page_title: Peranakans
section_title: Language
hierarchical_section_title: Peranakans / Language
caption_attribution_description: English: Cover of Lie Kim Hok's Tjhit Liap Seng, considered the first Chinese Malay novel
context_page_description: The Peranakans are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Hoklo settlers in the Malay Peninsula and Indonesian Archipelago. Peranakan culture, especially in the dominant Peranakan centres of Malacca, Singapore, Penang and Medan is characterized by its unique hybridization of ancient Chinese culture with the local cultures of the Nusantara region, the result of a centuries-long history of transculturation and interracial marriage.
  Immigrants from the southern provinces of China arrived in significant numbers in the Nusantara region between the 15th and 17th centuries, taking abode in the Malay Peninsula; the Indonesian Archipelago; and southern Thailand, primarily in Phuket and Ranong. Intermarriage between these Chinese settlers and their Malay, Thai, Javanese, or other predecessors in the region contributed to the emergence of a distinctive hybrid culture and ostensible phenotypic differences. The Peranakans are considered a mixed-race or multiracial community, with the caveat that individual family histories vary widely and likewise self-identification with multiracialism varies widely.
context_section_description: The language of the Peranakans, Baba Malay (Bahasa Melayu Baba) or Peranakan Malay, is a creole language related to the Malay language (Bahasa Melayu), which contains many Hokkien words. It is a dying language, and its contemporary use is mainly limited to members of the older generation. It is common for the Peranakan of the older generation (particularly among women) to latah in Peranakan Malay when experiencing unanticipated shock.
  The Peranakan Malay spoken by the Malaccan Peranakans community is strongly based on the Malay language as most of them can only speak little to none of the language of their Chinese forebears. Whereas in the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia, the Peranakans are known to not only speak a Hokkien version of their own but also Thai and Kelantanese Malay dialect in Kelantan, and Terengganu Malay dialect in Terengganu respectively. Unlike the rest of the Peranakans in Malaysia, Penang Peranakans in comparison are much heavily influenced by a variant of Hokkien dialect known locally as Penang Hokkien.
  In Indonesia, the Peranakan language is mainly based on Indonesian and Javanese, which is mixed with elements of Chinese, mostly Hokkien dialect. Speakers of the Peranakan language can be found scattered along the northern coastline area throughout West Java, Central Java and East Java, and also in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Young Peranakans can still speak this creole language, although its use is limited to informal occasions.
caption: Tjhit Liap Seng (1886) by Lie Kim Hok was considered the first Chinese Malay novel.
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