LANGUAGES AND GREETINGS IN MALAYSIA

▪ Malay is the National language of Malaysia and also one of the two official languages of the country, the other being English.
▪ Aside from English, Chinese and Tamil (India) are also popularly spoken in Malaysia.
▪ Sinhalese (Sri Lanka), Iban (Sarawak) and Dusunic (Sabah) are all indigenous languages used in the country especially off the Malaysian peninsula.
▪ In total, there are 137 languages used in different parts of Malaysia.

MALAY LANGUAGE

▪ Malay is the major language of the Austronesian family dwelling in the peninsula and part of southern Asia.
 ▪ The aboriginals of malay are called “Orang Asli” or the original/ indigenous people of malay.
 ▪ They are classified into Negrito, Senoi and Proto-Malay.
▪ Malay homeland is believed by linguists as western Bruneian coast because proto-malay was spoken in Borneo around 1000BCE.
▪ Proto-Malay is established as the ancestral language of all Malayan languages and its ancestor is called ProtoMalayo-Polynesian.
▪ Malay also known as “ Bahasa Melayu” is a major language of the Austronesian family spoken in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
▪ Malay is spoken by 290million people across the strait of Malacca.
▪ Malay became the National Language (official) of Malaysia in 1968.

STANDARD MALAY OFFICIAL NAMES

▪ In Malaysia, it is called Bahasa Malaysia (Malaysia Language). 

▪ In Singapore and Brunei, it is called Bahasa Melayu (Malay Language)

▪ In Indonesia, it is reffered to as Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian Language).

▪ It is also called ‘Court Malay’ which was the literary standard of the pre-colonial Malacca and Johor Sultanate, so, it is sometimes reffered to as Malacca, Johor or Riau Malay.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MALAY LANGUAGE

Malay language took five evolution stages.

▪ Old Malay- influenced by Sanskrit India (Hindu and Buddhist). 

▪ The transitional period- 7th century to 14th century. 

▪ Malacca period- In 1402 to 1511. It became classical Malay with the infusion ofArabic, Tamil and Sanskrit. 

▪ Late modern Malay- period under the Sultanate of Malacca. 

▪ Modern Malay- during the court establishment of Johor Sultanate.

RELATED LANGUAGES

Other cross linguistics languages from southern Asia and the pacific ocean include:

 ▪ Malagasy - spoken in Madagascar. 

▪ Brunei Malay - spoken in Brunei. 

▪ Kedah Malay.

▪ Minangkabau - spoken in the west coast of Malaysia . 

▪ Creole - spoken in Sabah (Sabah Malay).

▪ Bangka, Pahang, Bangkok, Pontianak, Terengganu, Jambi, Perak, Palembang, Sarawak & Berau.

Malay   Greetings

As we all know, different countries have different ways of greeting. Now let's take a look at Malaysia's way of greeting, two hands clasped, hands slightly touched the forehead a bit, hands slightly touched the chest. When talking to Malaysians, do not touch the head and shoulders that they consider sacred and inviolable. Do not yawn in public, do not put your hand on the buttocks. Do not legs in front of it, reveal the soles of your feet, or use your feet to move items, etc.

➢Hi or Hai or Hello.

➢ How are you? – Apa khabar . The response will be “kabar baik” meaning ‘Fine’ or ‘Well’. If someone replies “ apa kabar” with “ tidak baik”, it means they are not fine.

➢ How is work? – Bagaimama Kerja.

➢ How is family? - Apa kabar Keluarga .

➢ There is also “Assalammualaiku”, in Arabic, meaning “may you be safe”, usually a greeting between Muslims, that is, “Hi” and “Hello”. Mr. =Tuan + name, honorable man; Ms. =Puan + name, Ms. Honorable Lady.

➢ Thank you =Terima Kasih； you're welcome =sama sama

Your hands have magical powers. Just hold your hand high, it's a very Malaysian way of communicating, very simple and effective. Even the busy traffic can be blocked by you. Of course, be sure to use your right hand, because Malays think the left hand is unclean. To call "BOSS" is respect for others. For those working in the service industry, such as hairdressers, supermarkets and restaurant staff, it can be called "BOSS". In Malaysia, this kind of friendly title makes each of us a boss. Exchanging business cards with each other is also a greeting etiquette, also to be ready at all times, if there is negotiations must be made in advance. In conversations about non-business issues, you can talk about sports, General affairs, family life and diet.

Chinese Language

➢ Standard Chinese (Mandarin) is the most widely spoken forms among Malaysian Chinese

➢ Mandarin is also the language of instruction in Chinese schools and an important language in business.

➢ Malaysian Mandarin's phonology is closer to that of Taiwanese Mandarin than towards the Beijing pronunciation, due to the influence of other dialects such as Cantonese and Hokkien.

Different Chinese Dialects

➢ Hokkien                  

➢ Cantonese

➢ Hakka

➢ Teochew

Standard Mandarin tones

Chinese writing system

• Oracle Bone Script / 甲骨文

• Greater Seal / 大篆

• Lesser Seal / 小篆

• Clerkly Script / 隶书

• Standard Script / 楷书

• Running Script/ 行书

• Grass Script/ 草书

• Modern Simplified/ 简体字

Chinese Greetings

Greetings of the day 

Good morning 

早上好 （zǎo shang hǎo ）actually refers to early morning and can be remembered as the sun rising over a helmet.

Good afternoon

午安（wǔ'an）/ 下午好 xìawǔ hǎo! Seldom used in the Republic of China and in the Chinese speaking world. 

Good evening

 晚上好 wǎnshang hǎo; Good evening! 

Good night

 晚安 wǎn'an; Literally "Peace at night".

The ways of Hello 

你好（nǐ hǎo）The standard "hello" greeting. Literally means "you good."

您好: （nín hǎo）The same "hello" greeting as above, is the polite form of "you", used when addressing elders, or teachers etc. 

你好吗? （nǐ hǎo ma)?More often used following a greeting than not, however, this can be used as a "How are you?.

您好嗎?（ nín hǎo ma?） The same as the "nǐ hǎo ma?" , except that this is used as a more polite form. 

你怎么样?（nǐ zěnmeyàng）? "What's up?", "How are you doing?" 

幸会 ：（xìnghuì） means"Nice to meet you!" 

久仰:（jiǔyǎng）; An extremely polite greeting that is not commonly used between friends, but rather between professionals meeting for the first time.

Goodbye

➢ 再見 zàijian; Literally "See you again". 

明天見 míngtian jiàn; Literally "See you tomorrow". 

拜拜 bāibāi/báibái; From English "Bye-Bye". 

回頭見 huítóujiàn: roughly equivalent to "see you soon", 

回見 huíjiàn; usually used in Beijing or written Chinese. 

再會 zàihuì: Literally "[we'll] hello again". Usually used in Shanghai or other parts of China, and sometimes used at the end of TV programs.

Greeting  in Chinese new year 

• 新年快乐 Xīnnián kuàilè means "Happy New 

Year”

• 恭喜发财 gōngxǐ fācái (May you be happy and 

prosperous)

• 祝你好运 zhunihaoyun（Wishing you good 

fortune on the Chinese New Year）

Tamil Language

• Tamil Language is One of the Dravidian languages.

• Spoken by Tamil people in India as well as significant minorities in Malaysia and Mauritius.

• It is an official language in India, Singapore, Sri Lanka and The Andaman and Nicobar Islands

.

• The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as one of the great classical traditions and literature of the world.

Classification of Tamil

• Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages.

• It is also classified as a member of a Tamil language family which involves the languages of 35 ethnolinguistic groups, including the Irula and Yerukula languages. 

• The closest linguistic relative of Tamil is Malayalam, the two languages begun diverging in the ninth century.

• The act of separating into totally different language had not happened before the late fourteenth century.

History of Tamil 

• linguistics divide Tamil over three periods.

• Old Tamil, being spoken from 200 BCE TO 8th century.

• Middle Tamil, being spoken from 8th to 13th century.

  

• Modern Tamil, being spoken from 13th century to today.

Indian  Greetings

• While greeting others, Malaysian Indian people will use the handshake or the namaste.

• Vanakkam (Hello) 

• Kaalai vanakkam (Good morning)

• Madhiya vanakkam (Good afternoon)

• Maalai vanakkam( Good evening)

• Iravu vanakkam (Good night)

• Nalla irukeengala(how are you?)

• Epadi irukeenga (another way of asking how are you?)

• Nal varavu(Good luck)

• Saapidunga(have food please)

• Utkaarunga( have a seat)

• Nandri( Thank you)

Terima Kashish! (Thank You) ( Sources: MALAYSIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE: Group presentation-1: semester 2 2018/2019 UTM)

Courtesy to: Dr. Mohamed Ayyub B. Hasan, Faculty, School of Human Resource Development & Psychology,  Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)