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Malay is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spoken in East Timor and parts of Thailand. Altogether, it is spoken by 290 million people across Maritime Southeast Asia.
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.
Tobelo is a North Halmahera language spoken on the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera and on parts of several neighboring islands. The Tobelo-speaking heartland is in the six administrative districts of Tobelo, located on the western shore of Kao Bay and forming the central part of Halmahera Utara Regency. Other Tobelo speaking areas are the five districts of Wasile on the south and east coast of Kao Bay, and the northern half of Morotai Island. The district capital, also known as Tobelo, serves as a regional commercial and administrative center and is the largest settlement on Halmahera.
Indonesia is home to over 700 living languages spoken across its extensive archipelago. This significant linguistic variety constitutes approximately 10% of the world’s total languages, positioning Indonesia as the second most linguistically diverse nation globally, following Papua New Guinea. The majority of these languages belong to the Austronesian language family, prevalent in the western and central regions of Indonesia, including languages such as Acehnese, Sundanese, and Buginese. In contrast, the eastern regions, particularly Papua and the Maluku Islands, are home to over 270 Papuan languages, which are distinct from the Austronesian family and represent a unique linguistic heritage. The language most widely spoken as a native language is Javanese, primarily by the Javanese people in the central and eastern parts of Java Island, as well as across many other islands due to migration.
Tidore is a language of North Maluku, Indonesia, spoken by the Tidore people. The language is centered on the island of Tidore, but it is also spoken in some areas of the neighbouring Halmahera. Historically, it was the primary language of the Sultanate of Tidore, a major Moluccan Muslim state.
Moluccans are the Austronesian-speaking and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands, Eastern Indonesia. The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, and today consists of two Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku. As such, "Moluccans" is used as a blanket term for the various ethnic and linguistic groups native to the islands.
Kei is an Austronesian language spoken in a small region of the Moluccas, a province of Indonesia.
Ternate is a language of northern Maluku, eastern Indonesia. It is spoken by the Ternate people, who inhabit the island of Ternate, as well as many other areas of the archipelago. It is the dominant indigenous language of North Maluku, historically important as a regional lingua franca. A North Halmahera language, it is unlike most languages of Indonesia which belong to the Austronesian language family.
Ambelau is an Austronesian language; in 1989, it was spoken by about 5,700 Ambelau people, of whom more than 5,000 lived on the Indonesian island Ambelau and most others in the village Wae Tawa of the nearby island Buru.
Kayeli is an extinct Austronesian language once used by the Kayeli people of the Indonesian island Buru. Two dialects were recognized, namely Leliali (Liliali) and Lumaete.
Lisela, also called Li Enyorot, is an Austronesian language; in 1989 it was spoken by about 11,900 Lisela people mostly living in the northern part of Indonesian island Buru. It is also preserved among the small Lisela community on the Ambon Island.
Banda is an Austronesian language of the Central Maluku subgroup. Along with Kei, it is one of the two languages of the Kei Islands in the Indonesian province of Maluku.
Taliabo (Taliabu) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken on the island of the same name in the Moluccas of Indonesia.
Alune is an Austronesian language of west Seram in the Maluku archipelago of Indonesia.
Gebe, or Minyaifuin, is an Austronesian language of eastern Indonesia, spoken on the islands between Halmahera and Waigeo.
Wakasihu, or Larike-Wakasihu after the two still-vigorous dialects, is an Austronesian language of Ambon Island in the Maluku Islands.
Saparua is an Austronesian language spoken in Maluku of eastern Indonesia. Dialects are diverse, and Latu might be included as one. Saparua is currently spoken by around 1,500 people, and it is threatened by extinction. According to a researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency, Khairunnisa, stated that this is caused by the influences of Dutch colonialism, the sectarian conflict, migration, globalization, and the duty to speak Indonesian.
Hukumina is an extinct Austronesian language recently spoken in the northwest of Buru Island in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It had one native speaker in 1989.
Bacan Malay or Bacan is a Malayic language spoken on the island of Bacan in North Maluku province, Indonesia, by the minor Bacan ethnic group. It is an anomalous presence in the region, being surrounded by genetically distant Austronesian languages and languages of the unrelated North Halmahera family. Bacan is geographically removed from the Malay heartlands in the western archipelago.
James T. Collins is an American linguist who works on comparative linguistics, lexicography, and sociolinguistics. Collins specializes primarily in Austronesian languages.
References
- ↑ Palumata at Ethnologue (12th ed., 1992).
- ↑ Karenisa, Kity (2024). "Bahasa Punah di Maluku". kantorbahasamaluku.kemdikbud.go.id (in Indonesian). Kantor Bahasa Provinsi Maluku. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
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