Similarities Between Malay and Arabic

Video Description

In today’s episode, we’re comparing Arabic and Malay, two languages that belong to different family groups but have a lot of words in common. The Arabic language has had a lot of influence on the Malay language including on its writing system, which we will discuss in more detail in the video.  Malay currently uses two scripts, and historically has been written in multiple other scripts. The primary script used today is derived from Latin and is referred to as Rumi, while the other one, called Jawi, is derived from Arabic and is still used frequently. The changes in the script coincide with the history of the Malay Archipelago. Prior to the arrival of Islam in Southeast Asia, the Pallava, Nagari, and old Sumatran scripts were used in writing the Malay language. As their rulers converted to Islam, and the religion began to spread across the region, a modified form of the Arabic script (Jawi) was formed. The arrival of the Europeans brought the Latin script, and in recent times, the Latin-derived Rumi alphabet has become the most commonly used for both official and informal purposes. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and send us all your questions, suggestions and feedback: https://www.instagram.com/bahadoralast/   Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family spoken in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and also used in some parts of the Philippines as a trading language. Arabic is a Central Semitic language and has official/national status Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, SADR, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.