Medan Malay

Medan Malay (referred to as cakap Melayu Medan lit. 'speak to Medan Malay' by its speakers) is a dialect (or also sociolect) of Malay language used by the multi-ethnic people of Medan City, especially Deli Malays ethnic. This dialect is derived from Deli Malay. This aspect is based on the many similarities in grammar and vocabulary with Deli Malay.^[2][3]

Medan is a multi-ethnic city with 14 ethnic groups recorded as inhabiting this city. This city was built by a figure from the Karo people, namely Guru Patimpus. However, historically, Karo language has never been used as the main language in Medan City. This city stands in the territory of the Malay Sultanate of Deli. Currently, the majority of the population of Medan City is Javanese people. Apart from that, there are also Batak people who are known by their misnomer, namely Medan people (even though these Batak people do not come from Medan City, ordinary people still know him as a Medan people).

Each ethnic group living in Medan City to this day still maintains their mother tongue and still uses it only to communicate among themselves. This happened because of large-scale migration in the Dutch colonial era. They generally come from the ethnic groups Javanese, Chinese, Pakistanis, Tamils, Banjar, Arabs, and Minangkabau.

Indonesian language, which is the main language of instruction for this heterogeneous society, has in its development absorbed a lot of vocabulary from these languages which was then used generally among the residents of Medan City and became known as Medan Malay.^[4][5]

The Medan Malay vocabulary, like colloquial language in general, often absorbs the vocabulary of other languages, especially regional languages in North Sumatra and other languages.^[6][7][8]

• aci 'may, appropriate'
• alamak 'oh my god (startled)'
• alip 'hide and seek game'
• awak 'i am, you'
• bedogol 'stupid, idiot'
• belacan 'shrimp paste'
• belanda 'stingy (greedy nuance)'
• bengak 'stupid'
• bongak 'lie'
• cemana 'what kind'
• cendek 'short'
• cincong 'by the way, reason'
• congor 'mouth'
• congok 'greedy'
• dongok 'stupid'
• doorsmeer 'car wash'
• ecek-ecek 'pretend'
• gacok 'mainstay, jockey'
• galon 'gas station'
• gecor 'big mouth'
• gedabak 'big body'
• hajab 'dead, destroyed'
• hambus 'go away, far away'
• hepeng 'money'
• jangek 'skin crackers'
• jumpa 'meet'
• kacok 'stir'
• kalok 'if'
• kamput 'brand of liquor, white goat'
• kedan 'friend, buddy'
• kede sampah 'vegetables grocery store'

The word apa 'what' in the Medan Malay dialect is widely used with various meanings. Of course, the meaning is very dependent on the context.^[9] For example, in the sentence:

"Eh, apa! cok ko apakan dulu apanya itu, biar apa sikit. Tapi jangan apa kali, nanti apa pulak dia."
(English translation: "Ah, what! why don't you do whatever it takes first, let it be a little something. But don't worry, what will happen to him later.")

It could be that the case is, a mother asks her older child to reduce the rotation level of the fan that is pointing at her younger sibling so as not to make his little brother catch a cold.

The following is how to pronounce Medan Malay, divided into several different conditions.^[5]

The pronunciation of some words ending in vowels also includes the consonant [k].^[5]

• beli spoken belik 'buy'
• bunyi spoken bunyik 'sound'
• cari spoken carik 'search'
• coba spoken cobak 'try'
• mama spoken mamak 'mother'
• nasi spoken nasik 'rice'

The letter [k] is dropped in the middle of a word without a vowel after it.^[5]

• sukses spoken su'ses 'success'
• bakti spoken ba'ti 'devotion'
• bakso spoken ba'so 'meatball'
• takdir spoken ta'dir 'destiny'

In words where the letters [a] and [i] are close together, the letter [i] can be changed to the letter [e], or the [a] and [i] are changed to [e].^[5]

• baik become baek 'good'
• balik become balek 'come back'
• naik become naek 'go on'
• kedai become kede 'shop'
• sungai become sunge 'river'
• cabai become cabe 'chili'

Words that contain the letters [a] and [u] close together can be removed or replaced with the letter [o].

• bangau become bango 'stork'
• atau become ato 'or'
• danau become dano 'lake'
• merantau become meranto 'wander'
• hijau become ijo 'green'
• kau become ko 'you'
• kerbau become kerbo 'buffalo'
• mau become mo 'want to'
• kemarau become kemaro 'drought'

• Malay language
• Deli Malays

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