Kedah Malay

Kedah Malay or Kedahan (Also known as Pelat Utara or Loghat Utara 'Northern Dialect') or as it is known in Thailand, "Syburi Malay" (ภาษามลายูไทรบุรี) is a variety of the Malayan languages 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 The usage of Kedahan Malay was historically prevalent in southwestern Thailand before being superseded by the Thai language. Enclaves of Kedahan Malay can be found in Kawthaung District in Myanmar; Ranong and Krabi, upper southern Thailand; Jaring Halus, Langkat as well as in Acheh in Sumatra, Indonesia and up north in Bangkok, central Thailand, where most of the Kedah Malay speakers are descendants of historical settlers from Kedah.

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

Kedah Malay can be divided into several dialects, namely Kedah Persisiran (standard), Kedah Utara (Northern Kedahan), Perlis-Langkawi, Penang and some others outside Malaysia. See Malayan languages for a comparison between Kedah Persisiran and Penang dialects.

Phonology

Phonemes

A phoneme of a language or a dialect is an abstraction of a speech sound or of a group of different sounds which are all perceived to have the same function by speakers of that particular language or dialect. For example, in standard Malaysian Malay, the word cepat consists of five phonemes: the initial "c" sound, the schwa sound, the "p" sound, the "a" sound and lastly, the "t" sound.

Consonants
Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive p b t d k ɡ q ʔ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Fricative f v (θ) (ð) s z ʃ (x) ʁ h
Approximant j
Lateral approximant l
Affricate tʃ dʒ

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open ä ɑ

In Kedah Malay, the final syllable /a/ is pronounced as an open back unrounded /ɑ/ such as the /a/ in the English dark, which is varied from standard Malay where it is instead pronounced as an open central unrounded /ä/ or as a schwa /ə/:

  • mana ('where') /mänä/ or /mänə/ > /mänɑ/
  • siapa ('who') /siäpä/ or /siäpə/ > /siäpɑ/

The /ä/ also becomes an /ɑ/ when at the final syllable (except when followed by an /s/, /l/ or an /r/):

  • rumah ('house') /rumäh/ > /ʁumɑh/
  • usah ('don't') /usäh/ > /usɑh/

The consonant /r/ is pronounced as a voiced uvular fricative /ʁ/ when at the start or the middle of a syllable and as a voiceless uvular plosive /q/ when at the end of a syllable instead of a voiced alveolar trill /r/ in both cases:

  • racun ('poison') /rät͡ʃʊn/ > /ʁät͡ʃon/
  • berak ('to poop') /beräʔ/ > /beʁɑʔ/
  • dengar ('to listen') /dəŋär/ > /dəŋäq/
  • agar ('as long as') /äɡär/ > /äɡäq/

After /a/ or /i/, the consonant /s/ is pronounced as /h/ when at the final syllable of a word:

  • lepas ('let go') /ləpäs/ > /ləpäh/
  • majlis ('council') /mäd͡ʒlɪs/ > /mäd͡ʒlɪh/

After /o/ or /u/, it becomes /ih/:

  • mampus ('destroyed') /mämpʊs/ > /mämpoih/
  • lurus ('straight') /lurus/ > /luʁoih/

/ul/ becomes the diphthong /oi/:

  • betul ('right') /bətʊl/ > /bətoi/
  • bendul ('type of woodlog') /bəndʊl/ > /bəndoi/

/al/ sometimes becomes the diphthong /äi/:

  • pasal ('topic') /päsäl/ > /päsäi/
  • mahal ('expensive') /mähäl/ > /mähäi/

/u/ sometimes become an /o/:

  • cucuk ('poke') /t͡ʃut͡ʃʊʔ/ > /t͡ʃot͡ʃoʔ/
  • masuk ('enter') /mäsʊʔ/ > /mäsoʔ/

/ɪr/ becomes /ɑq/ or /iɑq/

  • air ('water') /äjɪr/ > /äjɑq/
  • bibir ('lips') /bibɪr/ > /bibiɑq/

Speakers in Trang as well as Satun are heavily influenced by the Thai language.

Vocabulary

Kedah Malay has tons of words that are uncommon in the eyes of speakers of other dialects of Malay:

Pronouns
Selangor-Johor Malay Kedah Malay
'you' (singular) kau / kamu / awak hang
'you' (plural) kalian / korang hangpa / hampa
'I' (young to old) saya cek
'you' (old to young) kamu cek
'they' mereka / diorang depa
Word comparison
Selangor-Johor Malay Kedah Malay
'spoon' sudu camca
'why' kenapa awat
'talk' cakap habaq
'come' datang mai
'want' nak mau
'difficult' susah lorat
'now' sekarang la ni
'chilli' cili / lada cabai
'greedy' tamak hakap

References
  1. Kedah Malay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)


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