Malay (macrolanguage)

Malay
Bahasa Melayu
Native to	Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Singapore East Timor (as Indonesian) Thailand (as Bahasa Jawi) Cocos (Keeling) Islands (de jure) Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (as a trade language with Malaysia)
Native speakers	77 million (2007) Total: 200–250 million (2009)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Nuclear MP Sunda-Sulawesi Malayo-Sumbawan Malayic Malayan Malay
Early forms	Old Malay Classical Malay
Standard forms	Indonesian Malaysian Brunei Malay
Writing system	Latin (Malay alphabet) Arabic script (Jawi alphabet) Thai alphabet (in Thailand) Malay Braille Historically Pallava alphabet, Kawi alphabet, Rencong alphabet
Signed forms	Manually Coded Malay Sistem Isyarat Bahasa Indonesia
Official status
Official language in	Brunei  Indonesia (as Indonesian)  Malaysia (as Malaysian but currently back to Malay language)  Singapore  Cocos (Keeling) Islands (de jure) (territory of  Australia)  Christmas Island (de jure) (territory of  Australia)
Recognised minority language in	Indonesia (Local Malay enjoys the status of a regional language in Sumatra and Kalimantan (Borneo) apart from the national standard of Indonesian)  ASEAN
Regulated by	Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa; Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Institute of Language and Literature); Majlis Bahasa Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia (Brunei–Indonesia–Malaysia Language Council – MABBIM) (a trilateral joint-venture)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ms
ISO 639-2	may (B) msa (T)
ISO 639-3	– inclusive code Individual codes:  – Brunei Malay  – Indonesian  – Standard Malay  – Jambi Malay  – Kedah Malay  – Kerinci  – Manado Malay  – Minangkabau  – Musi  – Negeri Sembilan  – North Moluccan  – Pattani Malay
Glottolog	indo1326  partial match
Linguasphere	31-MFA-a
Indonesia   Malaysia   Singapore and Brunei, where Standard Malay is an official language   East Timor, where Indonesian is a working language   Southern Thailand and the Cocos Isl., where other varieties of Malay are spoken
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Latin (Malay alphabet)
Arabic script (Jawi alphabet)
Thai alphabet (in Thailand)
Malay Braille

Malay (/məˈleɪ/;Malay: Bahasa Melayu) is a major language of the Austronesian family spoken in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is spoken by 290 million people across the Strait of Malacca, including the coasts of the Malay Peninsula of Malaysia and the eastern coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, and has been established as a native language of part of western coastal Sarawak and West Kalimantan in Borneo. It is also used as a trading language in the southern Philippines, including the southern parts of the Zamboanga Peninsula, the Sulu Archipelago and the southern predominantly Muslim-inhabited municipalities of Bataraza and Balabac in Palawan.

As the Bahasa Kebangsaan or Bahasa Nasional (National Language) of several states, Standard Malay has various official names. In Singapore and Brunei it is called Bahasa Melayu (Malay language); in Malaysia, Bahasa Malaysia (Malaysian language); and in Indonesia, Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) and is designated the Bahasa Persatuan/ Pemersatu ("unifying language/ lingua franca"). However, in areas of central to southern Sumatra where the language is indigenous, Indonesians refer to it as Bahasa Melayu and consider it one of their regional languages.