Page Type: languageSri Lankan Malay Creole | Ethnologue

SCI ISO 639-3

Sri Lankan Malay Creole

A language of Sri Lanka

ISO 639
sci
Alternate Names
Java Jati, Melayu Bahasa, Sri Lankan Malay
Population
57,400 (2019), decreasing.
Location:
Ampara, Baddulla, Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kalutara, Kandy, Matara, Matale, Moneragala, and Nuwara Eliya districts, especially Badulla, Colombo, Hambantota, Kandy, and Kirinda urban areas.
Language Status
6b (Threatened).
Classification
Creole, Malay based
Dialects
None known. Not intelligible of Standard Malay [zsm] due to phonological and syntactic differences, and strong influence from Tamil [tam]. May be similar to Malaccan Malay Creole [ccm] (Lim 1981).
Typology
SOV; postpositions; case; adjectives and genitives precede noun heads.
Language Use
Language shift taking place. Malay communities using either English [eng], Sinhala [sin], or Tamil [tam] favor Sri Lankan Malay Creole. Clear shift to English among youth in Colombo. Kirinda is the only vital community of Sri Lanka Malays who have youth who speak it as L1. There is also a desire to acquire Standard Malay [zsm] as a useful economic tool but still preserve Malay identity. Beginning to shift to Standard Malay even in Kirinda. Home, community. Some young people, all adults. All ages only in Kirinda; being lost by youth in every other community. Also use English [eng]. Also use Sinhala [sin]. Also use Standard Malay [zsm]. Also use Tamil [tam].
Language Development
Newspapers. Radio.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Sri Lankan Malay Creole
Writing
Latin script [Latn].
Other Comments
Malay vocabulary with grammatical structure based on Sri Lankan Moor Tamil. Muslim, traditional religion.

Also Spoken in

Map

Location: Ampara, Baddulla, Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kalutara, Kandy, Matara, Matale, Moneragala, and Nuwara Eliya districts, especially Badulla, Colombo, Hambantota, Kandy, and Kirinda urban areas.