Pontianak Malay

Pontianak Malay
Bahase Melayu Pontianak
بهاس ملايو ڤونتيناك
Native to West Kalimantan, Indonesia
Region Pontianak, Kubu Raya, Ketapang and Mempawah
Ethnicity Pontianak Malays
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Linguist list
zlm-rit
Glottolog None

Pontianak Malay (Bahase Melayu Pontianak, Indonesian: Bahasa Melayu Pontianak, Jawi script: بهاس ملايو ڤونتيناك) is a variety of the Malay language spoken in Pontianak, Indonesia and the surrounding area.

It is one of the two major varieties of Malay spoken in West Kalimantan, the other being Sambas Malay. Pontianak Malay is a close relative of Sambas Malay as well as Sarawak Malay in neighbouring Sarawak, Malaysia. Elements from Johor-Riau Malay, Chinese, Banjarese, Indonesian, Dayak languages as well as many localism can be seen in the language reflecting the various ethnic origin residing in the city.

Although Pontianak Malay is relatively homogeneous, some regional sub-dialects are notable. The dialects of Malay spoken in Pontianak, Kubu Raya, Ketapang and Mempawah differ slightly from each other. Differences exist both in terms of vocabulary and phonology.

Linguistic features

The pronunciation system in Pontianak Malay language stressed the usage of the /ə/, this is closely resembles Johor-Riau variant compared to the other Bornean Malay dialects and the related standard Indonesian language. Another notable feature of the accent is the Voiced velar fricative in pronouncing the letter R which similarly used in Sarawakian Malay. In addition, the spoken interjection of Bah is widely used in Pontianak Malay, corresponding to the usage of Malay language observed throughout coastal Borneo.

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