Malays (ethnic group)

Information about Malays (ethnic group)

This article is about the Malay ethnic group. For the Malay race, see Malay race. For other uses, see Malay.
Malay
Melayu
Total population
c. 22 million
Regions with significant populations
Majority populations
 Malaysia12.3 million (2006 estimate)[1]
 Brunei0.25 million (2006 estimate)[2]
Minority populations
 Indonesia6.9 million (2000 census)[3]
 Thailand1.9 million (2006 estimate)[4]
 Singapore0.62 million (2006 estimate)[5]
Languages
Malay, Indonesian, Yawi, Thai
Religions
Islam (Shafi'i) (approx. 99%[6])
Related ethnic groups
Malaysian Malays, Malay Singaporean, Overseas Malays.


Malays (Malay: Melayu) are an ethnic group of Austronesian peoples predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula and parts of Sumatra and Borneo. The Malay ethnic group is distinct from the concept of a Malay race, which encompasses a wider group of people, including most of Indonesia and the Philippines. The Malay language is a member of the Austronesian family of languages.

History

The Malay people are believed to have originated in Borneo and then expanded outwards into Sumatra and later into the Malay Peninsula. These people were descendants of Austronesian-speakers who migrated from the Philippines and originally from Taiwan. The main foundation of this school of thought lies in the fact that the oldest Malay settlements have been discovered in Sumatra and not in the Malay Peninsula. This suggests an upward - south to north - migratory route. Malay Culture reached its peak during Srivijayan times. Malays praticed Buddhism, Hinduism, and their native Animism before converting to Islam in the 15th century.

Etymology

According to the History of Jambi, the word Melayu originated from a river with name Melayu River near to Batang Hari River of today's Muara Jambi, Jambi province of Sumatra, Indonesia. The founder of Malacca, Parameswara was a prince of Palembang which was once owned by a nation called "Malayu" back in the seventh century. Yi Jing (635-713) clearly recorded in his journal book a nation of name 'Ma-La-Yu' existed. According to archaeological research of Jambi, large numbers of ancient artifacts and ancient architectures of Melayu have been found with photo evidence.

The word "Malay" was adopted into English via the Dutch word "Malayo", itself from Portuguese "Malaio", which originates from the Malay word "Melayu". According to one popular theory, the word Melayu means "migrating" or "fleeing", which might refer to the high mobility of these people across the region.

Another theory holds that the name refers to the Tamil word Malai Yur which means "Land of Mountains" (malai means mountain and yur means land), a reference to the hilly nature of the Malay Archipelago.

Alternate uses of the term

The name Malay is sometimes used to describe the concept of a Malay race, which includes all the ethnic groups inhabiting the Malay Archipelago and which are not of older aboriginal stock.

The term Melayu (Malay person in Malay Language), in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, refers to a person who practices Islam and Malay Cultures, speaks Malay Language, and whose ancestors are Malays. Despite of not having Malay ancestry, a Eurasian, Chinese, Indian, European, Arab, Turkish or Afghan can be considered Malay if they practise Islam and regards the Malay culture and language as their own.
Further information: Malaysian Malay

Ethnic group vs. cultural sphere

The term "Malay" can refer to the ethnic group who live in the Malay peninsula (which include the southernmost part of Thailand called Patani and Satun) and east Sumatra as well as the cultural sphere that encompass a large part of the archipelago.

The Malay ethnic group is the majority in Malaysia and Brunei and a sizable minority in Singapore and Indonesia. This people speak various dialects of Malay language. The peninsular dialect is the standard speech among Malays in Malaysia and Singapore. Meanwhile, the Riau dialect of eastern Sumatra has been adopted as a national tongue, Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), for the whole Indonesian population. The ethnic Malay have had a Muslim culture since the 15th century.[7]

In Malaysia, the majority of the population is made up of ethnic Malays while the minorities consist of southern Chinese (e.g. Hokkien and Cantonese), southern Indians (mainly Tamils, non-ethnic Malay indigenous people (e.g. Iban and Kadazan), as well as Eurasians.

Malay cultural influences filtered out throughout the archipelago, such as the monarchical state, religion (Hinduism/Buddhism in the first millennium AD, Islam in the second millennium), and the Malay language. The influential Srivijaya kingdom had unified the various ethnic groups in southeast Asia into a convergent cultural sphere for almost a millennium. It was during that time that vast borrowing of Sanskrit words and concepts facilitated the advanced linguistic development of Malay as a language. Malay was the regional lingua franca, and Malay-based creole languages existed in most trading ports in Indonesia.

See also

External links

References

1. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/my.html
2. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bx.html
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ [2]
5. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sg.html
6. ^ Statistics Singapore; The Malay of Malaysia, Bethany World Prayer Center; The Diaspora Malay, Bethany World Prayer Center
7. ^ aseanfocus.com
Malay race (Malay: bangsa Melayu) was proposed by the German scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840).[1] Since Blumenbach, many anthropologists have rejected his theory of five races, citing the enormous complexity of classifying races.
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Malay may refer to:

Language
  • Malay language, the language of Malaysia, lingua franca of Samudera-Pasai
  • Old Malay language(s), possible ancestor(s) of Bahasa Melayu, and the Indonesian language

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Circa (often abbreviated c., ca., ca or cca. and sometimes italicized to show it is Latin) literally means "about" or "around". It is widely used in genealogy and historical writing, when the dates of events are approximately known.
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Motto
"Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu"
"Unity Is Strength" 1
Anthem
Negaraku
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Motto
"Always in service with God's guidance"   (translation)
Anthem
Allah Peliharakan Sultan
God Bless the Sultan
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Motto
"Bhinneka Tunggal Ika"   (Old Javanese)
"Unity in Diversity"
National ideology: Pancasila[1]
Anthem
Indonesia Raya
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Anthem
Phleng Chat
Royal anthem
Phleng Sansoen Phra Barami

Capital
(and largest city) Bangkok [1]

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Malay}}} 
Writing system: Rumi (Latin alphabet) (official) and Jawi (Arabic script); historically written in Pallava, Kawi and Rencong 
Official status
Official language of:
The template is . Please use instead.

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Indonesian}}} 
Writing system: Latin alphabet 
Official status
Official language of: Indonesia
Regulated by: Pusat Bahasa
Language codes
ISO 639-1: id
ISO 639-2: ind
ISO 639-3: ind

Indonesian (
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Yawi is the transcription of the Thai word ยาวี, which Thai people understand to be the Patani Malay language (or Bahasa Melayu Patani in Malay).
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Thai}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Thailand
Regulated by: The Royal Institute
Language codes
ISO 639-1: th
ISO 639-2: tha
ISO 639-3: tha

Thai (
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The Malays, Malaysia's largest ethnic group, make up more than 50% of the population. The term Malay refers to a person who practices Islam and Malay traditions, speaks the Malay language and whose ancestors are Malays.
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The Malays in Singapore (Malay : Orang Melayu Singapura) constitute 13.9% of the country's population.

Origin and identity

The Malays in Singapore are largely of mixed descent.
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Overseas Malays refer to muslim people of Malay ancestry living outside Malaysia, Indonesia, South Thailand and neighbouring ethnic Malay home areas. The Cape Malays in South Africa and Cocos Malays in Australia are some of the well-known overseas Malay communities.
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Malay}}} 
Writing system: Rumi (Latin alphabet) (official) and Jawi (Arabic script); historically written in Pallava, Kawi and Rencong 
Official status
Official language of:
The template is . Please use instead.

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ethnic group or ethnicity is a population of human beings whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry.[1] Ethnicity is also defined from the recognition by others as a distinct group[2]
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The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula (Malay: Semenanjung Tanah Melayu) (Thai: คาบสมุทรมลายู
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Sumatra<nowiki />

Topography of Sumatra

Geography
<nowiki/>
Location South East Asia
Coordinates <nowiki />
Archipelago
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Borneo <nowiki />

Topography of Borneo

Geography <nowiki/>
Location South East Asia
Coordinates <nowiki />
Archipelago
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Malay race (Malay: bangsa Melayu) was proposed by the German scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840).[1] Since Blumenbach, many anthropologists have rejected his theory of five races, citing the enormous complexity of classifying races.
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Motto
"Bhinneka Tunggal Ika"   (Old Javanese)
"Unity in Diversity"
National ideology: Pancasila[1]
Anthem
Indonesia Raya
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Malay}}} 
Writing system: Rumi (Latin alphabet) (official) and Jawi (Arabic script); historically written in Pallava, Kawi and Rencong 
Official status
Official language of:
The template is . Please use instead.

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Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. It is on par with Indo-European, Afro-Asiatic and Uralic as one of the best-established ancient language families.
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Republic of China. For other uses, see Taiwan (disambiguation).
Taiwan (Traditional Chinese: or ; Simplified Chinese:
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Srivijaya, Sriwijaya, Shri Bhoja, Sri Boja or Shri Vijaya (200s-1300s[1]) was an ancient Malay[2] kingdom on the island of Sumatra which influenced much of the Malay Archipelago.
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