Malay, Central

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A language of Indonesia

ISO 639-3
pse
Alternate Names
Bengkulu, Besemah, Enim, Lintang, Melayu Tengah, Midden Maleisch, Ogan, Pasemah, Semendo, Serawai
User Population

1,590,000 (2000 census).

Location

Bengkulu province: central Bukit Barisan highlands west to Indian Ocean along Bengkulu coast; Lampung province; South Sumatra province: Lematang and Ogan river valleys.

Language Maps
Language Status

6a (Vigorous).

Classification
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Malayo-Chamic, Malayic, Malay
Dialects

Serawai, Bengkulu, Semenda, Lintang, Benakat, Kisam, Pasemah, Kikim, Lematang Ulu, Ogan, Enim, Rambang. Lexical similarity: 75% with Kaur [vkk], 80% between Pekal [pel] and some dialects such as Pasemah and Bengkulu. A member of macrolanguage Malay [msa].

Language Use

Vigorous. Home, village, commerce, religion. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Also use Indonesian [ind]. Also use Musi [mui].

Language Development

Indonesian [ind] preferred for educational and religious materials, but L1 for cultural stories and songs. Mixed preference for health and agricultural materials. Taught as subject in some primary schools. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1995.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Malay, Central
Writing

Latin script [Latn], limited usage.

Other Comments

Muslim.