Malayic languages


The Malayic languages are a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family. The most prominent member is Malay, a pluricentric language given national status in Brunei and Singapore while also providing the basis for national standards Malaysian in Malaysia and Indonesian in Indonesia. The Malayic branch also includes local languages spoken by ethnic Malays, further several languages spoken by various other ethnic groups of Sumatra, Indonesia and Borneo even as far as Urak Lawoi in the southwestern coast of Thailand.
The most probable candidate for the urheimat of the Malayic languages is western Borneo prior to spread in Sumatra.

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, Lampung and Madurese. narrowed down the range of Malayic, but included the non-Malayic languages Rejang and Embaloh:
  • Rejang
  • Embaloh
  • Salako
  • Iban-Malayan
  • *Ibanic
  • *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, 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. This list is limited to Malayic languages traditionally spoken by their respective ethnic groups, for non-traditional languages, see Malay trade and creole languages.

Borneo

Sumatra

Java

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 classifies the Malayic languages as follows.
  • Malayic
  • *Iban
  • *
  • **Malay
  • **Minangkabau
  • **Middle Malay
  • **Banjarese
  • **Betawi
  • **Others

    Ross (2004)

Based on grammatical evidence, Ross divides the Malayic languages into two primary branches:
This classification was mirrored in the Glottolog.

Anderbeck (2012)

Following, Anderbeck makes a distinction between Malay and Malayic in his discussion about the dialects of the Sea Tribes in Riau Archipelago. He tentatively classifies all Malayic languages as belonging to a "Malay" subgroup, except Ibanic, Kendayan/Selako, Keninjal, Malayic Dayak and the "fairly divergent varieties" of Urak Lawoi' and Duano.
  • Malayic
  • *Ibanic
  • *Kendayan/Selako
  • *Keninjal
  • *Malayic Dayak
  • *Urak Lawoi'
  • *Duano
  • *Malay
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 provides evidence for a subgroup comprising Malayic isolects in western Borneo and southern Sumatra, which he labels "West Bornean Malayic".
  • Malayic
  • *West Bornean Malayic
  • **Kendayan-Salako
  • **Besemah
  • **Ibanic
  • ***Iban
  • ***Seberuang
  • ***Mualang
  • ***Keninjal
  • *Other Malayic
  • **Malay
  • **Betawi
  • **Ketapang Malay
  • **Banjarese
  • **Kutai
  • **Brunei Malay

    ''Glottolog''

Glottolog 5.2 classifies the Malayic languages into several groups, namely:
  • Malayic
  • *Duano
  • *Haji
  • *Malayic Dayak
  • *Old Malay
  • *Western Malayic Dayak
  • **Kendayan–Belangin
  • **Menterap
  • *Ibanic
  • **Keninjal
  • **Iban–Mualang–Seberuang
  • ***Mualang
  • ***Iban–Seberuang
  • ****Seberuang
  • ****Northern Iban
  • *****Iban
  • *****Remun
  • *Nuclear Malayic
  • **South Sumatra Malay
  • ***Kaur
  • ***South Barisan Malay
  • **Standard Malay–Indonesian
  • ***Standard Indonesian
  • ***Standard Malay
  • **Betawic
  • ***Betawi
  • ***Cocos Islands Malay
  • ***Peranakan Indonesian
  • **Central Sumatran Malay
  • ***Kubu
  • ***Music
  • ****Col
  • ****Musi
  • **East Borneo Malay
  • ***Kota Bangun Kutai Malay
  • ***Banjar–Berau–Brunei Malay
  • ****Banjar–Bukit Malay
  • *****Banjar
  • *****Bukit Malay
  • ****Berau–Brunei Malay
  • *****Berau Malay
  • *****Bruneic Malay
  • ******Sabah Malay
  • ******Brunei–Bacan Malay
  • *******Bacanese Malay
  • *******Brunei
  • **Northern Sumatra Malay
  • ***Jambi Malay
  • ***Bangka–Belitung Malay
  • ****Bangka
  • ****Loncong
  • ***Kerinci–Minangkabau
  • ****Kerinci
  • ****Minangkabauic
  • *****Lubu
  • *****Minangkabau
  • *****Negeri Sembilan Malay
  • *****Pekal
  • **Greater Riau–Johoric
  • ***Balinese Malay
  • ***Central Malay
  • ***Jakun
  • ***Orang Kanaq
  • ***Orang Selatar
  • ***Temuan
  • ***Tenggarong Kutai Malay
  • ***Northeastern Peninsular Malay
  • ****Kedah–Perak Malay
  • ****Kelantan–Pattani Malay
  • ****Urak Lawoiʼ
  • **Vehicular Malay
  • ***Baba Malay
  • ***Makassar Malay
  • ***Malaccan Creole Malay
  • ***Sri Lanka Malay
  • ***Eastern Indonesia Trade Malay
  • ****Kupang Malay
  • ****Larantuka Malay
  • ****Papuan Malay
  • ****Ambonic Malay
  • *****Ambonese Malay
  • *****Banda Malay
  • ****Manadoic Malay
  • *****Gorap
  • *****Manado Malay
  • *****North Moluccan Malay

    Position within Austronesian

The inclusion of the Malayic languages within the 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 places Malayic within the Malayo-Sumbawan subgroup, which comprises the following languages:
  • Malayo-Sumbawan
  • *Malayo-Chamic-BSS
  • **Malayic languages
  • **Chamic languages
  • **Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa languages
  • *Sundanese
  • *Madurese
Blust and Smith assign Malayic to the Greater North Borneo subgroup:
  • Greater North Borneo
  • *North Borneo 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.