Pahang Malay

Pahang Malay (Standard Malay: Bahasa Melayu Pahang; Jawi: بهاس ملايو ڤهڠ) is a dialect of Malay language spoken in the Malaysian state of Pahang. It is regarded as the dominant Malay dialect spoken along the vast riverine systems of Pahang, but co-exists with other Malay dialects traditionally spoken in the state. Along the coastline of Pahang, Terengganu Malay is spoken in a narrow strip of sometimes discontiguous fishermen villages and towns.^[1] Another dialect spoken in Tioman island is a distinct Malay variant and most closely related to Riau Archipelago Malay subdialect spoken in Natuna and Anambas islands in the South China Sea, together forming a dialect continuum between the Bornean Malay with the Mainland Peninsular/Sumatran Malay.

Nonetheless, the essential unity of Pahang and Terengganu Malay is demonstrated by the number of shared lexical, synctatic, and phonetics innovations. Both varieties along with Kelantan Malay, have been classified under the subgroup of the East Coast dialect of Malay peninsula, due to their possible common origin.^[2]

Pahang Malay is known for its sharp rise and fall of tone and quick flowing accent. It exhibits a number of differences from the Standard Malay, particularly in phonology and vocabulary.^[3] Even though it also shares a lot of similarities with standard Malay, the dialect in its purest form remains unintelligible to standard Malay speakers. There are a number of sub-dialects of Pahang Malay identified by linguists, but the form spoken in the vicinity of Pahang's royal capital, Pekan, is considered as its 'standard sub-dialect'.^[4]

The dialect is traditionally written in Jawi script, but its role as the main writing language has been replaced with Standard Malay written in Rumi. A local radio station, Pahang FM, broadcasts in this dialect.^[5]

Name

Pahang Malay is natively referred to as base Pahang (/basɘ pahã^ŋ/; Standard Malay: bahasa Pahang, بهاس ڤهڠ), or cakak Pahang (/tʃakaʔ pahã^ŋ/; Standard Malay: cakap Pahang, چاكڤ ڤهڠ). However, in academic writings, it is alternatively known as bahasa Melayu Pahang or dialek Pahang. The term Pahang itself originated from the name of the state which in turn derived from the name of Pahang River, where the early civilisation in the state could have developed from.^[6] There have been many theories on the origin of the name Pahang. A local lore mentioned that it is derived from the corruption of the name Mahang tree (Macaranga).^[7] On the other hand, William Linehan relates the early foundation of the state to the settlers from ancient Khmer civilisation, and claims its naming origin to the word saamnbahang (Khmer: សំណប៉ាហាំង) meaning 'tin', which abundantly found in the state.^[8] The earliest literary reference to the name 'Pahang' was from the chronicle of Liu Song dynasty, Book of Song, that records about two consecutive envoys received from the kingdom of 'Pohuang' (alternatively 'Panhuang') between 449 and 457 CE.^[9]

Origin

There are at least two theories on the origin of Pahang Malay. Asmah Omar identifies the settlements near the estuary of Pahang River and its adjacent areas, where the early civilisation of Pahang could have begun, as the place of origin of the dialect before it was diffused inland.^[10] This area includes Pekan, the historical capital of Pahang, which the subdialect of Pahang Malay spoken in the area is named after. This theory is consistent to the known details of Malay settlement patterns in Southeast Asia. Until the 19th century, the Malay population was riverine and maintaining inter-communal link by river and maritime routes.^[11]

Another theory by Tarmizi Harsah, suggests that the dialect originated from Ulu Tembeling, in deep hinterland of Pahang. The theory is based on the study of a variant spoken in Ulu Tembeling, also known locally as cakap ulu ("the upstream speech") or base lama ("the old language").^[12] Although it retains part of the general characteristics of Pahang Malay, the dialect of Ulu Tembeling has the special feature of consonantal diphthongisation at the end of words, which is one of its kind among Malay dialects of the peninsula. Another unique feature of the dialect is that it retains several phonological characteristics of Ancient Malay language, for example the use of vowel *i and *u, and the addition of glottal consonant at the last position in words ending with vowels.^[13] However, Tarmizi's theory went against the commonly accepted Malay settlement patterns which began at river mouth and coastal areas before dispersing inland.

Distribution

Pahang Malay is almost exclusively spoken within the state of Pahang, though there are sizeable migrant communities of its native speakers in urban areas like Klang Valley, and other states of the peninsula. Nevertheless, within the state of Pahang, there are at least two other distinct Malay varieties traditionally spoken. Coastal Terengganu Malay, a relative variant with shared lexical, synctatic, and phonetics innovations, is spoken in narrow strip of sometimes discontiguous fishermen villages and towns along the coastline of Pahang.^[14] This complicated spatial layering of different Malay variants, often within a few kilometres radius between hamlets of Pahang Malay speakers along the riverine systems and the Terengganu-speaking coastal fishermen villages, is influenced by the historical movement of Terengganu Malays to that area. For centuries, the coastal line stretching from Terengganu border to the Endau of Johor, was the heaven for temporary settlements of fishermen from Terengganu and Kelantan who came there during fishing season. Over the time, a well established communities began to develop in areas like Beserah, Kuala Pahang, and Kuala Rompin.^[15] Another dialect not related to Pahang Malay, is spoken in Tioman island of Pahang and Aur Islands of Johor, and most closely related only to Sarawak Malay, spoken across the South China Sea in northwest Borneo.^[16] Despite the existence these foreign and isolated Malay variants, Pahang Malay remains as the de facto official dialect of the state, predominantly spoken along the lining of its vast riverine systems.

Sub-dialects

Due to high divergences of the sub-dialects of Pahang Malay, their classifications remain unclear so far. Among the earliest attempt to classify these sub-dialects was by Asmah Omar who conducted her study based on the daerah (district). She enlisted 8 sub-dialects of Pahang Malay, namely the dialects of Pekan, Benta, Raub, Ulu Tembeling, Rompin, Temerloh, Kuala Lipis and Bentong. She also named the sub-dialect spoken in the vicinity of Pekan, including the state capital, Kuantan, as the 'standard sub-dialect' and the major source for other sub-dialects spoken inland. Her view is based on the prestige of Pekan and Kuantan as the main economic, cultural and administration centres of the state.^[17]

Other scholars like Collins and Tarmizi Harsah provided an alternative method in this dialectal study, focusing on the geographic units of river basins and coastal strips, rather than on the existing political boundaries.^[18][19] This is based on the fact that the spread of these sub-dialects is independent of the political divisions of current Malaysian states. On the other hand, both river basins and coastal strips are the features of topography that have greatly shaped the earliest patterns of migration and settlement in the Malay world of Southeast Asia.^[20] Based on this, Tarmizi Harsah identified three main variants of Pahang Malay, spoken along the lining of three main rivers of Pahang; Pahang River, Jelai River and Lipis River. He classified these variants further into two main sub-dialects; Hulu Pahang ('Upper Pahang') consisting Lipis and Jelai rivers variants, and Hilir Pahang ('Lower Pahang') consisting Pahang River variant.^[21]

Characteristics

References

Bibliography

• Asmah Omar (2008), Susur Galur Bahasa Melayu (The Origin of Malay language), Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, ISBN 978-9836-298-26-3
• Collins, James Thomas (1989), "Malay Dialect Research in Malaysia: The Issue of Perspective" (PDF), Bijdragen tot de tool-, land- en volkenkunde, 145
• Department of Statistics Malaysia (2010), Total population by ethnic group, mukim and state, Malaysia, 2010 - Pahang (PDF)
• Guy, John (2014), Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ISBN 978-0300-204-37-7
• Milner, Anthony (2010), The Malays (The Peoples of South-East Asia and the Pacific), Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 978-1444-339-03-1
• Pahang Delights (2005), Radio Channels in Pahang
• Tan, Soo Hai; Tan, Ding Eing (1978), A Portrait of Malaysia and Singapore, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195-807-22-6
• Tarmizi Hasrah; Rahim Aman; Shahidi A.H (2010), "Variasi Dialek Pahang: Keterpisahan Berasaskan Jaringan Sungai (Variants of Pahang dialect: Divergences based on the riverine system)" (PDF), Jurnal Melayu, 5
• Tarmizi Hasrah; Rahim Aman; Shahidi A.H (2013), "Sketsa Dialek Melayu Pahang (Sketches of Pahang Malay Dialect)" (PDF), Jurnal Linguistik, 12