Kedah_Malay

Kedah Malay

Kedah Malay

Malay dialect of northwestern Malaysia and Thailand

Kedah Malay or Kedahan (Malay: bahasa Melayu Kedah; also known as Pelat Utara or Loghat Utara 'Northern Dialect') or as it is known in Thailand, Syburi Malay (Thai: ภาษามลายูไทรบุรี Phasa Malāyū Saiburī) is a Malayic language mainly spoken in the northwestern Malaysian states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, and northern Perak and in the southern Thai provinces of Trang and Satun. The usage of Kedah Malay was historically prevalent in southwestern Thailand before being superseded by the Thai language. Enclaves of Kedah Malay can be found in Kawthaung District in Myanmar; Ranong and Krabi in upper southern Thailand; Jaring Halus, Langkat and Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia and up north in Bangkok, central Thailand, where most of the Kedah Malay speakers are descendants of historical settlers from Kedah.[2]

Quick Facts Native to, Region ...
Distribution of Kedah Malay language
Dark Blue: Regions where Kedahan is currently spoken, Blue: Regions where Kedahan is historically spoken
A young man speaks Kedah Malay

Kedah Malay can be divided into several dialects, namely Kedah Persisiran (Littoral Kedah; which is the de facto prestige dialect of Kedah Malay), Kedah Utara (Northern Kedah), Perlis-Langkawi, Penang and some others outside Malaysia.[3] Speakers in Trang as well as Satun are heavily influenced by the Thai language. However in the district of Baling, they speak a different variant more closely related to Kelantan-Patani Malay than it is to Kedah Malay.[4]

Phonology

Consonants

More information Labial, Alveolar ...

Note(s):

  • Word initially:
    • /r/ is pronounced as the velar fricative [ɣ] in the syllable onset.[5]
      • In certain loan words, /r/ is pronounced as an alveolar trill [r] such as in market [market] 'market'.
  • Word finally:
    • Following /i/, velar nasal /ŋ/ is neutralised to /n/, so kucing /kut͡ʃiŋ/ 'cat' and kuning /kuniŋ/ 'yellow' are pronounced [kut͡ʃen] and [kunen] (even spelt accordingly in rare manuscript instances i.e. کوچين for the former[6]) though the final consonant is still underlyingly /ŋ/ as can be seen from the derived forms of these words such as kekuningan /kəkuniŋan/ 'yellowness' [kəkuniŋan] which still retains the [ŋ].[7]
    • /s/ is neutralised to /h/, so kurus /kurus/ 'thin' is pronounced [kuroh].[7][8]
      • After /a/, this /s/ is palatalised, so panas /panas/ 'hot' is pronounced [panaʲh].
    • /r/ is realised as a pharyngeal fricative [ʕ] so lapar /lapar/ 'hungry' is pronounced [lapaʕ].[5]

Vowels

Monophthongs

Kedah Malay has eight monophthongs, unlike Standard Malay which has six with /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ not having phonemic status.[9][10]

More information Front, Central ...

Note(s):

  • In open-ended final syllables and before a glottal stop (allophone of /k/ in the syllable coda) also in final syllables, /a/ is realised as [ɒ], so anak /anak/ 'son/daughter' and paksa /paksa/ 'to force' are pronounced [anɒʔ] and [paʔsɒ].

Diphthongs

Kedah Malay has four diphthongs /ai, au, oi, ui/ with /ui/ being a surplus diphthong that does not exist in Standard Malay.[11]

Comparison with Standard Malay

Below is a comparison between Kedah Malay and Standard Malay.[12]

More information Sound, Position ...

Vocabulary

More information Standard Malay, English Translation ...
More information Standard Malay, English Translation ...
More information Standard Malay, English Translation ...

References

Citations

  1. [1]
    Kedah Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. [2]
    Asmah Haji Omar 2017, p. 38.
  3. [3]
    See Malayan languages for a comparison between Kedah Persisiran and Penang dialects.
  4. [4]
    Mohd Noor Aswad 2019.
  5. [5]
    Shahidi A. H. 2009, pp. 309–311.
  6. [6]
    Gallop, Annabel Teh (Dec 21, 2015). "A Malay manuscript artist unveiled: Datuk Muda Muhammad of Perlis". Asian and African Studies. The British Library. Retrieved Feb 23, 2024.
  7. [7]
    Ajid Che Kob 1997, pp. 40–42.
  8. [8]
    Shahidi A. H. 2009, pp. 310–311.
  9. [9]
    Yunisrina Qismullah Yusuf et al. 2021, p. 78-80.
  10. [10]
    Shahidi A. H. 2009, pp. 305–308.
  11. [11]
    Yunisrina Qismullah Yusuf et al. 2021, pp. 81–82.
  12. [12]
    Yunisrina Qismullah Yusuf et al. 2021, pp. 68–69.
  13. [13]
    Strife 2007.
  14. [14]
    Fazal Mohamed Mohamed Sultan & Nurulafiqah Suhaimi 2012, p. 490.

Bibliography

Kedah Malay test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

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