Brunei Malay | |
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Bruneian Malay | |
Bahasa Melayu Brunei بهاس ملايو بروني | |
Native to | Brunei, Malaysia |
Ethnicity | Bruneian Malay, Kedayan |
Native speakers | 320,000 (2013–2019)[1] |
Austronesian
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Dialects |
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Latin (Malay alphabet) Arabic (Jawi) Hangul (limited use) | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | kxd |
Glottolog | brun1242 |
Area where Brunei Malay is spoken |
The Brunei Malay, also called Bruneian Malay (Malay: Bahasa Melayu Brunei; Jawi: بهاس ملايو بروني), is the most widely spoken language in Brunei Darussalam and a lingua franca in some parts of Sarawak and Sabah, such as Labuan, Limbang, Lawas, Sipitang, and Papar.[2][3] Though Standard Malay is promoted as the official national language of Brunei, Brunei Malay is socially dominant and it is currently replacing the minority languages of Brunei,[4] including the Dusun and Tutong languages,[5] existing in a diglossic speech, wherein Brunei Malay is commonly used for daily communication, coexisting with the aforementioned regional languages and Malay creoles, and standard Malay used in formal speech; code switching between standard Malay and Brunei Malay is spoken in informal speech as a lingua franca between Malay creoles and regional languages. It is quite similar to Standard Malay to the point of being almost mutually intelligible with it,[6] being about 84% cognate with standard Malay.[7] Standard Malay is usually spoken with Brunei pronunciation.