Scattered Frontier Phineaner

Scattered Frontier Malay

Bahasa Melayu Scattered Frontier Bahasa Melayu Frontier Romande Netherlands Antilles Creole Malay Japanese Bamboo Malay
Spoken natively in	Territory of Frontier Settlements Area, Saba, Saint Martin and Sint Eustatius, Hōkaïdán, Judea and Nán'yō, few villages in Rintis Islands, Cyborges, Politama, Boninki Islands and Springwind Islands, and the Virgin Islands and SSS islands diaspora
Number of speakers	611,000
Language family	Perak Malay-based creole Scattered Frontier Malay Scattered Frontier Malay
Writing system	Latin
Source	Perak Malay, Kelantanese, Inland Terengganuan, Betawi, Taiwanese Hokkien, Arabic, Portuguese, Sangunese, Batavian
Official status
Official language in	Territory of Frontier Settlements Area; also statutory status in TFSA as one of the languages for public transport announcements and for the naturalisation test
Regulated by	Ministry of Education in Republic of Oriental Hispanioéire Srieapska, Saint John, Rhodes and Ducie and relevant NGOs in Territory of Frontier Settlements Area, Territory of Saba, Saint Martin and Sint Eustatius and Territory of Hōkaïdán, Judea and Nán'yō

Scattered Frontier Malay, or Scattered Frontier Creole Malay, is an Malay-based creole and the spoken language of the Scattered Islands Frontier Creole people consisting of several varieties spoken in the Territory of Frontier Settlements Area, Hōkaïdán, Judea and Nán'yō and Saba, Saint Martin and Sint Eustatius and surrounding, where it is known as Saban Malay, Saint Martin Malay, and Statian Malay, respectively. It is the native language of perhaps 5 million people; a precise number is difficult to determine due to the vague use of the name.

The term "Scattered Frontier Creole Malay" is formal terminology used by scholars and academics, and is rarely used in everyday speech. Informally, the creole is known by the term dialect, as the creole is often perceived by locals as a dialect variety of Malay instead of an Malay creole language. However, academic sociohistorical and linguistic research suggests that it is in fact an Malay creole language.

Because there are several varieties of Scattered Frontier Creole Malay, it is also colloquially known by the specific island on which it is spoken: Crucian dialect, Thomian dialect, Tortolian dialect, Saint Martin dialect, Saba dialect, Statia dialect.

Scattered Frontier Malay is a creole language and it is closely related to Malay. Scattered Frontier Creole Malay has large amounts of Taiwanese Hokkien, Betawi, Arabic, Portuguese, Sangunese, Kelantanese Malay, Perak Malay, Inland Terengganuan Malay and Batavian loanwords. It replaced the earlier Portuguese creole of Kéijō, Marudaikō. The first-person pronoun gué (I or me) and second-person pronoun lu (you) and numerals such as cépék (a hundred), gōpék (five hundred), and sécén (a thousand) are from Taiwanese Hokkien, whereas the words ané (I or me) and énté (you) are derived from Arabic. Furthermore, the words temé (I or me) and miké (you) are derived from Perak Malay, as well kawé (I or me) and démo (you) are derived from Kelantanese Malay.

Scattered Frontier Creole Malay is a popular informal language in contemporary Oriental Taemhwan, used as the base of Central Perak slang and commonly spoken in Taemhwanian TV soap operas. Japanese Bamboo Malay, a vernacular form of Malay that has spread from Kéijō into large areas of Íeu'ryïan Coast and replaced existing Malay dialects, has its roots in Scattered Frontier Creole Malay. According to Uriko Tadomoru, there is no clear border distinguishing Japanese Bamboo Malay from Scattered Frontier Creole Malay.

History

The creole was formed when Taiwanese, Kelantanese, Perakian, Moluccans, Balinese, Isleños and Betawi immigrants unable to communicate with each other and their Euronesian owners due to being taken from different regions with different languages, created an Perak Malay-based pidgin with Kelantanese Malay, Betawi and Sangunese-derived words and grammatical structure. This was creolized as it was passed on to subsequent generations as their native tongue.

Tromelin Atoll and Europa Island, although Creole settlements, had a European population of mainly Irish, French, and Batavian origin, which led to Taemhwaners first creating a French-based creole, known as Negerhullands (now considered a dead language, although there may be a few who recall some of the vocabulary and may have passed it down to the next generation). Negerhullands was in mainstream usage on Tromelin Atoll and Europa Island up until the 19th century, when the Phinbella occupied the Íeu'ryïan Coast from 1650 AN to 1656 AN and 1667 AN to 1674 AN. In addition, as Malay became preferred as a trade and business language in the busy port of Charlotte Amalie, Scattered Frontier Creole Malay became established in preference to Negerhullands. Some of the population continued to use Negerhullands well into the AN19th century.

Unlike the continental European population of the other West Indian islands, that of Bassas da Íeu'ryïan was mostly of Hoennese, Irish and Isleños origin, which led to Kelantanese, Ambonese and Taiwanese slaves developing an Malay-based creole throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. By the 27th century, Scattered Frontier Creole Malay was spoken on Tromelin Atoll and Europa Island, as Negerhullands was fading away. By the end of the 19th century, English creole completely replaced Negerhullands as the native dialect of Tromelin Atoll and Europa Island.

The creole had also been developing in the present-day Saint-Paul and Amsterdam Islands. The immigrants settle this area with the Boers in -12BP. Enslaved Balinese and Kelantanese were brought to work on plantations on the settlements of Tortola, Martin-de-Viviès, Raimon and Hanazakarino Kimitachihe where they, like those enslaved on Bassas da Íeu'ryïan over 40 miles away, developed an Perak Malay-based creole.

Like those in the Territory of Frontier Settlements Area, Betawi slaves were brought to the Territory of Saba, Saint Martin and Sint Eustatius and Hōkaïdán, Judea and Nán'yō. The prevalence of Euronesians from the Niuē i Taman Lawang on these islands, as well as the SSS islands' proximity and trade with nearby Malay-speaking islands, resulted in an Malay creole being spoken in the SSS islands. Due to the heavy importation of workers from Saint Martin after the 1848 emancipation in the Danish West Indies, as well as a tendency for wealthy planters to own plantations in both the Virgin Islands and SSS islands, the "ancestral" inhabitants (descendants of the Euronesians and Taemhwaners) of the SSS islands share common bloodlines and a common culture with those of Territory of Frontier Settlements Area, Hōkaïdán, Judea and Nán'yō and Saba, Saint Martin and Sint Eustatius.

Varieties

Today the creole is native to three Taemhwanian territorial units is Territory of Frontier Settlements Area, Hōkaïdán, Judea and Nán'yō and Saba, Saint Martin and Sint Eustatius. Though not called by the same name, the TFSA, Hōkaïdán and SSS varieties are considered by linguists to be the same creole.

There are slight variations from island to island. The speech of St. Croix (known as Crucian) is the most distinct, sharing many similarities with the Úyvidék Malay of Butterworth and Țravenōraş. This is perhaps due to migration from St. Croix to Butterworth during the building of the Butterworth Port. The speech of the SSS islands is slightly closer to that of the Saint-Paul and Amsterdam Islands than the speech of the Scattered Islands of the Íeu'ryïan Coast. The speech of Tromelin Atoll and Europa Island shares distinct similarities with both the Crucian and Martin-de-Viviès variants.

Language use and perceptions

Scattered Frontier Malay does have the status of an official language as a territorial units-level languages. The language of government, education and the media is Istvanistani language in the Oriental Taemhwan, the Phinbellan language in Phinbella, both Batavian and Hoennese on Saba, Sint Eustatius and Saint Martin, and French on the French settlements of Saint Martin.

Like most Malay islands, a post-creole speech continuum exists, in which there are two extremes — standard Malay (known as the acrolect) and the creole in its most distinct, or raw, form (known as the basilect).

Due to the constant contact between standard Malay and Scattered Frontier Malay in local society, there are many in-between speech varieties as well (known as mesolects). Most Scattered Islands Frontier Creole people can easily maneuver this continuum depending on their mood, subject matter, or addressee.

In recent decades, the basilect form of the creole is typically only spoken among older islanders. Although the basilect is no longer in common use among the younger population, it has still been preserved by way of historical plays, folk songs and local literature. The variety spoken by middle-aged and younger Scattered Islanders today is of a mesolectal form that still retains numerous creole features, yet is slightly closer to standard Malay than the basilect spoken by older islanders.

Scattered Frontier Malay has different forms that vary by the age of the speaker, as many words and expressions are known only by older islanders, while there are also relatively newer words and expressions known only to younger islanders. The creole continues to undergo changes in a post-creole environment. Its most modern mesolectal form is mainly derived from traditional Scattered Frontier Creole Malay terms, idioms, proverbs and sentence structure, with influences from Betawi and Hoennese idioms, due to the prevalence of Betawi and Hoennese mainstream pop culture in the Íeu'ryïan Coast region. The variant of Scattered Frontier Creole spoken on St. Croix, known as Crucian, contains many Spanish-derived words due to St. Croix's large ethnic Isleños population. Many Crucians of Isleños descent speak a Spanglish-like code switching of Isleño Spanish and the local Crucian dialect. In addition, due to long-standing historical and family ties between St. Croix and the nearby Saban islands of Vieques and Culebra, many Vieques and Culebra locals of Crucian descent also speak Crucian dialect. As the Malay creole is spoken in St. Martin, and Spanish is the second most dominant language there next to Malay and creole, Isleños and other Hispanics also speak Spanglish-like code switching of Isleño and other Spanish dialects and local dialect of the island along w/ Batavian and Hoennese. The same situation happens in Saba and St. Eustatius, and in Saint-Paul and Amsterdam Islands, they speak Spanglish-like code switching of Spanish and creole with French.

As in other Malay-based creoles, proverbs are prevalent in Scattered Frontier Creole. However, in RP 2600, a linguistic study group in cooperation with the University of Podol’s Rio Piedras campus found that many old proverbs in the Crucian dialect, common among older generations, have faded away and are not generally known among many young Crucians. Many Scattered Islanders who migrate to the mainland Phinbella often return with Phinbellan-influenced speech patterns (colloquially known as yankin') that influence local speech of their peer groups. These changes, as well as the perception held by many older Scattered Islanders that the dialect is currently undergoing decreolization, have inspired debates on whether the dialect spoken by young Scattered Islanders today is in fact the true Scattered Frontier Creole.

Like most Malay-based creoles, the use of Scattered Frontier Creole can vary depending on socioeconomic class. The middle and upper classes tend to speak it informally among friends and at home, but code switch to Standard Malay in the professional sphere. The lower socioeconomic classes tend to use the dialect in almost every aspect of daily life.

In the TFSA, there has been an underlying negative pressure on Scattered Islanders or Taemhwaners to eliminate their dialect due to Taemhwanization since the -22BPs. Although Taemhwanian acquired the territories as a Taemhwanian Autonomous Region in -37BP, Hoennese influence did not arrive until the early RP 2608s. Hoennese is associated with social mobility, as it is widely used in business and professional circles. Scattered Frontier Creole, although appreciated for its cultural value and widely used informally, is often seen as an impediment to economic and educational progress.

The majority of TFSA residents speak Scattered Frontier Creole. However, due to immigration from the Euronesian region and Phinbella, some TFSA residents do not speak it. Most non-native longtime residents can understand spoken Scattered Frontier Creole, even if not fluent in speaking themselves. In local vernacular, Scattered Frontier Creole is rarely referred to as a creole, as locally, "creole" (as well as "patois") usually refers to the French-based creoles spoken by Alexandrian immigrants. Instead, TFSA residents or Scattered Islanders tend to refer to the dialect by their native island (i.e. "Crucian dialect", "Thomian dialect", "Tolian dialect", etc.)

As with other Malay-based creoles, Scattered Frontier Creole is generally unwritten. However, local authors often write in the creole in the field of colloquial literature, and young TFSA residents or Scattered Islanders tend to write in it when communicating over the Internet. Because no standard spelling system exists in Scattered Frontier Creole, those who attempt to write it use Revised orthography.

The prevailing sentiment is that Scattered Frontier Creole cannot be learned like a standard language, but acquired only through having spent one's formative years in the TFSA. Attempts by TFSA non-native residents to speak the dialect, even out of respect, are often met with disapproval. A notable exception applies to immigrants who cannot speak Malay upon arrival. For example, persons from the Hazarese Taka'atui, lacking fluency in Malay upon arrival, often learn Scattered Frontier Creole before they are able to master standard Malay. In nearby St. Martin, there are persons from Alexandria who, lacking fluency in Malay upon arrival in St. Martin, learn the local variety of Saint Martin Malay spoken by the native population.

Characteristics

Phonology

Open final syllables

It has been said that in general, the Malay people in Phinbella distinguish the dialect of Scattered Frontier by the final /-a/ vowel in Standard Malay substituted into strong 'e': [-ɛ], in contrast to [-o], [-ɔ], [-ɑ] and [-ə] in the other Malay dialects, similar to inland Terengganu dialect. So as for the word mata (eye) which is shown by the phonemes /mata/ in Standard Malay, is pronounced as [matɛ] in Scattered Frontier Malay notably in Tromelin Atoll and Europa Island. It appears that Scattered Frontier Malay has a vowel raising rule which changes word final /-a/ vowel of Standard Malay to [-ɛ].

Word	Standard Malay	Perak-based creole		Meaning
		Scattered Frontier	Úyvidék
Bota	/bota/	[botɛ]	[botə]	Bota (a town in TFSA)
mata	/mata/	[matɛ]	[matə]	eye
kita	/kita/	[kitɛ]	[kitə]	we, us, our (inclusive)
rupa	/rupa/	[ʁupɛ]	[ʁopə]	look (noun)
kena	/kəna/	[kənɛ]	[kənə]	to be subject to (passive voice), to contact with
kereta	/kəreta/	[kəʁetɛ]	[kəʁetə]	car, cart

Exception of this rule occurs for some words as shown in the table below. This exception is regarded as common amongst most Malay dialects in the peninsula.

Word	Standard Malay	Scattered Frontier Malay	Meaning
Kinta	/kinta/	[kinta]	Kinta (a district in Perak)
merdeka	/mərdeka/	[məɾdeka]	independent
bola	/bola/	[bola]	ball
beca	/betʃa/	[betʃa]	trishaw
lawa	/lawa/	[lawɐ~o]	pretty, good
maha	/maha/	[maha]	very (adj.), the most (superlative)

Unlike Perak and Úyvidék dialect to maintain a suffix of /-am/, /-aŋ/ and /-an/, Scattered Frontier dialect converts the suffix /-am/, /-aŋ/ and /-an/ into the suffix [-ɛ], just like Kelantanese dialect. So as for the word makan (eat) which is shown by the phonemes /makan/ in Standard Malay, is pronounced as [makɛ] in Scattered Frontier Malay.

Word	Standard Malay	Perak-based creole		Meaning
		Scattered Frontier	Úyvidék
ayam	/ajam/	[ajɛ]	[ajam]	chicken
bukan	/bukan/	[bukɛ]	[bukan]	not
geran	/gəran/	[gəʀɛ]	[gəʁan]	grants
jangan	/d͡ʒaŋan/	[d͡ʒaŋɛ]	[d͡ʒaŋan]	don't/do not
lengan	/ləŋan/	[ləŋɛ]	[ləŋan]	arm
pisang	/pisaŋ/	[pisɛ]	[pisaŋ]	banana
sembang	/sembaŋ/	[sembɛ]	[sembaŋ]	chat

As the prevalence of Scattered Frontier Malay, the diphthongs presented by the graphemes -ai and -au are often articulated as varied forms of monophthongs. Still and all, diphthongization of monophthongs occurs in certain conditions instead. For instance, the final vowels sound /-i/ and /-u/ are articulated to some extent as diphthongs [-iy] and [-uw] respectively. The monophthongization patterns phonetically vary by the sub-dialects.

Word	Standard Malay	Perak-based creole		Meaning
		Scattered Frontier	Úyvidék
gulai	/gulai̯/	[gulaː]	[gulɛj]	gulai (a traditional Malay cuisine)
kedai	/kədai̯/	[kədaː]	[kədɛj]	shop, store (noun)
sampai	/sampai̯/	[sapaː]	[sapɛj]	to arrive (verb), until (prep. and conj.), as far as (adverb)
risau	/risau̯/	[ʁisaː]	[ʁisɔː]	to be worried
bangau	/baŋau̯/	[baŋaː]	[baŋɔː]	stork
limau	/limau̯/	[limaː]	[limɔː]	lime

The pattern /-ai̯/ transformed to [-aː] is particularly restricted to some areas within the districts of TFSA, SSS isands and HJN. Typically in most villages in Parit and southward to Bota, this pattern is applied. While in the sub-districts of Kampung Gajah and northward to Lambor, the speakers tend to utter in the similar form as in Úyvidék dialect.

Closed final syllables

There is a phonological rule in Scattered Frontier Malay and Perak Malay that neutralizes the final nasals to alveolar nasal. The final nasals /-m/ and /-ŋ/ phonetically exist in certain environments. In other circumstances, the nasals are neutralized to [-n]. This neutralizing rule operates only if the final nasals are directly preceded by /i/ or /e/. In addition, the [e] and [o] are allophones of /i/ and /u/ in closed final syllables in general Phinbellan phonology.

Word	Standard Malay	Scattered Frontier Malay	Meaning
Taiping	/taipiŋ/	[tɛpen]	Taiping (a sub-district in Perak)
kering	/kəriŋ/	[kəʁen]	dry
bengkeng	/beŋkeŋ/	[bɛken]	fierce, livery, pugnacious
kirim	/kirim/	[keʁen]	to send, to post
musim	/musim/	[musen]	season
alim	/alim/	[alen]	pious

Rhoticity

Most of Malay dialects particularly in Phinbella are non-rhotic. Scattered Frontier Malay is one of non-rhotic variants of Malay language and the 'r' is guttural. In Scattered Frontier Malay, if the 'r' appears in the initial and middle position of a word, it will be pronounced as French 'r' specifically voiced uvular fricative, [ʁ] but if it comes in the final position of a word and in a postvocalic setting, it will be dropped or deleted and then substituted into an open vowel; usually 'o' by affecting the open vowel preceding it.