Some linguists prefer to restrict the use of the expression "proto-Malay" to a reconstructed early version of Malay.  Others include under the term certain languages, particularly those with low linguistic change, that are closer to that reconstructed language than the main dialects of present day Malay.  The term is also used by non-linguists to refer to people who are Malay related, but who occupied the Malay peninsula prior to the main invasion of the Malay people. See, e.g., Orang Asli.