Bahasa Melayu Ambon

Ambon Malay

Austronesian

FamilyAustronesian Speakers~250K L1 + ~1.4M L2 ScriptLatin CountriesIndonesia Official inNo (Indonesian is the sole official language; Ambon Malay is the regional lingua franca) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3abs

Ambon Malay (autonymously Bahasa Melayu Ambon) is a Malay-based contact variety of the Maluku archipelago, spoken as L1 by around 250,000 people and as L2 by approximately 1.4 million in the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku. Linguistically, Ambon Malay descends from the lingua franca Malay used by Maluku spice traders and Dutch colonial administrators since the 16th century, gradually replacing the indigenous Maluku Austronesian languages of Ambonese and Lease Islanders. It is now a creolized contact variety with simplified Malay grammar but distinctive Ambonese phonology (final consonant weakening, distinct vowel qualities) and lexicon (significant Portuguese, Dutch, and indigenous Maluku loanwords). Ambon Malay is one of the most-vibrant regional Malay varieties of Indonesia and serves as the cultural lingua franca of the entire Maluku region.

Where it is spoken

Wear this language Pick the words you like, printed in the same typeface the map uses. Make a T-shirt from Ambon Malay words →

87 core words in Ambon Malay

Water

aer

aer

Fire

api

api

Sun

mata hari

mata hari

Moon

bulang

bulaŋ

Star

bintang

bintaŋ

Night

malang

malaŋ

Rain

ujang

udʒaŋ

Wind

anging

aŋiŋ

Earth

tana

tana

Stone

batu

batu

Mountain

gunung

ɡunuŋ

Sea

lau

lau

Mother

mama

mama

Father

papa

papa

Daughter

ana parangpuang

ana paraŋpuaŋ

I

beta

beta

You

ose

ose

We

katong

katoŋ

Name

nama

nama

Person

orang

oraŋ

Head

kapala

kapala

Eye

mata

mata

Ear

talinga

taliŋa

Nose

idong

idoŋ

Mouth

mulu

mulu

Tooth

gigi

ɡiɡi

Tongue

lida

lida

Hand

tangang

taŋaŋ

Foot

kaki

kaki

Heart

hati

hati

Bone

tulang

tulaŋ

Blood

dara

dara

Poop

tai

tai

Love

sayang

sajaŋ

Tree

pohong

pohoŋ

Dog

anjing

andʒiŋ

Cat

kucing

kutʃiŋ

Fish

ikang

ˈikaŋ

Bird

burung

buruŋ

Egg

telor

təlor

Bear

beruang

bəruaŋ

Horse

kuda

kuda

House

ruma

ruma

Milk

susu

susu

Honey

madu

madu

Salt

garang

ɡaraŋ

Wine

anggor

ˈaŋɡor

Rice

baras

baras

Iron

besi

besi

Wheel

roda

roda

Silk

sutra

sutra

Book

buku

buku

Eat

makang

makaŋ

Drink

minong

minoŋ

Sleep

tidor

tidor

One

satu

satu

Two

dua

dua

Three

tiga

tiɡa

Four

ampa

ampa

Five

lima

lima

Hundred

saratus

saratus

Hello

hela

hela

Thank you

tarima kase

tarima kase

Good

bagus

baɡus

New

baru

baru

Red

mera

ˈmera

White

puti

puti

Black

itang

itaŋ

Green

ijo

idʒo

Blue

biru

biru

Computer

komputer

komˈputər

Sushi

sushi

ˈsuʃi

Ninety-nine

sambilang pulu sambilang

sambilaŋ pulu sambilaŋ

Sources

Words compared

Compared with languages in the same classification: Austronesian

Meaning Ambon MalayNorth Moluccan MalayPapuan MalayMusiBetawiIndonesianMalay
Water aer /aer/ aer /aer/ air /aer/ ayek /ajek/ aèr /aɛr/ air /ˈair/ air /ˈair/
Fire api /api/ api /api/ api /ˈapi/ api /api/ api /ˈapi/ api /api/ api /api/
Sun mata hari /mata hari/ matahari /matahari/ matahari /mataˈhari/ matahari /matahari/ mataari /mataˈari/ matahari /matahari/ matahari /matahari/
Moon bulang /bulaŋ/ bulan /bulan/ bulan /ˈbulan/ bulan /bulan/ bulan /ˈbulan/ bulan /bulan/ bulan /bulan/
Star bintang /bintaŋ/ bintang /bintaŋ/ bintang /bintaŋ/ bintang /bintaŋ/ bintang /ˈbintaŋ/ bintang /bintaŋ/ bintang /bintaŋ/
Night malang /malaŋ/ malam /malam/ malam /malam/ malem /maləm/ malem /maləm/ malam /ˈmalam/ malam /ˈmalam/
Rain ujang /udʒaŋ/ ujang /uˈdʒaŋ/ ujan /udʒan/ ujan /uˈdʒan/ ujan /uˈdʒan/ hujan /ˈhudʒan/ hujan /ˈhudʒan/
Wind anging /aŋiŋ/ angin /aŋin/ angin /aŋin/ angin /aŋin/ angin /aŋin/ angin /ˈaŋin/ angin /ˈaŋin/
Page 1/10

Open the interactive map: Word Map · HanMap · Name Map · Word Order · Tree

Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.

Made by Heuron Inc. · GitHub · cho@heuron.com · LangMap home