Native Name: Bahasa Melayu
Number of Speakers: 40 million
Official language of: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
Script used: Rumi (Latin Alphabet)
Sample of Malay
Malay Translation, Typesetting, Websites, Voice-Overs and Subtitles
Adelphi Translations Ltd. work translating Malay to English and English to Malay. We also produce voice recordings and subtitles for video in Malay as well as translation and localization of web sites into Malay. We are based in Sheffield, UK and handle language projects for local clients in commercial centres such as Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and London but also have many International clients from around the world. A recent project we produced in Malay wa for Amnesty International (see examples below).
Click to enlarge image
Malay Cover for Amnesty International
Malay for Amnetsy International
In Malaysia, the standard language is called Bahasa Malaysia “Malaysian language”. In Singapore, Brunei, southern Thailand, and the southern Philippines it is called Bahasa Melayu “Malay language”, and in Indonesia it is generally known as Bahasa Indonesia, “Indonesian language”. When Islam arrived in southeast Asia during the 14th century, the Arabic script was adapted to write the Malay language. In the 17th century, under influence from Dutch and British traders, the Arabic script was replaced by the Latin alphabet.
The Malay language came into widespread use as the trade language of the Sultanate of Malacca (1402–1511) when the Malay language developed rapidly under the influence of Islamic literature. There was a massive influx of Arabic, Hindi and Sanskrit words. Under the Sultanate of Malacca the language evolved into a form whcih would be recognizable to speakers of modern Malay.
