Malay Chetty creole language

Malay Chetty creole
Malaccan Creole Malay
Malacca Malay Creole
Chitties/Chetties Creole
Native toMalaysia
RegionMalacca
EthnicityChitty people
Native speakers
300[1]
Malay-based creole
  • Malay Chetty creole
Language codes
ISO 639-3ccm
Glottologmala1482
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The Malay Chetty creole language (also known as Malaccan Creole Malay, Malacca Malay Creole[2] and Chitties/Chetties Malay) is a Malay-based creole spoken by the Chetties, a distinctive group of Tamil people originating from Malacca in Malaysia and also found in Singapore through migration, who are also known as the "Indian Peranakans" and have adopted Chinese and Malay cultural practices whilst also retaining their Hindu heritage.[3]

Spoken since the 16th century by descendants of Tamil merchants of the Malacca Straits, Malay Chetty creole may be historically related to Sri Lanka Creole Malay. The current language status is moribund, due to inter-marriage and out-migration. There has been a language shift towards Malay instead.[2]

Malay Chetty creole is a mix of Malay, Tamil and English, although the latter's presence in the creole is not as prominent compared to the first two languages. Because of the strong influence of Malay, Malay Chetty creole is not very different from other Malay dialects, especially the Middle Malacca Malay dialect. Nonetheless, it does have its own unique features.[4]

Malay Chetty creole shares many features with Baba Malay, suggesting that they may have come from the same source language that is Bazaar Malay.[5]

  1. ^ Malay Chetty creole language at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b "Malaccan Malay Creole". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  3. ^ Paulo 2018.
  4. ^ Mohamed 2009, pp. 58–59.
  5. ^ Mohamed 2009, p. 68.

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