The Malay language, also known locally as Bahasa Melayu, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Malay people who are native to the Malay peninsula, southern Thailand, Singapore and parts of Sumatra. It is the official language of Brunei, and one of the four official languages of Singapore. It is also used as a working language in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, is Bahasa Riau, the language of the Riau Archipelago, long considered the birthplace of the Malay language.

In Malaysia, it is known as Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Malaysia, which mean Malay, or Malaysian, language. The latter term, which was introduced by the National Language Act 1967, was predominant until the 1990s, when most academics and government officials reverted to the older term, which is used in the Malay version of the Federal Constitution. Indonesia adopted a form of Malay as its official language upon independence, naming it Bahasa Indonesia. In Singapore and Brunei it is known simply as Malay or Bahasa Melayu. The reason for adopting these terms is political rather than a reflection of linguistic distinctiveness, as standard Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia are largely mutually intelligible versions of the same language. However, many Malay dialects are not as mutually intelligible: e.g. Kelantanese pronunciation is difficult even for some Malaysians to understand, while Javanese Malay tends to have a lot of words unique to it which will be unfamiliar to other speakers of Malay. The language spoken by the Peranakan (Straits Chinese, a hybrid of Chinese settlers from the Ming Dynasty and local Malays) is a unique patois of Malay and the Chinese Dialect of Hokkien, which is mostly spoken in the former Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. The use of this interesting language is dying out however, with the Peranakan now choosing to speak either Hokkien or English.

Malay is an agglutinative language, meaning that the meaning of the word can be changed by adding the necessary prefixes or suffixes. Root words are either nouns or verbs, e.g. masak (to cook) yields memasak (cooks, is cooking, etc.), memasakkan (cooks, is cooking, etc. [something]), dimasak (cooked - passive) as well as pemasak (cook - person), masakan (cooking, cookery). Many initial consonants undergo mutation when prefixes are added: e.g. sapu (sweep) becomes penyapu (broom); panggil (to call) becomes memanggil (calls, is calling, etc.), tapis (sieve) becomes menapis (sieves, is sieving, etc.)

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	Kakiseni.com - Ada Apa Dengan Bahasa Melayu? (7760 words) Kami pendokong usaha saudara akan terus berdiri bersama saudara dalam mempertahankan bahasa Melayu kerana saban hari bahasa Melayu semakin terpinggir atau semakin dianaktirikan oleh mereka yang kononnya pejuang bangsa Melayu.Kita pun tak tahu apakah DBP hanya sebagai boneka bahawa sesungguhnya bahasa melayu masih terpelihara walaupun hakikat sebaliknya. Kalaulah kerajaan mampu, bukan setakat bahasa inggeris sahaja yang perlu dikuasai oleh rakyat namun dengan adanya penguasaan bahasa inggeris, bahasa lain akan menjadi mudah untuk dikuasai oleh kerana banyak usaha telah dilakukan dalam menguasai bahasa lain melalui bahasa inggeris. Apapun terima kasih kerana masih ada lagi (bahkan ramai) yang masih menyintai bahasa ibunda bahasa rasmi negara. Bahasa Malaysia - definition of Bahasa Malaysia in Encyclopedia (994 words) It is the official language of Malaysia and Brunei, and one of the four official languages of Singapore. The official standard for Malay, as agreed upon by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, is Bahasa Riau, the language of the Riau Archipelago, long considered the birthplace of the Malay language. Bahasa Malaysia became the sole official language of Malaysia in 1968, but English is still widely used, especially by the minority Chinese and Indian communities, and because of its importance as the language of international business, and the situation in Brunei is similar.
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