Malay is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore. Indonesian, a standardized Malay-based national variety, is the official language of Indonesia and is one of working languages in East Timor. Malay is also spoken as a regional language of ethnic Malays in Indonesia and the southern part of Thailand. Altogether, it is spoken by 290 million people across Maritime Southeast Asia.
É or é (e-acute) is a letter of the Latin alphabet. In English, it is used for loanwords, romanization or occasionally as a pronunciation aid in poetry, to indicate stress on an unusual syllable.
In addition to its classical and modern literary form, Malay had various regional dialects established after the rise of the Srivijaya empire in Sumatra, Indonesia. Also, Malay spread through interethnic contact and trade across the south East Asia Archipelago as far as the Philippines. That contact resulted in a lingua franca that was called Bazaar Malay or low Malay and in Malay Melayu Pasar. It is generally believed that Bazaar Malay was a pidgin, influenced by contact among Malay, Hokkien, Portuguese, and Dutch traders.
Oirata or Woirata is a Timor–Alor–Pantar language spoken on the island of Kisar in Indonesia, and by some people in Ambon. Ethnologue reports an SIL figure of 1,200 speakers from 1987. It is closely related to Fataluku, of which it is sometimes considered to be a dialect.
Western Pantar, sometimes referred to by the name of one of its dialects, Lamma, is a Papuan language spoken in the western part of Pantar island in the Alor archipelago of Indonesia. Western Pantar is spoken widely in the region by about 10,000 speakers. Although speakers often use Malay in political, religious, and educational contexts, Western Pantar remains the first language of children of the region, and is acquired to some extent by immigrants.
Nedebang is a Papuan language spoken in the villages of Balungada and Baulang in the eastern district of Pantar island in the Alor archipelago of Indonesia. There are also Nedebang speakers in Air Panas, administratively part of Balungada but located 1 km from the main village.
Abui is a non-Austronesian language of the Alor Archipelago. It is spoken in the central part of Alor Island in Eastern Indonesia, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province by the Abui people. The native name in the Takalelang dialect is Abui tanga which literally translates as 'mountain language'.
Adang is a Papuan language of the Timor–Alor–Pantar language family spoken on the island of Alor in Indonesia. The language is agglutinative. The Hamap dialect is sometimes treated as a separate language; on the other hand, Kabola, which is sociolinguistically distinct, is sometimes included. Adang, Hamap, and Kabola are considered a dialect chain. Adang is endangered as fewer speakers raise their children in Adang, instead opting for Indonesian.
The (Greater) West Bomberai languages are a family of Papuan languages spoken on the Bomberai Peninsula of western New Guinea and in East Timor and neighboring islands of Indonesia.
The Alor–Pantar languages are a family of clearly related Papuan languages spoken on islands of the Alor archipelago near Timor in southern Indonesia. They may be most closely related to the Papuan languages of eastern Timor, but this is not yet clear. A more distant relationship with the Trans–New Guinea languages of the Bomberai peninsula of Western New Guinea has been proposed based on pronominal evidence, but though often cited has never been firmly established.
The Timor–Alor–Pantar (TAP) languages are a family of languages spoken in Timor, Kisar, and the Alor archipelago in Southern Indonesia. It is the westernmost Papuan language family that survives, and one of two such outlier families in east Nusantara.
The West Trans–New Guinea languages are a suggested linguistic linkage of Papuan languages, not well established as a group, proposed by Malcolm Ross in his 2005 classification of the Trans–New Guinea languages. Ross suspects they are an old dialect continuum, because they share numerous features that have not been traced to a single ancestor using comparative historical linguistics. The internal divisions of the languages are also unclear. William A. Foley considers the TNG identity of the Irian Highlands languages at least to be established.
Kui is a Timor–Alor–Pantar language spoken in several enclaves on Alor Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The language is called 'Masin lak' in Kui. Although the exact number of speakers is unknown, Kui is an endangered language since speakers are shifting to Alor Malay.
The North Halmahera (NH) languages are a family of languages spoken in the northern and eastern parts of the island of Halmahera and some neighboring islands in Indonesia. The southwestern part of the island is occupied by the unrelated South Halmahera languages, which are a subgroup of Austronesian. They may be most closely related to the languages of the Bird's Head region of West Papua, but this is not well-established.
The Wersing language, also known as Kolana after its primary dialect, is spoken in scattered settlements around the coast of Alor in Indonesia. Due to this settlement pattern, Wersing speakers are in contact with Abui and Kamang speakers and often have some competence in these languages. Though not closely related, it has cultural connections with Tukudede on the neighboring island of Timor.
Sawila, or Tanglapui, is a Papuan language of the Alor archipelago. Dialects are Sawila proper, Lona, Salimana, Lalamana, Sileba. Sawila speakers refer to their language as Manata.
Woisika, also known as Kamang, is a Papuan language of Alor Island of Indonesia. The three main dialects are Western Kamang, Lowland Kamang, and Upland Kamang. Dialects also include Lembur, Sibo, Kamang, Tiayai, Watang, Kamana-Kamang. They may constitute more than one language. Kamang is an endangered language, since children usually only have passive competence of the language, and instead are shifting to Malay.
Retta (Reta) is a Papuan language spoken on the south sides of Pura and Ternate islands, between Pantar and Alor in the Alor archipelago of Indonesia. It is not mutually intelligible with Blagar, which is spoken on the north side of Pura Island, and is unrelated to Alorese, which is spoken on the north side of Ternate.
Kafoa, or Jafoo, is a Papuan language of Alor Island in the Alor archipelago of Indonesia. Although Kafoa speakers refer to both themselves and their language with the name "Kafoa", this word is not well known in the area. Kafoa speakers are frequently multilingual, also speaking Malay, Klon and Abui. Children are typically initially taught Malay by their parents and later acquire Kafoa after having reached school age.
Kaera is a Papuan language spoken on the northeastern coast of Pantar island in the Alor archipelago of Indonesia. It belongs to the Timor-Alor-Pantar language family. Kaera is used alongside Indonesian in religious contexts, but not used in education.
