malay

IPA/məˈleɪ/
KK[mˈele]IPA/məˈleɪ/

malay — noun

1. A language used across Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei, belonging to

1.nounB1
Definition

A language used across Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei, belonging to the Austronesian family. Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is a standard variety of Malay.

Example

Lien grew up speaking Malay at home and English at school.

grew up speaking [language] — native-language context

The signs in Kuala Lumpur are written in both Malay and English.

written in [language] — used on public signs

Common collocations
  • speak Malay
  • learn Malay
  • in Malay
  • translate into Malay
  • written in Malay
Synonyms
  • Bahasa Malaysia

    the official name used within Malaysia, particularly in government and education

  • Bahasa Indonesia

    the standard variety of Malay used in Indonesia, with some differences in vocabulary and pronunciation

Grammar Patterns

speak/learn/teach/write in Malay

Usage Note

Malay is used without an article in most contexts: 'She speaks Malay', not 'the Malay'. The definite article is used only when specifying a particular regional variety: 'the Malay spoken in Brunei differs slightly'.

Common Mistakes

I studied Malay language for two years.
I studied Malay for two years.
'Malay' by itself already means 'the Malay language', so adding 'language' is unnecessary.
She can speak Bahasa.
She can speak Malay.
'Bahasa' means 'language' in Malay; it is not the name of the language itself.

malay — adjective

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Malay (or Bahasa Melayu) is the broad name for the Austronesian language spoken across Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore. Bahasa Malaysia is the official name used within Malaysia, particularly in government documents and the education system. Bahasa Indonesia is the standard variety adopted in Indonesia — it shares the same grammatical core with Malay but differs in vocabulary, pronunciation, and some everyday expressions. 'Indonesian' in English usually refers to the same variety as Bahasa Indonesia, though some speakers use it to mean the national language of Indonesia only. In short: Malay is the umbrella term; Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia / Indonesian are the two major standard varieties shaped by different national histories.

Malay ↗Bahasa MalaysiaBahasa IndonesiaIndonesian ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • Malay language
  • Malay people
  • Malay culture
  • Malay tradition
  • Malay world
  • Malay archipelago

Phrases

  • the Malay Peninsula
  • the Malay archipelago
  • the Malay world

Prepositions

  • in Malay
  • from Malay
  • into Malay

Etymology

Malay (Melayu)Portuguese (Malaio)English (Malay)

The word 'Malay' comes from 'Melayu', the name of a river in Sumatra, Indonesia. The area around the river was known as the land of the Malay people. European traders and colonisers adapted the name first into Portuguese ('Malaio') and later into English as 'Malay'.