Page Type: languageMalay, Standard | Ethnologue

ZSM ISO 639-3

Malay, Standard

Bahasa Malaysia, بهاس مليسيا‎ (Bahasa Malaysia) Autonym

A language of Malaysia

ISO 639
zsm
Alternate Names
Bahasa Malayu, Bahasa Melayu Malaysia, Formal Malay, Malay, Malaysian Malay, Malayu, Melayu, Melayu Baku
Autonym
Bahasa Malaysia, بهاس مليسيا‎ (Bahasa Malaysia)
Population
Few L1 speakers. L2 includes most Malaysian population.
Location:
Widespread.
Language Status
1 (National). Statutory national language (1963, Constitution (amended), Article 153A(1)).
Classification
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Malayo-Chamic, Malayic, Malay
Dialects
None known. Lexical similarity: more than 80% with Indonesian [ind]. A member of macrolanguage Malay [msa].
Typology
SVO.
Language Use
Also use English [eng]. Also use Mandarin Chinese [cmn]. Also use Tamil [tam].
Language Development
Used through secondary education and in some tertiary institutions. Fully developed. Bible: 1733–2016.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Malay, Standard
Writing
Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab]. Braille script [Brai]. Latin script [Latn].
Other Comments
On Peninsular Malaysia, Standard Malay [zsm] exists in a diglossic relationship with Local Malay [zlm]. Standard Malay (derived from court Malay), both in terms of its linguistic structure as well as its sociolinguistic function, has its closest counterpart not in a particular Local Malay dialect but in Standard Indonesian [ind].

Also Spoken in

Language Name
Malay, Standard
Language Status
1 (National)
Other Comments
Non-indigenous. L2 only.
View other languages of Brunei
Language Name
Malay, Standard
User Population
Few L1 speakers. L2 speakers include ethnic Malays and some others, particularly the older generation.
Location
Widespread.
Language Status
1 (National)
Other Comments
Non-indigenous. In Singapore, Standard Malay [zsm] exists in a diglossic relationship with Local Malay [zlm].
View other languages of Singapore

Map

Location: Widespread.