Native speakers 2.6 million (2004) | ||
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Native to Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia Region Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perlis, Perak, Satun, Trang, Hat Yai, Ranong, Tanintharyi, Acheh Ethnicity Kedahan Malays, Thai Malays Language family Austronesian
Malayo-Polynesian (MP)
Nuclear MP
Malayo-Sumbawan
Malayic
Malayan
Malay?
Kedah Malay Dialects Coastal Kedah
Perlis-Langkawi
Penang
Upstream Kedah
Satun? | ||
Kedah Malay or Kedahan (Also known as Pelat Utara or Loghat Utara 'Northern Dialect') also referred in Thailand as "Satun Malay" (มลายูสตูล) is a variety of the Malayan languages mainly spoken in the northwestern northern Malaysian states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, and northern Perak and in the southern Thai provinces of Trang, Satun and parts of Yala, the usage of Kedahan Malay was historically extended north to till Phuket island before being superseded by the Thai language.
Kedah Malay can be divided into several dialects, namely Kedah Persisiran (standard), Baling or Kedah Hulu, Kedah Utara, Perlis-Langkawi, Penang and some others outside Malaysia. See Malayan languages for a comparison of Kedah Persisiran, Penang and Baling dialects.
The main characteristic of Kedah Malay is the -a final vocal is pronounced as /ɑ/ such as /a/ in "dark", which is varied from standard Malay -a that pronounced as /a/. Other characteristics of the dialect are final consonant -r is pronounced as -q and final consonant -s is pronounced as -ih (e.g.:Lapar = Lapaq (Hungry), Lepas = Lepaih (release, after) ) while initial and middle r are guttural. Speakers in Trang are most heavily influenced by Thai language.
Vocabulary
Some word examples of comparison between Kedah Malay and Standard Malay along with English translation: