Malay is an Austronesian language native to several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on mainland Asia.
Facts
ISO 639-3 Code Speaker Count2020-2023 estimate, first-language speakers (perhaps 125 million including local Malay varieties; 180 million with second-language speakers). Attested From (Year) RegionMaritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula 1 Classification
Official Status Connections
In Family
Source Wikipedia: Malay Language
Written In
Modern Malay is predominantly written in the Latin-based Rumi script; Jawi, an Arabic-based script, remains official for religious and traditional use in Malaysia and Brunei.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Malay Language
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Malay (endonym: Bahasa Melayu) is an Austronesian language native to several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on mainland Asia.
Infobox, ISO 639-3
msa
Infobox, Speakers (Total)
L1: 90 million, perhaps 125 million including local Malay (2020-2023)
Infobox, Speakers (L1)
L1: 90 million, perhaps 125 million including local Malay
Lead section, first sentence
is an Austronesian language native to several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on mainland Asia
History, Old Malay (Kedukan Bukit inscription)
Written in the Pallava variety of the Grantha alphabet, it is dated 1 May 683.
Official status, Malay entity page
The language is an official language of Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore, where the standardised forms are known as Standard Malay.
In Family: Austronesian, Infobox, Language family
Top family: Austronesian; immediate branch: Malayic languages (within Malayo-Polynesian).
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