zsm ISO 639
Bahasa Malaysia, بهاس مليسيا (Bahasa Malaysia) Autonyms
Malay, Standard
Visualizations
A language of Malaysia
- ISO 639
- zsm
- Alternate Names
- Bahasa Malayu, Bahasa Melayu Malaysia, Formal Malay, Malay, Malaysian Malay, Malayu, Melayu, Melayu Baku
- Autonym
- Bahasa Malaysia, بهاس مليسيا (Bahasa Malaysia)
- Population
- Few L1 speakers. L2 includes most Malaysian population.
- Location
- Widespread.
- Language Maps
- Language Status
- 1 (National). Statutory national language (1963, Constitution (amended), Article 153A(1)).
- Classification
- Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Malayo-Chamic, Malayic, Malay
- Dialects
- None known. Lexical similarity: more than 80% with Indonesian [ind]. A member of macrolanguage Malay [msa].
- Typology
- SVO.
- Language Use
- Also use English [eng]. Also use Mandarin Chinese [cmn]. Also use Tamil [tam].
- Language Development
- Used through secondary education and in some tertiary institutions. Taught in all primary and secondary schools; taught as subject in schools using Chinese [cmn] or Tamil [tam] as the language of instruction. Taught in tertiary schools. Fully developed. Bible: 1733–2016.
- Writing
- Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab]. Braille script [Brai]. Latin script [Latn].
- Other Comments
- On Peninsular Malaysia, Standard Malay [zsm] exists in a diglossic relationship with Local Malay [zlm]. Standard Malay (derived from court Malay), both in terms of its linguistic structure as well as its sociolinguistic function, has its closest counterpart not in a particular Local Malay dialect but in Standard Indonesian [ind].
- Language Resources
- OLAC resources in and about Malay, Standard
Also Spoken in
- Language Status
- 1 (National)
- Language Use
- Formal domains, religion, government.
- Language Development
- Taught in all primary and secondary schools, used as the only language of instruction in grades 1 and 2, then, with English, used for teaching Malay, religion (Islamic studies), physical education, the arts and trades. Taught in tertiary schools.
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. L2 only. View other languages of Brunei
Language Name
Malay, Standard
- Location
- Widespread.
- Language Status
- 1 (National)
- Language Development
- Taught in all primary schools in early grades only. Taught as subject in secondary schools.
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. In Singapore, Standard Malay [zsm] exists in a diglossic relationship with Local Malay [zlm]. View other languages of Singapore
Language Name
Malay, Standard
User Population
Few L1 speakers. L2 speakers include ethnic Malays and some others, particularly the older generation.
