Excerpt from change request document:

Malay as described in the Ethnologue 15th ed. currently has several dialects listed under Sumatra, many of which are in other areas of Indonesia besides Sumatra, and of which eighteen are already listed as separate languages or dialects of other separate languages, or should be listed on their own as separate languages. Other country listings for Malay have similar issues. After clarifying those, however, there remains a need to specify Standard Malay (along with various local/vernacular Malay dialects and sociolects, e.g., Terengganu and Trade Malay)

Aji, or more properly, Haji, is proposed as a new language; see proposal for Haji (Aji) for more detail.

Papuan Malay should be recognized as a separate language; see proposal for more detail

These steps will remove double listing of a speech variety as both a stand alone language in one listing, a dialect of a language in another listing, and a dialect of Malay in another listing, and also recognize the languages that warrant separate treatment. Goal-one listing for each speech variety.

The following elaborates on the clarifications regarding the Malaysian and Indonesian "Dialects" sections of the current Ethnologue entry for Malay [Malay]:

First, there should be a listing of "Dialects" not only for Sumatra but also Kalimantan. Jakarta, another name for existing separate code element Betawi [bew] The following are currently listed under Sumatra for Malay [mly] but are actually spoken in Kalimantan and should be considered not a part of either Standard Malay or Local Malay: - Borneo (Sintang), and Kota-Waringin, both dialects of Malayic Dayak [xdy]

• Labu (Lebu, Labu Basap), exists in the Ethnologue as Basap [bdb]

• Balikpapan is represented in the Ethnologue as Banjar [bjn] - Bakumpai is a separate code element [bkr].

(moving onto dialects outside Kalimantan):

• Makassarese or Makasar Malay exists as a separate code element [mfp].

• Manadonese (Menadonese) exists as a separate code element [xmm].

• Mulak, another name for existing separate code element Kaur [vkk]

• Bangka is the proposed expanded value for existing code element [mfb] (currently Lom) - Larantuka (Ende Malay) has been proposed as a separate code element. (cf. 2007-197) - Peranakan exists as a separate code element [pea]

• Basa Kupang (Kupang) exists as a separate code element [mkn]

• Belide, actually a dialect of Musi (cf 2007-182)

• Daya, actually a dialect of Lampung Api (cf 2007-142); Lengkayap, another name for Daya

• Aji is another name for Haji [hji] (proposed new code element)

• Papuan Malay (Irianese) has been proposed to be a new code element [pmy].

There are also a few problems with the Malaysia "Dialects": Kedah, already an existing separate code element, Kedah Malay [meo]. Pasir Malay may refer to an area in East Kalimantan currently mapped as Banjar [bjn] rather than any dialect in Malaysia.

Thailand Malay probably refers to the separate code element Pattani Malay [mfa].

With this analysis, there remains a number of "local" or "vernacular" Malay language varieties that are not well differentiated from each other, as well as a number of language varieties for which further research is required to clarify their level of differentiation from more mainstream dialects. The following Sumatran dialects should be considered in this group: Tamiang, Deli, Riau mainland, Lubu, Akit, Sakai, Riau islands, coastal Jambi, and Belitung. Though not well defined, this should be considered a separate code element from Standard Malay.

(Local) Malay currently listed under Sumatra but actually spoken in Kalimantan are: Sambas, Kota-Waringin, Sukadana, Ritok (Siantan, Pontianak), Sampit, West Borneo Coast Malay. This list of dialects would be better expressed as Sambas, Pontianak and Ketapang.

(Local) Malay dialects in Peninsular Malaysia (mostly following Collins 1989) include but may not be limited to: coastal Terengganu, inland Terengganu, Kelantan (evidently mutually intelligible with Patani Malay), Pahang, Southeast Island, Orang Hulu, Orang Kuala, Jugra-Muar-Melaka-Johor. This list deliberately does not repeat the misleading dialect labels based on state boundaries. It also does not include the Malay varieties currently listed as separate Ethnologue entries, although some of these may be better understood also as Local Malay dialects: Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Jakun, Orang Kanaq, Orang Seletar and Temuan.

(Local) Malay dialects in Eastern Malaysia and Brunei include Sarawak, and one or more local Malay dialects are spoken in Brunei alongside the national Standard Malay variety.

What remains is Standard Malay more narrowly specified (not including the above language varieties), also to be a new code element. Standard Malay (Bahasa Malaysia), the national language of Malaysia, differs substantially, particularly on the morphosyntactic level, from any described local Malay dialect.

[RA comment: The clarification of "Malay (individual language)" must of necessity reference the Ethnologue entry for this language (Standard Malay). The current Ethnologue entry involves a large number of language varieties that already are or should be (on linguistic grounds) recognized as separate languages, along with numerous varieties that are more correctly recognized as being with the scope of other existing language code elements. Two new language code elements are being proposed as part of this refining of Standard Malay and separation of Local Malay from it. Because of this past confusion regarding what "Malay (Individual language)" should denote, and a clear narrowing of the desired denotation to be Standard Malay, the existing Malay [mly] code element must be retired.]