Kupang Malay or simply the Kupang language is a Malay-based creole language spoken in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, which is on the west end of Timor Island. Kupang Malay is presently used as a lingua franca for inter-ethnic communication, and it also has native speakers.[2]
| Kupang Malay | |
|---|---|
| Melayu Kupang | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Kupang, West Timor |
Native speakers | L1: 200,000 (2015)[1] L2: 150,000 (2015)[1] |
Malay-based creole
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mkn |
| Glottolog | kupa1239 |
It is based on archaic Malay mixed mostly with Dutch, Portuguese, and other local languages. It is similar to Ambonese Malay with several differences in vocabulary and accent. Its grammatical system resembles other Eastern Indonesian Malay creoles.
Kupang Malay originated sometime before the 17th century.[3]Kupang Malay has Rotinese influence.[4]
Phonology
Like Indonesian, words in Kupang Malay are usually stressed on the penultimate syllable.[2] Some words are stressed on the final syllable as they would be in their source languages. This results in some contrastive stress.
| Kupang Malay | gloss |
|---|---|
| barat | west |
| barát | heavy |
| parang | machete |
| paráng | war |
Vowels
The vowels of Kupang Malay are shown in the chart below.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
Unlike in Indonesian, there is no schwa in Kupang Malay.[2]
| Indonesian | Kupang Malay | English Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| səlamat | salamat | 'greetings, safe' |
| kəliling | kaliling, kuliling | 'go around' |
| səbentar | sabantar | 'a moment' |
| pərut | parú | 'stomach' |
The "ia ,"ie, "io",and iu,reduces to iya, iye, iyo, iyu or nua, oa, os becomes nuwa, woa, wos.
Consonants
The consonants of Kupang Malay are shown in the chart below.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | c | k | ʔ |
| voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ||
| Fricative | f | s | h | |||
| Approximant | l | j | w | |||
| Trill | r | |||||
Kupang Malay has intervocalic glottal stops in some words from which originate from other local languages or Arabic.[2]
- The lack of foreign letters e.g. "z","v",and"q"
For example;
- Zaman → Saman
- Video → Fideo
- Qatar → Katar
Pronouns
The pronouns in Kupang Malay differ from Indonesian as shown in the table below.
| Pronouns | Indonesian | Kupang Malay |
|---|---|---|
| First person singular First person plural (inclusive) First person plural (exclusive) | aku, saya kita kami | beta katong batong |
| Second person singular Second person plural | kamu, engkau kalian | lu basong |
| Third person singular Third person plural | dia mereka | dia dong |
Morphology
Reduplication is frequent. Reduplication can express several things such as: variety, similarity, repetition, non-urgency, and aimlessness.[4]
Grammar
The word order of Kupang Malay is mixed Malay and the Helong language.
| English | Indonesian | Kupang Malay |
|---|---|---|
| Kupang city | Kota Kupang | Kupang kota |
| Indonesia has already become to most populated country. | Indonesia sudah menjadi negara yang teramai | Indonesiya su manjadi yang tarame |
Possessives are formed by placing a possessive particle, pung after the possessor and before the possessed item.