Yawi language
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Yawi or Pattani Malay is a dialect of the Malay language spoken in the southernmost provinces of Thailand along the border with Malaysia. It is the primary spoken language of the Thai Malay ethnic group, but is also a common second language amongst ethnic Thai, Muslim and non-Muslim, and the samsam, a mostly Thai-speaking population of mixed Malay and Thai ancestry. Yawi is a highly divergent dialect of Malay, influenced by Thai and isolation from the rest of the Malay world by high mountains. Several varieties exist, but they are mutually comprehensible with other Yawi dialects. It is almost identical to the Kelantanese Malay spoken just across the border. Both Kelantanese and Yawi are distinct enough that radio broadcasts in Standard Malay can only be understood with difficulty.

Names

The language is often referred to in Thai as Phasa Yawi (Thai: ภาษายาวี, IPA: pʰaːsaː jaːwiː), which is a corruption of the Malay name for the modified Arabic alphabet for writing Malay, Jawi (Yawi: جاوي, Rumi: Jawi, IPA: tɕawi). It is also referred to in Thai as Phasa Malayu Pattani (Thai: ภาษามลายูปัตตานี, IPA: pʰaːsaː maːlaːjuː patɗaːniː) and similarly in Yawi as Bahasa Malayu Pattani (Jawi: بهاس ملاي ڤطاني, Rumi: Bahasa Malayu Pattani, IPA: bahaːsa maleːju patʰaːni). The dialect is often simply just called Bahasa Pattani.

Distribution

Yawi is the main language of the provinces of Narathiwat (ناراتيوة), Yala (جالا), Pattani (فطاني) and Songhkla (سيڠڬورا), where the Malay ethnic group is the dominant group. It is spoken in Satun (ستول), but there even the ethnic Malays generally speak Southern Thai. It is also spoken in scattered villages as far north as Hat Yai. In the past, the Malay language was the main language as far north as the Isthmus of Kra, the traditional division between Central Thailand and Southern Thailand, based on the preponderance of etymologically Malay place names. It may be considered to be spoken in Malaysia by Malay immigrants from Thailand and by Thai settlements, especially in the border regions of Kelantan, Perlis, Kedah, and Perak. Due to internal migration for economic reasons, there are also Yawi speakers to be found in the capital Bangkok.

Writing System

Yawi itself is generally not a written language, but it is sometimes written in informal settings. When writing is needed, an old-fashioned variety of standard Malay is used. It is written in a modified form of the Arabic alphabet adapted for writing Malay, known as Jawi (جاوي). This is also the norm for written communication across the border in Kelantan. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the general population of Malay speakers in both Malaysia and Indonesia that use the Roman alphabet in daily communication, known in Malay as rumi (رومي). A phonetic rendering of Yawi in the Thai alphabet has been introduced, but it has been met with cold reception due to the socio-religious significance of jawi to the Muslim Malays and for the numerous inconsistencies and inaccuracies.

History

Southern Thailand has continued to be a region affected by two cultural spheres: the mainly Buddhist, Thai-speaking Siamese states and the mainly Muslim, Malay-speaking areas that are now part of Malaysia. The region was an entrepôt of trade where merchants from India, Arabia, China, Siam, and the other Malay worlds met. At first dominated by Hindu-Buddhist Indian influences, the great kingdom of Srivijaya (سريۏيجاي) would later fall in chaos. Islam was introduced by Arab and Indian traders in the 11th century and has been the dominant religion ever since, replacing the Buddhism and Hinduism that had held sway before. By the 14th century, the area became vassals to Ayutthaya, but the region was autonomous and never fully incorporated into the modern Thai nation-state till 1902. This political autonomy and isolation from the rest of the Malay world allowed for preservation of the Malay language and culture but also led to the divergence of the dialect.

Differences between Yawi and Standard Malay

The influence of Southern Thai and Yawi upon each other is great, to the point that both have large numbers of loanwords from the other. The influence of the Thai language is one factor that makes comprehension between Yawi and Standard Malay difficult, but there are also numerous other features that have developed in Yawi that make the dialect quite different. Many of these differences involve regular sound changes.

Pronunciation

• /a/ followed by a nasal consonant changes to /ɛː/

ayam, ايم ('chicken') becomes aye; makan, ماكن (to eat) becomes make

• /a/ at the end of syllables changes to /ɔʔ/

minta, مينتا ('to ask') becomes minto

• /aʔ/ changes /ɔʔ/

rumah, رومه ('house') becomes rumoh

• /a/ changes to /ɔ/

minta, مينتا ('to ask') becomes minto; bewa, بيوا becomes bewo

• /i/ changes to /ing/

sini, سيني ('seat') becomes sining

• /ua/ changes to /ɔ/

buaso, بواسو ('to become ordained') becomes boso

• /aj/ becomes /a:/

sungai, سوڠاي ('canal') becomes sunga

• /aw/ becomes /a/

pisau, ڤيساو ('knife') changes to pisa

• /ia/ before a nasal vowel changes to = /ijɛ/

siam, سيام ('Siam') becomes siye

• /ia/ changes to /ɛ/

biasa, بياسا ('once') becomes besa

• /s/ and /f/ at the end of syllables changes to /h/

malas, مالس ('lazy') changes to malah

• /m/ and /n/ at the end of syllables changes to /ŋ/

hakim, حاكيم (judge) changes to hakeng

• /r/ changes to /x/

orang, اورڠ ('person') becomes okhe

• final consonants are often only pronounced as a glottal stop.

bukit, بوكيت ('hill') becomes buki (bukiʔ)

• words are distinguished between lengthened initial consonant

bule ('moon') vs. bːule ('many months'); katoh ('to strike') vs. kːatoh ('frog'); siku ('elbow') vs. sːiku ('hand tool')

Thai Influences Besides vocabulary, Thai has influenced the grammar. Makan in Standard Malay is the verb 'to eat', but its Pattani Malay equivalent, as in colloquial Thai, the verb is also used to say 'to drink' and 'to smoke'. Many phrases are also clearly calques from standard Thai usage.

References

• ประพนธ์ เรืองณรงค์. บุหงาปัตตานี: คติชนไทยมุสลิมชายแดนภาคใต้. กทม. มติชน. 2540
• Ishii, Yoneo. (1998). The Junk Trade from Southeast Asia: Translations from the Tôsen Fusesu-gaki 1674 - 1723. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN: 9812300228.
• Cummings, Joe et al. (2005). Thailand Lonely Planet. ISBN: 1740596978.
• Laver, John. (1994). Principles of Phonetics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 052145655X.
• Smalley, William A. (1994). Linguistic Diversity and National Unity. University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 0226762882.

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