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Pontianak Malay

About Me and My Language

Orthography         Story/Song      Word List      Morphology       Language Use     Dictionary

I was born in Indonesia, specifically in Palembang, South Sumatra more than 30 years ago. Most people there speak Palembang Malay to communicate. Since 1998, I have lived in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, where most people speak Pontianak Malay. Because people in both regions speak in Malay, I have no difficulty interacting with them. Generally, we use the same words, except only for some specific words and dialect. Though Malay is a common language in some places in Indonesia, it is endangered because most of young generation tend to use Indonesian slang in communication. By joining LDTC, I hope I can learn how to preserve the local language.

Name
 Hasymi, Rinaldi
Contact Email hasymir@gmail.com
Preferred name(s) of language Pontianak Malay
Language classification Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Malayo-Sumbawan, North and East, Malayic, Malay
Geographical area where spoken Pontianak, Indonesia
Approximate number of speakers ~700,000
Other languages spoken in the area/country Bahasa Indonesia, Dayak, Chinese, Other Malay Varieties (Pontianak, Sambas, Kapuas Hulu, etc).
Official language in the country Bahasa Indonesia
Does the language have a widely accepted writing system?
 Yes
Written materials available
 Newspaper column, books (poems)
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Background of the Language

Pontianak is a capital city of the West Kalimantan Province. There are three big ethnic groups in Pontianak: Malay, Chinese, and Dayak. The common language there is Pontianak Malay. It means Pontianak Malay can be considered as the lingua franca in Pontianak, and it is used for cross-ethnic group communication, although speakers from each ethnic group use their own traditional language when communicating amongst themselves. In addition to Pontianak Malay, people also use Bahasa Indonesia when communicating cross-ethnically.

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