Brunei Malay Language

by Atiqah
(Spain)

Hi

I study linguistics and sociolinguistics but I am only an amateur. However, since there are no recent studies on Bruneian Malay language, I would like to help as much as I can to increase the awareness of the beautiful and unique language. I am very much pleased to have come across this website and its special acknowledgment to my mother tongue. However, I think there are some changes that should be made that I would like you to consider, which I have written below.


""Ber...i" is an extinct imbuhan for standard Malay but very much alive in the form of "Bar...i". Examples: " basirai" which is the equivalent of "dibubuh garam" and, "babaki" which is " dibaiki"."
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As a native speaker, I do not agree with this paragraph. we would call garam "sira" and beri as "bari" so I think you might have misheard it as the combination of the two, but for us, "bubuh garam" is "bari sira". Of course, we also use garam. In my family, my siblings say "garam" while my parents say "sira".


also, we do not say "babaki" but instead we omit the prefix "di-" and colloquially and in the imperative,we prefer to say "baiki" or as it is in English which is "repair".

But if the case is such in the sentence: "harus dibaiki" (has to be repaired), then we do not omit the prefix "di-".


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As for the "ketiak/kalatiyak" term, colloquially we say "ke-li-yak" omitting the "-ti-". My parents & grandparents in general, use this term, I however and so most of the younger generations would prefer "ketiak".

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"Prefixes are added to personal pronouns, such as "kadi-", therefore you see kadiaku, kadikita, kadikamu and kadidia. To denote plurality, they add "bis-" such as for "biskita" and "bisdia"."

The addition of the prefix "kadi-" varies depending on the relationship between the speaker and the addressee. the younger generation among each other would do without the prefix, except to joke around or pretending to be old (mature) because "kadi-" is an old-fashioned prefix used in the old times. sure it is still used today but
only by my parents' generation.






Many thanks
Atiqah Abd Ghani

h.atiqah@live.co.uk