MacBryan in 1922, and some Brunei Malay words are included in A Malay-English Dictionary by R. J. Wilkinson.Martin, P. W. (1994). Lexicography in Brunei Darussalam: An overview. In B. Sibayan & L. E. Newell (Eds.), Papers from the First Asia International Lexicography Conference, Manila, Philippines, 1992. LSP Special Monograph Issue, 35 (pp. 59–68). Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines.

The language planning of Brunei has been studied by some scholars.Coluzzi, Paolo. (2011). Majority and minority language planning in Brunei Darussalam. Language Problems and Language Planning, 35(3), 222-240. doi:10.1075/lplp.35.3.02colClynes, Adrian. (2012). Dominant language transfer in minority language documentation projects: Some examples from Brunei. Language Documentation & Conservation, 6, 253-267.

References

Brunei Malay

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