Kedah Malay

Kedah Malay or Kedahan (Malay: bahasa Melayu Kedah); also known as Pelat Utara or Loghat Utara ('Northern Dialect') or as it is known in Thailand, Syburi Malay (Thai: ภาษามลายูไทรบุรี) is a Malayic language mainly spoken in the northwestern Malaysian states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, and northern Perak and in the southern Thai provinces of Trang and Satun. The usage of Kedah Malay was historically prevalent in southwestern Thailand before being superseded by the Thai language. Enclaves of Kedah Malay can be found in Kawthaung District in Myanmar; Ranong and Krabi in upper southern Thailand; Jaring Halus, Langkat and Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia and up north in Bangkok, central Thailand, where most of the Kedah Malay speakers are descendants of historical settlers from Kedah.[2]

Kedah Malay
بهاس ملايو قدح
ภาษามลายูไทรบุรี
Pelat Utagha
Bahasa Melayu Kedah, Bahasa Melayu Utara
Native toMalaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia
RegionKedah, Pulau Pinang, Perlis, northern Perak (Kerian, Manjung, Larut, Matang and Selama), Trang, Satun, Ranong, Tanintharyi, Langkat, Aceh
EthnicityKedahan Malays
Thai Malays
Burmese Malays
Jaring Halus Malays
Native speakers
2.6 million (2004)[1]
Dialects
  • Kedah Persisiran
  • Kedah Utara
  • Perlis-Langkawi
  • Penang
  • Northern Perak
  • Satun
  • Jaring Halus
Latin script, Arabic script, Thai script
Language codes
ISO 639-3meo
Glottologkeda1251
Spread of Kedah Malay: A. Kedah Valley, B. Satun (Setul), C. Tanintharyi (Tanah Sari), D. Aceh

Kedah Malay can be divided into several dialects, namely Kedah Persisiran (Littoral Kedah; which is the de facto prestige dialect of Kedah Malay), Kedah Utara (Northern Kedah), Perlis-Langkawi, Penang and some others outside Malaysia.[3] Speakers in Trang as well as Satun are heavily influenced by the Thai language. However in the district of Baling, they speak a different variant more closely related to Kelantan-Patani Malay than it is to Kedah Malay.[4]

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palato-alveolar Dorsal
Plosive p b t d t͡ʃ d͡ʒ k ɡ
Fricative s h
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Trill r
Semivowel l j w

Note(s):

  • Word initially:
    • /r/ is pronounced as the velar fricative [ɣ] in the syllable onset.[5]
      • In certain loan words, /r/ is pronounced as an alveolar trill [r] such as in market [market] 'market'.
  • Word finally:
    • Following /i/, velar nasal /ŋ/ is neutralised to /n/, so kucing /kut͡ʃiŋ/ 'cat' and kuning /kuniŋ/ 'yellow' are pronounced [kut͡ʃen] and [kunen] though the final consonant is still underlyingly /ŋ/ as can be seen from the derived forms of these words such as kekuningan /kəkuniŋan/ 'yellowness' [kəkuniŋan] which still retains the [ŋ].[6]
    • /s/ is neutralised to /h/, so kurus /kurus/ 'thin' is pronounced [kuroh].[6][7]
      • After /a/, this /s/ is palatalised, so panas /panas/ 'hot' is pronounced [panaʲh].
    • /r/ is realised as a pharyngeal fricative [ʕ] so lapar /lapar/ 'hungry' is pronounced [lapaʕ].[5]

Monophthongs

Kedah Malay has eight monophthongs, unlike Standard Malay which has six with /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ not having phonemic status.[8][9]

Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-Mid e ə o
Open-Mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Note(s):

  • In open-ended final syllables and before a glottal stop (allophone of /k/ in the syllable coda) also in final syllables, /a/ is realised as [ɒ], so anak /anak/ 'son/daughter' and paksa /paksa/ 'to force' are pronounced [anɒʔ] and [paʔsɒ].

Diphthongs

Kedah Malay has four diphthongs /ai, au, oi, ui/ with /ui/ being a surplus diphthong that does not exist in Standard Malay.[10]

Comparison with Standard Malay

Below is a comparison between Kedah Malay and Standard Malay.[11]

Sound Position Kedah Malay

correspondence

 Example

(Standard Malay ≙ Kedah Malay)

/il/ Word-final syllable /e/ katil /katil/ 'bed' ≙ /kate/
/el/ /ɛ/ comel /t͡ʃomel/ 'cute' /t͡ʃomɛ/
/oh/ /o/ bodoh /bodoh/ 'stupid' /bodo/
/o/ Both syllables of two-syllable words /ɔ/ sotong /sotoŋ/ 'squid' /sɔtɔŋ/
First syllable of certain two-syllable words /u/ boleh /boleh/ 'can' /buleh/
/i.a/ Anywhere /a/ siapa /si.apa/ 'who' /sapa/
/ɛ/ biasa /bi.asa/ 'normal' /bɛsa/
/u.a/ /o/ laut /la.ut/ 'sea' /lot/
/ɔ/ kuala /ku.ala/ 'estuary' /kɔla/

Vocabulary
Pronouns[12]
Kedah Malay Standard Malay English Translation
hang awak/kamu/kau 'you' (singular)
hangpā/ampa kalian 'you' (plural)
cek/aq saya/aku 'I'
cek saya 'I' (young to old)
cek kamu 'you' (old to young)
depa mereka 'they'
sépā (In a few certain areas) / kitorang kami 'we' (exclusive)
Question Words[13]
Kedah Malay Standard Malay English Translation
siapa, sapa siapa/siapakah 'who'
apa, pa apa/apakah 'what'
bila bila/bilakah 'when'
cemana, lagu mana bagaimana/bagaimanakah 'how'
mana mana 'where'
pasai pa, awat, rokpa,

buat pa, sebab pa

 mengapa 'how'
berapa, bapa berapa 'how much'
Basic Words[12]
Kedah Malay Standard Malay English Translation
camca sudu 'spoon'
habaq cakap 'talk'
mai datang, mari 'come'
mau nak 'want'
lorat susah 'difficult'
lā, lāni sekarang 'now'
lagu macam 'sort'
cabai cili/lada 'chilli'
hakap tamak 'greedy'
pi pergi 'go'
sat sebentar, sekejap 'one second'
mengkalā bila, apabila 'when'
ketegaq degil, keras kepala 'naughty'
geghék basikal 'bicycle'
mertun tukul 'hammer'
lempaq baling 'throw'
menghabat memanjat 'climb'
ligan kejar 'chase'
loq laq tak senonoh 'indecent'
ketit gigit kecil 'bite softly'
tokok gigit 'bite'
berlemuih comot 'messy'
cemuih bosan 'bored'

References

Citations
  1. Kedah Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Asmah Haji Omar 2017, p. 38.
  3. See Malayan languages for a comparison between Kedah Persisiran and Penang dialects.
  4. Mohd Noor Aswad 2019.
  5. Shahidi A. H. 2009, pp. 309–311.
  6. Ajid Che Kob 1997, pp. 40–42.
  7. Shahidi A. H. 2009, pp. 310–311.
  8. Yunisrina Qismullah Yusuf et al. 2021, p. 78-80.
  9. Shahidi A. H. 2009, pp. 305–308.
  10. Yunisrina Qismullah Yusuf et al. 2021, pp. 81–82.
  11. Yunisrina Qismullah Yusuf et al. 2021, pp. 68–69.
  12. Strife 2007.
  13. Fazal Mohamed Mohamed Sultan & Nurulafiqah Suhaimi 2012, p. 490.

Bibliography
  • Fazal Mohamed Mohamed Sultan; Nurulafiqah Suhaimi (2012). "Kata Soal Dalam Dialek Kedah" [WH Questions in Kedah Dialect]. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies (in Malay). 12 (2): 475–493.
  • Nurul Shahida Jamil; Maslida Yusof (2015). "Analisis Deiksis Dialek Kedah". GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies (in Malay). 15 (1): 163–187. doi:10.17576/GEMA-2015-1501-10.
  • Shahidi A. H. (2009). "Alternasi Dalam Fonologi Subdialek Kedah Utara". Jurnal Bahasa (in Malay). 9 (2): 302–325.
  • Yunisrina Qismullah Yusuf; Stefanie Pillai; W. A. Wan Aslynn; Roshidah binti Hassan (2021). "Vowel Production in Standard Malay and Kedah Malay Spoken in Malaysia". Linguistics International Journal. 15 (1): 65–93.
  • Asmah Haji Omar (2017). "Language in Kedah in Late 19th Century-Language Situation in a Malay State in Late 19th Century". Malaysian Journal of Languages and Linguistics. 6 (2): 36–47. doi:10.24200/mjll.vol6iss2pp36-47.
  • Ajid Che Kob (1997). "Word Final Nasal in Malay Dialects". In Odé, Cecilia; Stokhof, Wim (eds.). Proceedings of Seventh International Conference on Austronesian. Amsterdam: Rodopi. pp. 35–43. ISBN 9789042002531.
  • Mohd Noor Aswad (2 November 2019). "Getting to know the unique Baling dialect". New Straits Times. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  • Strife, Fiq (2 November 2007). "Kamus Dialek Melayu-Kedah" [Kedah Malay Dialect Dictionary]. Dunia Melayu Kedah (in Malay). Retrieved 22 May 2021.
Kedah Malay test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator
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