Belitung Malay

Belitung Malay (base Belitong, Jawi: بهاس بليتوڠ), or Sedentary Belitung Malay, is a Malayic language spoken in Indonesia, specifically on the island of Belitung in the Bangka Belitung Islands of Sumatra. The language is primarily spoken by the native Malay people of Belitung, as well as by ethnic Chinese who have inhabited Belitung for centuries, using it as a second language alongside their native Hakka. This language is distinguished from Loncong language, another Malay variety spoken by nomadic sea gypsies from Belitung. Additionally, it is spoken by migrants from other parts of Indonesia residing in Belitung, including Javanese and Sundanese, as well as by the Belitung diaspora living in various regions across Indonesia. Belitung Malay serves as the lingua franca among the people of Belitung, encompassing not only Malays but also other ethnic groups living in the island. It is predominantly used in informal settings such as family gatherings or marketplaces. In contrast, standard Indonesian is preferred for formal situations, including government offices and schools, reflecting its status as the official and national language of Indonesia. Code-switching between Belitung Malay and standard Indonesian is common in the Belitung community, particularly in informal and semi-formal contexts. Other ethnic groups, such as the Chinese, also frequently code-switch and code-mix between Hakka and Belitung Malay.
Belitung Malay is a vernacular Malay variety that shares linguistic features with peninsular Malay, Eastern Sumatra Malay, and the Malay variety of West Kalimantan. Belitung Malay exhibits a closer resemblance to the Malay spoken in Sumatra and Kalimantan than to standard Jakarta Indonesian, particularly in terms of phonology and lexicon. The language has received significant influence from other languages, such as Hakka, Dutch and Arabic, as well as Javanese and standard Indonesian. Belitung Malay has absorbed Javanese loanwords due to Belitung's historical rule by the Palembang Sultanate, where the court language, Palembang Malay, was influenced by Javanese. Additionally, Indonesian, as the official language, has also become a source of loanwords. While Belitung Malay includes words not found in standard Indonesian, the two languages are generally mutually intelligible.
Belitung Malay is a Malayic language. Speakers of Malayic language are spread from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand, to the southernmost part of the Philippines. Malay is a member of the Austronesian family of languages, which includes languages from Taiwan, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia. Malagasy, a geographic outlier spoken in Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, is also a member of this language family. Although these languages are not necessarily mutually intelligible to any extent, their similarities are often quite apparent. In more conservative languages like Malay, many roots have come with relatively little change from their common ancestor, Proto-Austronesian language. There are many cognates found in the languages' words for kinship, health, body parts and common animals. Numbers, especially, show remarkable similarities.
Belitung Malay is closely related to other Malayic languages spoken in neighboring regions, such as Bangka Malay and Palembang Malay, as well as various Malay varieties found in West Kalimantan, the eastern coast of Sumatra, and outlying islands. Since Indonesian is a standardized form of Malay, Belitung Malay is also related to it, and the two are generally mutually intelligible. However, Belitung Malay possesses unique characteristics, particularly in its phonology and lexicon, that distinguish it from Indonesian and other Malay varieties.
Belitung Malay is exclusively spoken on Belitung and its outlying islands. Administratively, this area consists of two regencies in the Bangka Belitung province: Belitung Regency and East Belitung Regency. It is also spoken by Belitung diasporas living in other parts of Indonesia. Belitung Malay is the mother tongue of the Malay people on the island. The Chinese people primarily use Hakka and Mandarin as their native tongues, though many also understand Belitung Malay as a second language and use it to communicate with Malays and other ethnic groups. On the other hand, migrants in Belitung from other parts of Indonesia speak Belitung Malay in addition to their native languages, especially in the market.
Belitung Malay is a spoken language used by Belitung speakers when talking with family members, friends, and co-workers on informal occasions in markets, shops, stalls, and so forth. It also functions as a lingua franca; non-Malay people, such as Chinese and Bugis, among others in the area, often choose to speak Belitung Malay between people from different ethnic groups. Belitung Malay is not used in formal situations in Belitung; it is not taught in schools or used in governmental offices. Instead, Indonesian, the official language of Indonesia, is learned at school. Children are exposed to Indonesian from birth through television, the internet, national ceremonial speeches, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media. Nonetheless, Belitung Malay retains its dominance as an everyday language. Increasing usage of Indonesian has led many Belitung Malay speakers to code-switch and code-mix between standard Indonesian and Belitung Malay.
Belitung Malay, like many other regional languages in Indonesia, lacks a standardized phonological system. Nevertheless, many of the phonological system designed for Belitung Malay is loosely based on standard Indonesian orthography.
Like Indonesian and Standard Malay, Belitung Malay possesses 6 phonemic vowels /i, ə, e, a, o, u/.
Notes:
Belitung Malay has 19 consonants.
Notes:
Belitung Malay features five diphthongs, typically found at the end of words: /ei̯/, /au̯/, /ai̯/, /oi̯/, and /ui̯/. Examples of these diphthongs in use are shown below:
Along with Indonesian, standard Malay, and other Malayic languages, the word order in Belitung Malay is typically subject-verb-object (SVO). While there are notable exceptions, the grammar structure of Belitung Malay shares many similarities with Indonesian and Standard Malay.
Belitung Malay has a number of affixes that can join with the base word to form an affixed word. In Belitung Malay, like other Malayic languages, there are four types of affixes: prefixes, infixes, suffixes and circumfix. Prefixes are affixes attached at the beginning of a word, suffixes are affixes added at the end, and infixes are affixes inserted in the middle. A circumfix or discontinuous affix partly attaches to both the front and back of the base form. Like other Malayic languages, Belitung Malay words consist of a root or a root plus derivational affixes. The root, typically bisyllabic in the shape CV(C)CV(C), serves as the core lexical unit and is usually a noun or verb. Affixes are applied to roots to modify or expand their meaning, creating new words.
In Belitung Malay, various prefixes alter the meaning of base words differently. The following are examples of common prefixes in Belitung Malay, their meanings, and words:
Like prefixes, suffixes in Belitung Malay also alter the meaning of base words in various ways. The following are examples of common suffixes in Belitung Malay, their meanings, and some words:
In Belitung Malay, infixation of a base word typically signifies 'many or multiple' of that particular base word. The following are some examples of common infixes used in Belitung Malay:
There are several circumfixes in Belitung Malay, each with its own specific meanings. The following are some examples of common circumfixes used in Belitung Malay:
There are several types of reduplication in Belitung Malay: full reduplication, reduplication of base forms in complex words, reduplication with affixation, and reduplication with phoneme replacement. Reduplication in Belitung Malay serves various purposes depending on the type of word. For nouns, it indicates pluralization or resemblance to something. Verbs use reduplication to denote reciprocal actions, repetitive actions, leisurely actions, or intensity. Adjectives use it to signify a high degree or intensity. Lastly, numerals use reduplication to express collectivity.
In full reduplication, the entire base form is repeated without phoneme changes or the addition of affixes. For example:
Reduplication of base forms in complex words is the repetition of affixed words where only the base form is repeated. This type of reduplication in Belitung Malay occurs in affixed words such as:
Repetition with affixation involves repetition of the base form occurs with the addition of affixes, usually circumfixes or separate affixes. For example:
Reduplication with phoneme substitution is the reduplication of the base form accompanied by the alteration of phonemes within that base form. For example:
In Belitung Malay nouns can be divided into human nouns, animal nouns or neither. Human nouns are nouns that use the measuring word urang 'person' as a unit indicator, for example:
Animal nouns are nouns that use the measuring word ikoq 'tail' as a unit indicator, for example:
Examples of other nouns are:
Verbs in Belitung Malay can be categorized into intransitive verbs, ditransitive verbs, and transitive verbs. Transitive verbs are further subdivided into passive and antipassive transitive verbs. Examples of intransitive verbs include:
Example of ditransitive verbs include:
Example of passive transitive verbs include:
Example of antipassive transitive verbs include:
Adjectives in Belitung Malay are words that can be preceded by words such as agaq 'somewhat', lebe 'more', paling 'most' or followed by the word amat 'very'. For example:
Numerals can be divided into definite and indefinite numerals. Example of definite numerals are:
Examples of indefinite numerals are:
Pronouns in Belitung Malay can be divided into personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns and interrogative pronouns.
This table shows an overview over the most commonly and widely used personal pronouns in Belitung Malay.
The pronouns aku and saya both mean 'I', with saya typically used in more formal contexts. The pronouns kameq and kite both mean 'we', but kameq is exclusive, while kite is inclusive.
Like Indonesian and Standard Malay, there are two demonstrative pronouns in Belitung Malay, ini 'this' and itu 'that'. The usage of these words are shown below：
Examples of interrogative pronouns in Belitung Malay include ape 'what', sape 'who', kiape 'how', berape 'how much', sebile 'when', kemane 'where' and ngape 'why'. The usage of these words are shown below：
The vocabulary of Belitung Malay is notably distinct from Indonesian and Standard Malay. While many words are similar, Belitung Malay includes unique lexicon not found in Indonesian or other Malayic languages. For example, words such as umaq 'mother', bundie 'they', and ngayak 'very' are unique to Belitung Malay and not found in Indonesian. Due to the legacy of the Palembang Sultanate's rule in Belitung, Belitung Malay has also received influence from Palembang Malay. Through Palembang Malay, Belitung Malay has also absorbed several loanwords from Javanese. Words such as gawe 'to work', jungor 'mouth', and kuping 'ear' are examples of loanwords indirectly borrowed from Javanese via Palembang Malay. Lastly, similar to other regional languages in Indonesia, the introduction of Indonesian as the national language has influenced the vocabulary of Belitung Malay. As Indonesian influence grows, many people in Belitung have gradually embraced Indonesian and replaced certain words in Belitung Malay with their Indonesian equivalents.
In addition, the lexicon of Belitung Malay has been influenced by other languages, such as Hakka, Arabic and Dutch. Hakka entered Belitung Malay due to influx of Chinese migrants from Guangdong in the 19th century, while Dutch loanwords on the other hand entered Belitung Malay through colonization. Arabic loanwords on the other hand entered Belitung Malay through the spread of Islam in Indonesia and the historical rule of the Palembang Sultanate in Belitung. Similar to Bangka Malay, Belitung Malay has absorbed a significant number of loanwords from Hakka due to the substantial presence of Chinese communities in the Bangka-Belitung. Example of Hakka loanwords in Belitung Malay are amoy 'Chinese girls' (from 阿妹 â-moi), tanglong 'lantern' (from 燈籠 tên-lùng) and fannyin 'Malay' (from 番人 fân-ngìn). There are also Dutch loanwords in Belitung Malay. Some Dutch words not commonly found in standard Indonesian include uto 'car', potlot 'pencil', and perlop 'work leave'. Lastly, Arabic-derived words are mostly Islamic-related terms, such as jakat 'zakat' (from زكاة zakāt), aji 'hajj' (from حَجّ ḥajj) and nazar 'motive' (from نظر nazar).
Below are examples of commonly used Belitung Malay vocabulary in various dialects, along with their Indonesian and English translations:
Similar to Bangka Malay and Palembang Malay, Belitung Malay historically was written in the Jawi script, also known as Arab-Melayu or Gundul script. Jawi entered Belitung during the rule of the Palembang Sultanate, as part of the spread of Islam in the Indonesian archipelago. Manuscripts and other artifacts discovered in Belitung from the past were predominantly written in Jawi. However, the usage of the Jawi script has declined following the introduction of the Latin script by the Dutch during the colonial era. Today, the usage of the Jawi script in Belitung is extremely rare. Belitung Malay is now predominantly written in the Latin script. When written, like other regional languages in Indonesia, Belitung Malay usually follow the Indonesian orthography, which is the official spelling system used in the Indonesian language.
Like other Malayic languages, Belitung Malay has a rich tradition of oral literature. Oral literature in Belitung Malay encompasses a variety of elements, including traditional expressions, folk poetry, and folk prose tales. Traditional expressions can be divided into proverbs, idioms, parables, and wise sayings. Proverbs are metaphors used to say something precisely in a short sentence with the aim of interrupting someone's conversation. Examples of proverbs in Belitung Malay are:
Idioms are figurative expressions spoken using short sentences. Idioms in Belitung Malay are called perbase. Examples of idioms in Belitung are:
Similes are sentences that compare or liken something, such as a person's beauty or character, to the surrounding natural environment. Parables in Belitung Malay oral literature usually begin with the word 'ki' meaning 'like'. Example of parables are:
Wise words are words or sentences containing advice spoken by someone (usually older) to another person so that the person being advised behaves kindly towards others. Examples of wise words are:
There are various forms of folk poetry in Belitung Malay, including campaq, pantun, and mantra. Campaq in Belitung Malay means 'discard'; it involves the recitation of pantun during the campaq dance, a traditional dance native to Bangka-Belitung. There are two types of campaq: campaq darat, or 'land campaq', predominantly performed by native Malays of Belitung, and campaq laut, or 'sea campaq', traditionally performed by the Orang Laut, sea nomads inhabiting the coastal regions of Belitung. Similar to other Malay dialects, traditional oral literature in Belitung Malay also includes the pantun, often encountered in the social interactions of young people. Below are some examples of pantuns that originated from Belitung along with its Indonesian and English translation:
A mantra consists of words or phrases imbued with mystical power, spoken in rhythmic language. Mantras are believed to harness supernatural forces through the energy of sound inherent in each chosen word. The language of mantras is sometimes unknown in meaning. In the oral literature of Belitung Malay, there are several types of mantras such as kemat and jampi. Kemat is a mantra used by young people, typically girls to boys, to make someone interested and fall in love with them. Kemat can be used by holding three betel leaves, through food, and also by using a cut from the nails of hands. Meanwhile, Jampi is a type of mantra used to heal people. There are various types of Jampi recited for different ailments, such as eyelid twitching or food stuck in the esophagus.