Kedahan Malay people
Kedahan Malay woman in traditional attire, 1930.
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| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Perlis, Kedah, Penang and northern Perak (Malaysia), western part of Southern Thailand & Southern Myanmar | |
| Languages | |
| Kedah Malay, Baling Malay, Malaysian, Thai, Burmese, English. | |
| Religion | |
| Historically Animism or Hindu-Buddhist, today mostly Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Malaysian Malays, Thai Malay, Burmese Malays, Chulias |
Kedahan Malay (Malay: Melayu Kedah, Jawi: ﻤﻼﻴﻮ ﻗﺪﺡ ) or commonly known as Orang Utara is a sub-group of Malays that is native to northern Malaysia (in the states Kedah, Penang and Perlis as well northernmost parts of Perak) and in southernmost parts of Thailand (in the provinces of Phuket, Trang and Satun) and Burma (in Mergui Archipelago). They are among the earliest settlers in the Malay peninsula. Kedahan Malays comprised at least 15% of the total Malaysian Malay population.
According to history, Kedah was very popular among Arabian traders. Thus, this has led to interracial marriages between Arabs and Malays. Due to Arabic influences in the Kedahan Malay language, some Kedahan Malay are of Arab descent. However some of the Kedahan Malays that resided on the island-state of Penang might have Indian and/or Chinese blood and some who lived in Thailand might have Thai blood.
Kedah Valley is an area where the majority inhabitants are Kedahan Malays. The valley covered the Satun province of Thailand and the three northern states of Malaysia (Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang) with at least an area of 25,908 km square.
Nowadays, most Kedahan Malays known themselves as Orang Utara or People Of The Northern Region instead of Kedahan Malay since that they resided the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. So are their language, which is called Pelat Utara or Northern Dialect.
The Kedahan Malays have their own unique variety of Malay known as Kedah Malay or Pelat Utagha (northern dialect) as known by its native speakers. It is related to other varieties of Malay spoken in the peninsular but has its own unique pronunciation and also vocabulary. Kedahan Malay language can be divided into several sub-dialects, namely Kedah Persisiran (standard) or Kedah Hulu, Kedah Utara, Perlis-Langkawi, Penang and some others (sub-dialects spoken in Satun and Southern Myanmar). For instance instead of using kamu to denote as 'you', hang (English pronunciation: hung) is used instead and cek for 'i/me' instead of aku in other Malay varieties in the peninsular. Besides proper Kedah Malay, another variety of Malay spoken is Baling Malay, which is distinct from Kedah Malay and more closely related to varieties of Malay spoken in Southern Thailand and East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Kedah Malay is considered distinct enough to have its own ISO code that is meo.
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