Johor–Riau Malay

Johor–Riau Malay
Greater Riau–Johoric
bahase Melayu Johor–Riau بهاس ملايو جوهر–رياو
The manuscript Gurindam 12 written by Raja Ali Haji uses Jawi script.
Pronunciation	Malay pronunciation: [bahasə Məlajʊ dʒɔhɔr riaʊ]
Native to	Indonesia Malaysia Singapore
Region	Malay Archipelago Indonesia Riau (coastal region) Riau Islands Malaysia Johor Kuala Lumpur Malacca Putrajaya Selangor Singapore
Ethnicity	Malays
Native speakers	L1: unknown (the classic form became extinct around the end of the 19th century) L2: 24,052,695 (2020, 2023–2024)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Malayic Malay Johor–Riau Malay
Early forms	Old Malay Classical Malay
Standard forms	Indonesian (in Indonesia) Malaysian Malay (in Malaysia and Brunei) Singaporean Malay (in Singapore)
Dialects	Johor Malay Malacca Malay Riau Coastal Malay Riau Islands Malay Selangor Malay
Writing system	Latin Jawi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	sing1270
Map of the former territory of the Johor–Pahang–Riau–Lingga Sultanate, where the Johor–Riau Malay language developed.
Map of Johor–Riau Malay dialects distribution around the Malay Peninsula, also the east coast of Riau and the Riau Islands.   Johor Malay   Malacca Malay   Riau Coastal Malay   Riau Islands Malay   Selangor Malay   Singaporean Malay (standard form)

Johor–Riau Malay is a Malay dialect that is most closely related to Classical Malay used during the Malacca Sultanate and after the fall of the Malacca Sultanate, it then shifted to the first Johor Sultanate, namely the Johor–Pahang–Riau–Lingga alliance. Its derivatives are still spoken by the Malays in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Riau Islands, and the coast of the mainland Riau.

Johor–Riau Malay was originally a continuation of Classical Malay (Malay: bahasa Melayu Klasik), until it later developed into its own language variety. Ultimately, around the end of the 19th century, the language separated mainly into Johor Malay and Riau Malay (Coastal and Islands). Then also other languages that are quite close are Malacca Malay and Selangor Malay. After the formation of Malaysia and Indonesia, especially the Johor Malay continued to develop, influencing the standard form of Malaysian Malay, while the Riau Malay (mainly the Islands dialect) continued to develop until it became Indonesian language as its standard form.

Internal classification

Johor Malay

Johor Malay has its own varieties. The Johor people who live on the west coast have their own variation of the Johor Malay dialect, namely the Muar sub-dialect. The Muar sub-dialect often pronounces [o] at the end by changing it to [ar] in the standard variety, as in the word beso 'big' and others. Other areas, apart from the Muar dialect, also use the same native Johor dialect as that used by residents in Riau Islands, Indonesia. This is very much influenced by the Malay community in the Johor–Riau Sultanate which maintains its identity quite strongly, so even though Johor and the Riau Islands are currently separate, they still maintain the same identity. The general dialect of Johor–Riau Malay is characterized by the pronunciation of the letter [e] at the end as in the words saye 'i am'. This dialect has the largest number of speakers in Malaysia. Apart from Johor, speakers are also found in Malacca, Selangor, and Kuala Lumpur, and in the southern part of Perak, especially in Batang Padang and Hilir Perak. Meanwhile, Johor residents who live in Mersing generally speak Kuala Terengganu dialect.

Malacca Malay

Malacca Malay is spoken mainly in the state of Malacca on the west coast. This language is very closely related to Classical Malay because it is the area where the center of the Malacca Sultanate was founded. The dialect is similar to the Malay dialects in other southern parts of the Malay Peninsula.

Riau Malay

Main article: Riau Malay

Riau Malay (bahasa Melayu Riau; Jawi script: بهاس ملايو رياو) is the original form of the Malay language which is directly derived from Old Malay through its classical variety known as Johor–Riau Malay. This form of language is used as the basis of Standard Malay, which is a variety of standard language for the Malay language which is used semi-formally in Riau and Riau Islands. The sub-dialects closest to the Classical Malay variety are the Coastal and Islands dialects.

Selangor Malay

Selangor Malay is very similar to Malaysian Malay which is the standard form and official language in Malaysia. This dialect is spoken in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur which are the urban areas of the capital, also in Putrajaya.

Vocabulary comparison

The following is a comparison of vocabulary between Johor Malay, Malacca Malay, Riau Malay (Coastal and Islands), and Selangor Malay.

Johor Malay	Malacca Malay	Riau Malay		Selangor Malay	Gloss
		Coastal	Islands
pak kal			nasib		fate
semangke			semangka		watermelon
kopek			buka		open
taruk			letak		location
nengok			tengok, lihat		look
oter			ubah		change
kememeh					whine
sarap			sarapan		breakfast
tak semenggah			tak senonoh		indecent
dedo			demam		fever
longgo			longgar		loose
gebor			selimut		blanket
esbok			kulkas, lemari es		refridgerator
ghoboh, goboh			roboh		collapse
sogama			sekolah agama		religious school
sokkabo			koran, surat kabar		newspaper
kecur			terliur		drooling
terejal			nakal		naughty
bagi, beri					give
kecik, cenonet			kecik		small, little

See also

• Classical Malay
• Malaysian Malay
• Indonesian language
• History of the Malay language
• Malay dialects and varieties