Larantuka Malay

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Larantuka Malay is a contact variety of Malay spoken in and around the city of Larantuka on the island of Flores in Indonesia, and in two enclaves: the village of Wure on the island of Adonara (across a narrow strait from Larantuka) and four villages on Konga Bay, about 40 kilometers south of Larantuka on Flores, and serves more generally as a lingua franca on the eastern tip of Flores and nearby islands. There are approximately 23,000 native speakers of Larantuka Malay. Second language speakers of Larantuka Malay are primarily found in and around the city of Larantuka and through the eastern part of Flores island, as well as the nearby islands of Adonara, Solor and Lembata (Lomblen), and natively speak Lamaholot or other languages closely related to Lamaholot, which, until recently, were believed to be dialects of Lamaholot.

The city of Larantuka today is a fairly homogeneous community, and although it is largely made up of speakers of Larantuka Malay, many of whom who trace their ancestry back to Portuguese settlers and their followers from the Malay peninsula who arrived in Larantuka in the 17th century, it actually had roots in diverse communities drawn to the settlement. The Larantuka Malay community maintains a separate cultural and linguistic identity from the Lamaholot speakers who surround the city. Larantuka Malay serves as the main language of daily life in the city, and is the native language of a majority of the population.

Larantuka Malay is known by its speakers as 'Bahasa Nagi', a name probably deriving from the word negeri, meaning 'village' (ultimately from Sanskrit). Nagi is also the term for the city and the ethnic group who speak the language. The community has a strong ethnic identity, and, unlike in other parts of eastern Indonesia where vernacular forms of Malay are spoken, speakers of Larantuka Malay tend to differentiate their language from the standardized national language, Indonesian, although some interference does occur.