Image taken from Google.
All this time I had interpreted the "Bahasa Melayu" in the above sign as Standard Malay. I just realized during a lecture that this is not entirely the case. What does the sign mean by "Bahasa Melayu"? Bahasa Melayu can be considered a broad term. Thus, there are many interpretations of it as well. For example, Brunei Malay falls under Bahasa Melayu. So, as you can see, Brunei Malay is still Malay. What about the other languages of the other Brunei Malay races ( Kedayan, Tutong, Dusun, Belait, Murut dan Bisaya)? They are considered as the Malay race in the constitution. So, doesn't that make their language Malay as well, if they are considered the 'Malay people'? The point of asking these questions is to make us aware of such interpretations. However, I do still think "Bahasa Melayu" in the above sign meant Standard Malay, because "Bahasa Melayu" is considered a generic term for Standard Malay. After all, only Standard Malay has a written status concerning official matters.
I have a question: if the sign is promoting Standard Malay (as seems to be true), is the threat perceived to be from Brunei Malay or from English?
ReplyDeleteFrom a linguistic point of view, languages such as Dusun and Murut are not Malay. The people are regarded as indigenous in Brunei for political reasons; but I don't think many linguists or sociologists would classify them as Malays.
I'm not really sure. For me, I don't think there is any threat. I think they are just promoting what is written in the constitution about the official language.
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