It’s true that Malay is the national language of Malaysia—but that’s a bit of an oversimplification. Malay proper accounts for the native language of only around 62% of Malaysians, and the rest speak a wide variety of minority languages. However, since many of these minority languages are fellow Malayic languages, often carrying “Malay” in the name, the linguistic situation can look confusing, and there tend not to be many translation companies covering minority Malay languages like Sarawak Malay.
With roughly one million native speakers, Sarawak Malay is a major language that’s used widely throughout the eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak. Still, though, there are even more people in Sarawak who don’t speak the language, which means that Standard Malay poses a threat to the indigenous language. At TranslationServices.com, we believe it’s important to give languages like Sarawak Malay the recognition they deserve, and that’s what we aim to do with our new dedicated Sarawak Malay translation services.
Feel free to send us a message anytime if you’d like a free quote for our Sarawak Malay translation services!
What sets Sarawak Malay apart from Standard Malay?
The Malaysian state of Sarawak lies in the eastern half of the country, situated in the northwestern portion of Borneo, a major island shared by Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. Sarawak directly borders the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, and the close proximity to Indonesia has given way to colloquial Indonesian influence on the Sarawak Malay language. The language is characterized by three major dialects, which are associated with cities or regions in Sarawak: Kuching, Saribas, and Sibu.
Sarawak Malay is, of course, a Malayic language, and is thus closely related to Malay and Indonesian. It can be mutually intelligible, but Sarawak Malay also includes many features not found in Standard Malay, as well as words that have entirely different meanings (e.g., tangga means “stairs” in Standard Malay but “to look” in Sarawak Malay). One of the biggest ways in which Sarawak Malay distinguishes itself from Standard Malay is in pronouns, however. Sarawak Malay speakers refer to themselves as kamek, which is a far cry from Standard Malay saya or aku, and Sarawak Malay’s word for “they,” sidak nya, is entirely different from Standard Malay’s mereka. With such major differences, the need for dedicated Sarawak Malay translation services is clear—and we’ve hired experienced native speakers to best serve you.
Sarawak Malay translation services for any project and anyone
If you want dedicated Sarawak Malay translation services that dive into the nuances of this particular Malayic language, you’ve come to the right place. With representatives of the Kuching, Saribas, and Sibu dialects alike, we aim to help anyone looking for Sarawak Malay translation services move forward with their project. Our translators are proud native speakers of Sarawak Malay, with a deep understanding of all the ways it differs from Standard Malay, and they can help you translate both into Sarawak Malay and from Sarawak Malay.
What if you’re looking for more specialized translation services? Maybe you’re a researcher who wants to interview locals in Sarawak in their native language. Perhaps you run a company and you want to set up a store in Sarawak, with a special ad campaign to cater to the Sarawak Malay-speaking locals. It could be that you’re a content creator from Sarawak and you want to share your creative works with the wider world—or maybe you’re an author from abroad looking to carve out a new market among Sarawak Malay speakers. Whatever your goal is, our team is here to support you, complete with subject-matter experts in a range of subjects, just in case you’re working with esoteric material.
Today’s the day to move forward with your Sarawak Malay translation project. If you’d like to get started, submit an order today!