Language, dialect, ethno, translation
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Malay, as the name suggests, is the language spoken by the Malays.
However, why is it said that if you learn Malay, you can travel all over Southeast Asia?
Let's first take a look at which countries in Southeast Asia speak Malay, which can answer this question well.
First of all, it is definitely Malaysia.
Malay is the official language of Malaysia, which means that there are more than 30 million people who speak Malay fluently.
Secondly, there is the nearest country - Singapore.
At this point, you may be wondering:
Why can a country with a predominantly Chinese language speak Malay?
Not to mention, Malay is indeed one of the official languages of Singapore.
When it comes to the reason, it is the relationship between Singapore and Malaysia.
Students who know a little about Singapore's history may know that it became independent in 1965.
Before that, it belonged to the Federation of Malaysia.
Therefore, the main ethnic groups in Singapore, in addition to the Chinese, are also Malays.
Naturally, Malay has also become the official language of Singapore.
There is another country, and that is Indonesia.
In her previous article, Xiaoyan talked about the differences and similarities between Bahasa Indonesia and Malay.
In fact, the two are the same language in the same language family.
It's just that because of the special language, there are different names, but this does not hinder the normal communication between the peoples of the two countries.
The last country that you may not think of, or rarely hear of.
It is Brunei.
Brunei is a small country, but at the same time it is a very rich country.
GDP per capita is the second highest among Southeast Asian countries, second only to Singapore.
So why does Brunei also use Malay as its official language?
Because, similar to Singapore, it was once part of Malaysia.
However, unlike Singapore, which is made up of Chinese, the majority of Brunei's citizens are Malays.
As a result, Malay also became its only official language.
So, as you can see, if you learn Malay, then you can communicate freely in the four countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Brunei.
Original: Yu Xiaoyan
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