Manado Malay
Manado Malay, or simply the Manado language, is a creole language spoken in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province in Indonesia, and the surrounding area. The local name of the language is Bahasa Manado, and the name Minahasa Malay is also used, after the main ethnic group speaking the language. Since Manado Malay is used primarily for spoken communication, there is no standard orthography.
Manado Malay differs from standard Malay in having numerous Portuguese and Dutch loan words as a result of colonisation and having traits such as its use of kita as a first person singular pronoun, rather than as a first person inclusive plural pronoun. It is derived from North Moluccan Malay, which can be evidenced by the number of Ternate loanwords in its lexicon. Simple Manado Malay sentences can be understood by speakers of standard Malay or western Malay dialects, albeit with varying degrees of difficulty.
Word stress
Most words have stress on the pre-final syllable:But there are also many words with final stress:
Pronouns
Personal
Possessives
Possessives are built by adding "pe" to the personal pronoun or name or noun, then followed by the 'possessed' noun. Thus "pe" has the function similar to English "'s" as in "the doctor's uniform".| English | Manado Malay |
| My friend | kita pe tamang / ta pe tamang |
| Your friend | ngana pe tamang / nga pe tamang |
| His/her book | dia pe buku / de pe buku |
| This book is yours | ini ngana pe buku |
Interrogative words
The following are the interrogative words or "w-words" in Manado Malay:| English | Manado Malay |
| why | kyápa |
| where | di mána |
| who | sápa |
| which one | tu mána |
Grammatical aspect
Ada can be used in Manado Malay to indicate the perfective aspect, e.g.:- Dorang ada turung pigi Wenang = "They already went down to Wenang"
- Torang so makang = "We ate already" or "We have eaten already"
- kita = "me", "myself", "i" or "we", "us"
- torang = "we", "us".
Nasal finals
- makang = "to eat",
- jalang = "to walk",
- sirang = "to shower", etc.
Prefix
"ba-" prefix
The ber- prefix in Indonesian, which serves a function similar to the English -ing, is modified into ba- in Manado Malay. E.g.: bajalang, batobo, batolor"ma(°)-" prefix
° = ng, n, or m depending on phonological context.The me- prefix in standard Indonesian, which also serves a function to make a verb active, is modified into ma- in Manado Malay. E.g.: mangael, manari, mancari, mamasa, manangis.
Other words
Several words in standard Indonesian are shortened in Manado Malay. For example:pi
co
so
ta
Indonesian loanwords from Manado Malay
Several words in Manado Malay are loaned to standard Indonesian:- baku e.g.: baku hantam, baku ajar, baku veto, baku sedu, baku dapa.
Manado Malay loanwords from other languages
| Standard Indonesian | Manado Malay loanword | Language of Origin | English meaning |
| topi | capéo | Portuguese | cap, hat |
| bosan | fastíu | Portuguese | bored |
| untuk | for | Dutch | for |
| garpu | fork | Dutch | fork |
| tenggorokan | gargántang | Portuguese | throat |
| kursi | kadéra | Portuguese | chair |
| bendera | bandéra | Portuguese | flag |
| saputangan | lénso | Portuguese | handkerchief |
| tapi | mar | Dutch | but |
| jagung | mílu | Portuguese | corn, maize |
| sudah | klar | Dutch | finished |
| paman | om | Dutch | uncle |
| nenek | oma | Dutch | grandmother |
| kakek | opa | Dutch | grandfather |
| teduh | sómbar | Portuguese | shade |
| keringat | suár | Portuguese | sweat |
| bibi | tánte | Dutch | aunt |
| dahi | tésta | Portuguese | forehead, temple |
| penyu | tuturúga | Portuguese | turtle |
| sepatu | chapátu | Portuguese | shoe |
| kebun | kintál | Portuguese | field or garden |