Negeri Sembilan Malay

Negeri Sembilan Malay is an Austronesian language spoken mainly in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan, including parts of Hulu Langat District in southeastern Selangor, Alor Gajah and parts of Jasin District in northern Malacca, and parts of Segamat District in the northernmost part of Johor. The language is spoken by the descendants of Minangkabau settlers from Sumatra, who have migrated to Negeri Sembilan since as early as the 14th century. It is often considered a variant or dialect of the Minangkabau language; lexical and phonological studies, however, indicate that it is more closely related to Standard Malay than it is to Minangkabau.

History

The Minangkabau people began migrating from the Sumatra highlands to the Malay Peninsula in the 14th century. Migration skyrocketed from the 15th century to the 16th century. At that time, trade activity through the Strait of Malacca increased and many migrants were granted protection by the Malacca Sultanate. From the ports of Malacca, groups and groups of Minangkabau settlers started venturing inland. This was the first migration wave of Minangkabau people to Malacca. Most of the Minangkabau migrants were from Luhak Tanah Datar and Luhak Lima Puluh Kota. This first wave of migration resulted in the opening of a new mukim.
The number of inhabitants inland started increasing due to the rise of migrants and those migrants developed into their own groups of communities. These groups resulted in the creation of 12 clans as a whole. Different from in Sumatra, the naming of the clans were done based on the origin of the migrants. Migrants from Lima Puluh Kota formed the clans:

Payakumbuh
Batu Hampar
Mungkal
Seri Melenggang
Seri Lemak
Tiga Nenek
Batu Belang
Tiga Batu

Meanwhile, the migrants from Tanah Datar formed the Tanah Datar clan. These migrants also formed three other clans which resulted from intermarriages with communities already settled where the aforementioned Tanah Datar migrants migrated to. These clans were:

Anak Acheh
Anak Melaka
Biduanda

The Biduanda clan were seen as the leader of the clans that were present because they formed as a result of the intermingling between the Minangkabau people and the Orang Asli, the native people of the Malay Peninsula.
The opening of new mukims inland resulted in the formation of nine nagaris –
also known as – that were governed by Penghulus. The nagaris were:

These nine nagaris later formed a confederation that was called the Board of Negeri Sembilan. This confederation was under the protection of the Johor Sultanate.
In the 18th century, the Johor Sultanate received several attacks and was in an unpeaceful state. During this period, Negeri Sembilan was under the Bugis, insofar as the Datuks of Negeri Sembilan cooperated to make a request to the Sultan of Johor to invite a king from Pagaruyung to make him the leader, a request which was accepted. The invitation of the king brought along the second migration wave of Minangkabau people and resulted in the formation of the state of Negeri Sembilan with the Yamtuan Besar as its leader and Adat Perpatih as its law.
The two migration waves of Minangkabau people and the assimilation of the Minangkabau language to those of the natives resulted in the formation of Negeri Sembilan Malay. This Malay variety later diverged by the influence of English as an administrative language of the Federated Malay States which Negeri Sembilan became a part of whereas the Minangkabau homeland became a part of the Dutch's Dutch East Indies#Sumatra|Sumatra's Westkust] itself bringing Dutch into those people's vernacular. Further incorporation of modern Malaysian and Indonesian variants by the two modern nation-states continues the trend. The Minangkabau people of Negeri Sembilan have been separated from the Minangkabau people of Sumatra for 500–600 years. This resulted in Negeri Sembilan Malay developing its own unique features.

Dialects

There are two main dialects of Negeri Sembilan Malay, the southern Kuala Pilah dialect which is spoken in the districts of Kuala Pilah, Seremban, Rembau, Port Dickson, and Tampin, and the northern Jelebu dialect which is spoken in the district of Jelebu, including Lenggeng in Seremban.

Phonology

Consonants

Negeri Sembilan Malay contains 19 consonants.
Notes:

Prevocalic and intervocalic /r/ in Standard Malay corresponds to /ɣ/ in Negeri Sembilan Malay.

Vowels

Monophthongs

Negeri Sembilan Malay contains seven monophthongs, /i, e, ɛ, a, u, o, ɔ/ with two being not phonemic in Standard Malay and the schwa /ə/ being absent except in the Jelebu dialect.

	Front	Central	Back
Close
Close-Mid
Mid
Open-Mid
Open

Diphthongs

Negeri Sembilan Malay contains three diphthongs, /aj, aw, uj/. The Jelebu dialect contains an extra diphthong /oj/ which corresponds to Standard Malay /ul/.

Correspondence with Standard Malay

Below is a chart showing sound correspondences between Standard Malay and Negeri Sembilan Malay.

Vocabulary

According to Reniwati, Negeri Sembilan Malay has a lexical similarity of 94.74% with Standard Malay and a lexical similarity of 83.16% with Minangkabau.

	Standard Malay	Minangkabau	Negeri Sembilan Malay
1	Semua	Sado	Somuwo/Sumo
2	Abu	Abu	Abu
3	Kulit Kayu	Kulik Kayu	Kulet Pokok
4	Perut	Paruik	Poghut
5	Besar	Gadang/Basa	Godang/Bosa
6	Burung	Buruang	Bughong
7	Gigit	Gigik	Giget
8	Hitam	Itam	Itam
9	Darah	Darah	Daghah
10	Tulang	Tulang	Tulang
11	Tetek/Susu	Susu	Susu
12	Bakar	Baka	Baka/Bako
13	Kuku	Kuku	Kuku
14	Awan	Awan	Awan
15	Sejuk/Dingin	Sajuak/Dingin	Sojuk
16	Datang	Datang/Tibo	Datang/Tibo
17	Mati	Mati	Mati/Mampuih
18	Anjing	Anjiang	Anjeng
19	Minum	Minum	Minom/Minam
20	Kering	Kariang	Koghing
21	Telinga	Talingo	Tolingo
22	Tanah	Tanah	Tanah
23	Makan	Makan	Makan
24	Telur	Talua	Tolo
25	Mata	Mato	Mato
26	Lemak/Gemuk	Gomok	Gomuk
27	Bulu	Bulu	Bulu
28	Api	Api	Api
29	Ikan	Lauak/Ikan	Ikan
30	Terbang	Tabang	Toghobang
31	Penuh	Panuah	Ponuh
32	Kaki	Kaki	Kaki
33	Beri	Agiah/Bari	Boghi/momboghi
34	Baik	Elok/Baiak	Elok/Baek/baguih
35	Hijau	Ijau	Ijau
36	Rambut	Rambuik	Ghambut
37	Tangan	Tangan	Tangan
38	Kepala	Kapalo	Kopalo/Palo
39	Dengar	Danga	Donga
40	Jantung	Jantuang	Jantong
41	Tanduk	Tanduak	Tandok
42	Aku/Saya	Aden/Ambo/Awak	Ese/Ayo/Eden/Sey
43	Bunuh	Bunuah	Bunoh
44	Lutut	Lutuik	Lutut
45	Tahu	Tau	Tau
46	Daun	Daun	Daun/Daon
47	Baring	Golek	Bagheng
48	Hati	Ati	Ati
49	Panjang	Panjang	Panjang
50	Kutu	Kutu	Kutu
51	Lelaki	Laki-laki	Lolaki
52	Banyak	Banyak	Banyak
53	Daging	Dagiang	Dageng
54	Bulan	Bulan	Bulan
55	Gunung	Gunuang	Gunong
56	Mulut	Muncuang	Mulot
57	Nama	Namo	Namo
58	Leher	Lihia	Lehe
59	Baru/Baharu	Baru	Baghu
60	Malam	Malam	Malam
61	Hidung	Iduang	Idung
62	Tidak	Indak/ndak	Tidak/tak
63	Satu	Ciek	Satu
64	Orang	Urang	Ughang
65	Hujan	Ujan	Ujan
66	Merah	Sirah	Meghah
67	Jalan	Jalan	Jalan
68	Urat	Urek	Ughek
69	Bulat	Bulek	Bulek
70	Pasir	Pasia/Kasiak	Pase
71	Sebut/Cakap	Sabuik	Sobut
72	Lihat	Liek	Nengok
73	Biji	Incek	Biji
74	Duduk	Duduak	Dudok
75	Kulit	Kulik/Jangek	Kulet
76	Tidur	Lalok	Tido/Lolap
77	Asap	Asok	Asap
78	Diri	Tagak	Togak
79	Bintang	Bintang	Bintang
80	Kecil	Ketek/Kaciak	Kocik
81	Batu	Batu	Batu
82	Matahari	Matoari	Matohaghi
83	Ekor	Ikua	Eko
84
85	Itu	Itu	Itu
86	Ini	Iko	Ini
87	Kamu/Awak/Engkau/Kau	Awak/Sanak/Kau/Ang	Awak/Ekau
88	Lidah	Lidah	Lidah
89	Gigi	Gigi	Gigi
90	Pohon/Pokok	Batang Pohon	Pokok
91	Dua	Duo	Duo
92
93	hangat/panas	Angek	Paneh
94	Air	Aia	Ae
95	Kami	Awak/Kami	Kami/Kito/Kitoghang
96	Apa	A/Apo	Apo/Mondo
97	Putih	Putiah	Puteh
98	Siapa	Sia/Siapo	Siapo/Sapo
99	Perempuan	Padusi	Poghompuan
100	Kuning	Kuniang	Kuning
101	Saudara	Dunsanak	Waghih
102	Hari	Ari	Aghi
103	Jatuh	Balambin	Bodobin/Tosombam
104	Bagaimana	Bak Apo/Ba'a/Bak Mano	Camno
105	Pemalas	Panyagan	Penyogan/Pomaleh
106	Mari	Mari	Maghi