Malay Language (Paperback)

Malay is a group of languages closely related to each other to the point of mutual intelligibility but that linguists consider to be separate languages. They are grouped into a group called "Local Malay," part of a larger group called "Malayan" within the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.The various forms of Malay are spoken in Brunei, Indonesia where the national language, Indonesian, is a variety of it, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and southern Thailand. Malay is an official language of Brunei and Malaysia, and is the national language of Singapore. The national language of Indonesia is Indonesian, formally referred to as Bahasa Indonesia which literally translates as "Indonesian language." It is also called Bahasa Nasional National Language and Bahasa Persatuan/Pemersatu Unifying Language in Indonesia. Indonesian is also used in East Timor, a consequence of more than 20 years of Indonesian administration and is now a "working language" of that country.