North Moluccan Malay
North Moluccan Malay is a Malay-based creole language spoken on Ternate, Tidore, Morotai, Halmahera, and Sula Islands in North Maluku for intergroup communications. The local name of the language is bahasa Pasar, and the name Ternate Malay is also used, after the main ethnic group speaking the language. It is commonly written using Indonesian orthography. One of its varieties is Sula Malay, which was formed with the influence of Ambonese Malay.
A large percentage of this language's lexicon has been borrowed from Ternatean, such as, ngana 'you ', ngoni 'you ', bifi 'ant', and fuma 'stupid', and its syntax and semantics have received heavy influence from the surrounding West Papuan languages. Other vernacular forms of Malay spoken in eastern Indonesia, such as Manado Malay and Papuan Malay, are said to be derived from an earlier form of North Moluccan Malay.
Phonology
Vowels
The vowel system of North Moluccan Malay consists of five vowel phonemes and five diphthongs.| Front | Central | Back | |
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The five diphthongs are,,, and.
Consonants
North Moluccan Malay has eighteen consonants and two semivowels.Grammar
Possession
In Ternate Malay, words do not align its forms with its grammatical roles; therefore, the functions of words are often determined by linguistic context and non-linguistic situation. In this case, possessions are often used as a tool to determine the borders of constituents for the sake of successful interpretation of word meanings and functions.Generally, words in Ternate Malay are often constructed in head-initial structure, except from the two possessive constructions – Y pe X constructions and YX constructions, where words are constructed in head-final structure.
Y ''pe'' X constructions
In the Y pe X construction, the Y element refers to the modifier while the X element refers to the head. The possessor and possessum are connected by pe, in which the possessum expresses de facto a nominal meaning. In English, the Y pe X constructions gives the meaning of ‘Y’s X’ and ‘the X of Y’.According to Litamahuputty, Y pe X construction can express different meanings ranging from possession in animate subjects and inanimate subjects to non-possessive meanings. The examples below are extracted from Litamahuputty to illustrate situations when Y pe X construction is used to express possessions.
''Non-human relationships''
X is part of Y
In example, tong pe kaki is a possessive construction where the possessor tong ‘the first person plural – our’ is connected to the possessum kaki ‘leg’ using pe. Together, the construction gives the meaning of ‘our leg’, in which the leg is a part of ‘our’ body, demonstrating the relationship of ‘X is part of Y’X is a product of Y
In example, ular pe bisa is a possessive construction where the possessor ular ‘snake’ is connected to the possessum bisa ‘venom’ using pe. Together, the construction means ‘the snake’s venom’, in which the venom is produced by the snake, demonstrating the relationship of ‘X is a product of Y’.X is a feature of Y
In example, motor pe warna is a possessive construction where the possessor motor ‘motorcycle’ is connected to the possessum warna ‘colour’ using pe. Together, the construction gives the meaning of ‘the colour of the motorcycle’, in which the colour is one of the features of the motorcycle, demonstrating the relationship of ‘X is a feature of Y’.''Human relationships''
Social relationship
In example, bank pe bini is a possessive construction where the possessor bank ‘bank employee’ is connected to the possessum bini ''‘wife’ using pe. Together, the construction brings the meaning of ‘the bank employees’ wives’,'' which expresses the social relationship between the humane animates.Kinship relationship
In example, Fadin pe kaka is a possessive construction where the possessor Fadin is connected to the possessum kaka ‘older sibling’. Together, the construction gives the meaning of ‘Fadin’s older brother’, which expresses the kinship relationship between the two humane animates.''Time relationships''
Future relationship
Example is about a story of how the speaker accidentally spilled hot oil on himself.In the possessive construction de pe beso, the possessor de ‘third person singular’ refers to the day of incident, where the possessum beso ''‘tomorrow’'' refers to the day after the incident. Future time relationship is shown between the day of incident and the day after the incident.
Past relationship
Example is about the journey of the speaker and his friends in an island where he heard a strange voice.In the possessive construction de pe kalamareng malang, the possessor de ‘third person singular’ refers to the moment when the speaker was talking, where the possessum kalamareng malang ‘yesterday night’ refers to the night before that moment, demonstrating past time relationship between the time when the speaker heard strange voice and the time he talked.
''Human Quality''
Quality
In Example, de pe bae is a possessive expression where the possessor de ‘third person singular – his’ is connected to the possesum bae ‘kindness’ with pe. The expression has the meaning of ‘his kindness’, demonstrating a quality of the humane subject.This relationship is similar to X is a feature of Y which was demonstrated earlier, where example refers to an animate and example refers to an inanimate.
From the above examples, it can be seen that wide ranges of possessions, including possessions in human, animals, objects or even abstract items like time, can be demonstrated from the Y pe X constructions.
As mentioned earlier, word functions in Ternate Malay are often determined from contexts rather than word forms. Therefore, not all Y pe X constructions show possessive meanings. The examples below demonstrate situations where Y pe X construction is used to express meanings other than possession, for example, to express evaluative meanings or additional information:
; When the possessum denotes a quality with exclamative markers, it has an evaluative meaning rather than a possessive meaning.
In example, the Y element in the Y pe X construction ‘ngana pe capat’ is ngana, which refers to ‘second person singular’; and the X element is capa’, which refers to ‘fast’.
Since the sentence is expressed in exclamative intonations, which can be shown from the exclamation mark used at the end of the sentence and the use of ih , the construction has the evaluative meaning of ‘how fast you are!’ rather than a possessive meaning of referring the ‘quality of fastness’ to the subject.
; When the possessum denotes an action or activity, it supplies additional information to the action or activity rather than showing possessions.
In example, the Y element in the Y pe X construction ‘paitua pe cuci balanga’ is paitua, which refers to ‘old man’; and the X element is cuci balanga, which refers to ‘to wash a wok’.
The example provided extra information on what surprised the speaker rather than showing possession between the old man and his way of washing a wok.
YX constructions
In the YX construction, the Y element refers to the modifier, which is often a personal pronoun or a kinship term; and the X element refers to the head, which is often a thing word. The construction also has a meaning of ‘Y’s X’ and ‘the X of Y’ in English. The examples below are extracted from Litamahuputty, which demonstrated the use of element Y as a personal pronoun and kinship term in ''YX constructions:''Possessor Y as a personal pronoun
Example has demonstrated the use of YX construction with element Y as a personal pronoun, where the possessor dong refers to ‘third person plural’ and the possessum parau refers to ‘boat’. Together, it has the meaning of ‘their boat’.Possessor Y as a kinship term
Example has demonstrated the use of YX construction with element Y as a kinship term, where the possessor tete refers to grandfather and the possessum papa refers to father. Together, the expression has the meaning of ‘the grandfather’s father’, demonstrating the kinship relationship.Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns in North Moluccan Malay only distinguish between person and number. Some pronouns can also be used to show respect to other speakers.Politeness
The use of the first person singular pronouns kita and saya is dependent on the speech situation. Kita is used when talking to others of the same or lower age, rank or status. On the other hand, saya is used in more formal situations or when conversing with someone with a higher rank or status, to show respect to the other person.The second person singular and plural pronouns, ngana and ngoni also share a similar distinction. Ngana is used to refer to an addressee if they of the same or lower age, rank or status. Otherwise speakers may use personal names or kinship terms to refer to the addressee. Alternatively, the plural second person pronoun ngoni can occasionally be used to refer to a single addressee respectfully, although it is typically reserved for addressing a group of people.
These distinctions are demonstrated in example where the speaker telling his friends of a situation where he explains to a woman that he does not want to accept money for helping to carry her shopping onto the bus. Since he is talking to his friends he refers to himself as kita, but because he is not familiar with the woman he uses the more respectful saya to refer to himself and ngoni to address her.