The Malay language has many loanwords from Sanskrit, Persian, Tamil, Greek, Latin, Portuguese, Dutch, certain Chinese dialects and more recently, Arabic (in particular many religious terms) and English (in particular many scientific and technological terms). Modern Malay loanwords are now primarily from English, Arabic and Javanese. English is the language of trade and Arabic is the language of religion (Islam), although key words such as surga/ syurga (heaven) and the word "religion" itself (agama) reflect their Sanskrit-Hindu origins. Many Javanese words, including those of Sanskrit origin, are being assimilated into Malay because of the influence of Indonesian.
While based on Malay itself, Indonesian is traditionally more influenced by Javanese and Sundanese, as the Javanese are the largest ethnic group in Indonesia, with Javanese having the largest number of native speakers. Dutch influence over Indonesian vocabulary also is significant, as the Malay language itself was favored and adopted due to its trading benefit during VOC era over the archipelago, leading to mass loanword and influence over the modern Indonesian language. It is known that at least one third of the Indonesian vocabulary grew under Dutch influence.
There are some words in Malay which are spelled exactly the same as in its other language counterparts, e.g. in English – museum (Indonesian), hospital (Malaysian), format, lesbian, transit etc. In contrast, some Malay words have been loaned into other languages, e.g. in English – rice paddy ("Padi"), Orangutan, rattan, babirusa, cockatoo, compound, gong, tuak, sago, cootie, amok, durian, agar, rambutan, keris, Pantoum/pantun, "so long", angrecum (anggrek/ anggrik), cassowary, gingham, caddy, camphor (kapur), Gutta-percha (getah perca), launch, parang, sarong, dammar, gambir.
The Malay language has also heavily influenced the forms of colloquial English spoken in Malaysia, also known as Manglish.
Some examples as follows: