The Phonological History of the Hulu Kedah Malay Dialect
Abstract
This paper presents aims to present an analysis of the linguistic history or development of the Malay dialects spoken in the interior regions of Kedah, specifically referring to the Baling Malay dialect. The discussion is divided into three main sections. The first part discusses the phonological system from proto-Malayic to the early Hulu Kedah Malay dialect. The second part explores the evolution of the early Hulu Kedah dialect into the current phonological system specifically of the Baling Malay dialect. In this context, “development” involves two fundamental concepts in diachronic linguistics: retention and innovation. The discussion also includes a third section addressing phonological processes throughout the history of the Hulu Kedah Malay dialect. Several phonological innovations and retentions in this dialect result in two significant implications. First, the Hulu Kedah dialect is distinct from the Northern Peninsular Malay dialect branch, meaning it is not a subdialect of the standard Kedah Malay. Second, due to its divergence from its traditional assumed parent dialect and its similarities with surrounding Malay dialects, Hulu Kedah Malay has formed its own branch, identified as the Upper Northen Peninsular Malay dialect branch.
Keywords: Baling Malay dialect, dialectology, innovation, diachronic linguistic, Proto-Malayic, retention
Full text: PDF
References
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45. Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin. (2018). Dialek Melayu di Perak: Analisis geolinguistik. International Journal of the Malay World and Civilisation, 6(2), 69–82.
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51. Ridley, H. N. (1897). List of Malay plant names. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 30, 31–284.
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53. Shahidi, A. Hamid. (2009). Alternasi dalam fonologi subdialek Kedah Utara. Jurnal Bahasa, 9(2), 302–325.
54. Shuib Ismail. (1971). Dialek Kedah pesisiran: Satu kumpulan teks serta pembicaraan linguistik [Tesis sarjana yang tidak diterbitkan]. Universiti Malaya.
55. Swadesh, M. (1951). Diffusional cumulation and archaic residue as historical explanations. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 7(1), 1–21.
56. Trudgill, P. (2011). Sociolinguistic typology: Social determinants of linguistics complexity. Oxford University Press.
57. Umaiyyah Umar. (1999). A classification of Thai-Kedah dialect using phonological characteristics [Tesis doktor falsafah yang tidak diterbitkan]. Universiti Malaya.
58. Winstedt, R. O. (1917). The Malay rice cycle. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 75, 51.
59. Winstedt, R. O. (1929). Malay industries, Part II: Fishing, hunting and trapping. Dalam. R. J. Wilkinson (Penyunting), Papers on Malay subjects. Federated Malay States Press.
60. Zaharani Ahmad. (2006). Kepelbagaian dialek dalam bahasa Melayu: Analisis tatatingkat kekangan. E-Bangi, 1(1), 1–26.
2. Abdullah Hassan. (1966). Perbandingan tatabunyi antara dialek Kedah dengan dialek Perak [Tesis sarjana muda yang tidak diterbitkan]. Universiti Malaya.
3. Adelaar, K. A. (1992). Proto-Malayic: The reconstruction of phonology and parts of its morphology and lexicon. Pacific Linguistic C-119. Australian University Press.
4. Asmah Haji Omar. (1979). Darulaman: Essay on linguistic, cultural and socio-economic aspects of the Malaysian State of Kedah. Penerbit
5. Asmah Haji Omar. (1992). Kepelbagaian fonologi dialek-dialek Melayu. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
6. Baker, J. A. (1938). Notes on the meanings of some Malay words II. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 16(2), 47–50.
7. Baker, J. A. (1939). Notes on the meanings of some Malay words III. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 17(1), 107–120.
8. Baker, J. A. (1940). A Kedah harvesting knife. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 18(2), 43–45.
9. Campbell, L. (2021). Historical linguistics: An introduction (ed. ke-4). MIT Press.
10. Chambers, J., & Trudgill, P. (1998). Dialectology (ed. ke-2). Cambridge
11. Collins, J. T. (1983a). Dialek Ulu Terengganu. Penerbit Universiti
12. Collins, J. T. (1983b). Dialek Pahang: Rangka pengenalan. Dewan Bahasa, 27, 99–118.
13. Collins, J. T. (1985). Dialek Melayu Pulau Tioman dan rekonstruksi bahasa Melayu purba. Dewan Bahasa, 5, 369–383.
14. Collins, J. T. (1996). Khazanah dialek Melayu. Penerbit Universiti
15. Collins, J. T. (1999). Wibawa bahasa: Kepiawaian dan kepelbagaian. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
16. Collins, J. T. (2016). Dialek Melayu Sarawak. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
17. Dobby, E. H. G. (1957). Padi landscapes of Malaya. The Malayan Journal of Tropical Geography, 10, 1–143.
18. Evans, H. N. (1917). Malay back-slang. Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, 7(3), 115–116.
19. Fazal Mohamed Mohamed Sultan, & Amir Imran Jamil. (2019). Variasi leksikal dialek Melayu di negeri Kedah: Kajian geolinguistik. Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 15(4), 21–42.
20. Fox, A. (1995). Linguistic reconstruction: Theory and method. Oxford
21. Hamilton, A. W. (1923). Some bird names in Kedah. Journal of the Malay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1, 378–381.
22. Hamilton, A. W. (1925). Some Malay words. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3(3), 32–55.
23. Hamilton, A. W. (1927). Malayan natural history notes. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3, 362–362.
24. Hamilton, A. W. (1930). Some Malay words. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 8(2), 330–333.
25. Hamilton, A. W. (1933). Some Malay words. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 11(2), 139–143.
26. Humphreys, J. L. (1926). A note on the north and south points of the compass in Kedah and Terengganu. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 4(1), 133–135.
27. Ida Ahmad. (1969). Fonologi bahasa Kedah. Dewan Bahasa, 13(12), 531–537.
28. Kats, J. (1930). Warna sari Melayoe. N. V. Boekhandel Visser & Co.
29. Logan, J. R. (1851). Ethnology of the Indo-Pacific islands. Journal of the Indian Archipelago Eastern Asia, 5, 546–585.
30. Maxwell, W. G. (1905). Mantra gajah. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 45, 1–53.
31. Maxwell, W. G. (1911). Miscellaneous notes. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 51, 195–196.
32. McDavid, R. I. (1974). A manual for dialect research in the southern states. The University of Alabama Press.
33. Mohammad Khairulanwar Abdul Ghani, & Mohd Tarmizi Hasrah (2024b). Rekonstruksi dalaman dialek Baling purba. RENTAS: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastera dan Budaya, 3(1), 209–232. https://doi.org/10.32890/rentas2024.3.10
34. Mohammad Khairulanwar Abdul Ghani, & Mohd Tarmizi Hasrah, Khairul Faiz Alimi. (2024). Dialek hulu Kedah: Satu pengelompokan baharu. Jurnal Bahasa, 24(1), 1–44. https://doi.org/10.37052/jb24(1)no1
35. Mohammad Khairulanwar Abdul Ghani, & Mohd Tarmizi Hasrah. (2023a). Aspirasi sebagai penanda identiti dialek Melayu Baling. Dalam Maslida Yusuf, Karim Harun & Rahim Aman (Penyunting), Bahasa dan identiti masyarakat tutur (hlm. 63–82). Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
36. Mohammad Khairulanwar Abdul Ghani, & Mohd Tarmizi Hasrah. (2023b). Aspiration in Baling Malay. Dalam Hiroki Nomoto & Asako Shiohara (Penyunting), Language contact between Malay and indigenous languages, (NUSA 75, hlm. 3–18). https://doi.org/10.15026/0002000125
37. Mohammad Khairulanwar Abdul Ghani, & Mohd Tarmizi Hasrah. (2024a). Konsonan beraspirasi dalam dialek Melayu Semenanjung Malaysia: Tinjauan di Baling, Kedah. Jurnal Bahasa, 24(2), 185–216. https://doi.org/10.37052/jb24(2)no1
38. Mohammad Khairulanwar Abdul Ghani. (2025). Dialek Melayu hulu Kedah: Satu analisis sinkronik dan diakronik [Tesis doktor falsafah yang tidak diterbitkan]. Universiti Utara Malaysia.
39. Mohd Tarmizi Hasrah, & Mohammad Khairulanwar Abdul Ghani (2021). Dialek Melayu Baling: Satu pemerian awal. Jurnal Bahasa, 21(1), 193‒216. https://doi.org/10.37052/jb21(2)no2
40. Mohd Tarmizi Hasrah. (2022). Dialek Melayu hulu di timur Semenanjung Malaysia. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
41. Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin, Maizatul Hafizah Abdul Halim, Harishon Radzi, & Junaini Kasdan. (2017). Penyebaran dialek Melayu di Langkawi: Analisis geolinguistik. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 17(4), 159–178.
42. Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin, Mohamed Fazal Mohamed Sultan, Harishon Radzi, & Khairul Ashraaf Saari. (2019). Penyebaran pengaruh dialek Melayu Thai di Malaysia: Analisis GIS. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 4, 362–389.
43. Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin, Siti Noraini Hamzah, & Hayati Lateh. (2019). Penyebaran dialek Melayu Satun di Langkawi dan Thai: Analisis GIS. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 19(1), 77–96.
44. Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin. (2017). Penyebaran dialek Melayu di Langkawi: Analisis geolinguistik. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 17(4), 159–178.
45. Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin. (2018). Dialek Melayu di Perak: Analisis geolinguistik. International Journal of the Malay World and Civilisation, 6(2), 69–82.
46. Norfazila Abdul Hamid, Rahim Aman. (2014). Proses pemanjangan vokal dalam dialek hulu Sik Kedah: Satu penerapan teori fonologi generatif model non-linear. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 9(2), 195–205.
47. Nothofer, B. (1993). Cita-cita penelitian dialek. Dalam. Farid M. Onn, Ajid Che Kob (Penyunting), Simposium dialek: Penyelidikan dan pendidikan (hlm. 165–183). Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
48. Nur Habibah Che Rosdi, & Rahim Aman. (2020). Varian Hulu Perak Utara: Fenomena di Gerik dan Pengkalan Hulu. Jurnal Melayu, 19(2), 216–243.
49. Nur Habibah Che Rosdi, Rahim Aman, & Shahidi A. Hamid. (2023). Dialek hulu Perak utara: Pendekatan linguistik perbandingan. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
50. Nur Syazwani Salam, & Sharifah Raihan Syed Jaafar. (2019). Perilaku fonologi konsonan di akhir kata dialek Petani Sik. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 4(1) 316–343.
51. Ridley, H. N. (1897). List of Malay plant names. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 30, 31–284.
52. Shahidi A. Hamid. (2012). Analisis fonologi subdialek Kedah Utara. Dalam Rahim Aman (Penyunting), Bahasa Melayu bahasa universal. Penerbitan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
53. Shahidi, A. Hamid. (2009). Alternasi dalam fonologi subdialek Kedah Utara. Jurnal Bahasa, 9(2), 302–325.
54. Shuib Ismail. (1971). Dialek Kedah pesisiran: Satu kumpulan teks serta pembicaraan linguistik [Tesis sarjana yang tidak diterbitkan]. Universiti Malaya.
55. Swadesh, M. (1951). Diffusional cumulation and archaic residue as historical explanations. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 7(1), 1–21.
56. Trudgill, P. (2011). Sociolinguistic typology: Social determinants of linguistics complexity. Oxford University Press.
57. Umaiyyah Umar. (1999). A classification of Thai-Kedah dialect using phonological characteristics [Tesis doktor falsafah yang tidak diterbitkan]. Universiti Malaya.
58. Winstedt, R. O. (1917). The Malay rice cycle. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 75, 51.
59. Winstedt, R. O. (1929). Malay industries, Part II: Fishing, hunting and trapping. Dalam. R. J. Wilkinson (Penyunting), Papers on Malay subjects. Federated Malay States Press.
60. Zaharani Ahmad. (2006). Kepelbagaian dialek dalam bahasa Melayu: Analisis tatatingkat kekangan. E-Bangi, 1(1), 1–26.
Published
2025-06-26
How to Cite
ABDUL GHANI, Mohammad Khairulanwar; HASRAH, Mohd Tarmizi.
The Phonological History of the Hulu Kedah Malay Dialect.
Jurnal Bahasa, [S.l.], v. 25, n. 1, p. 1-40, june 2025.
ISSN 2462-1889.
Available at: <http://jurnal.dbp.my/index.php/jurnalbahasa/article/view/9091>. Date accessed: 25 jan. 2026.
doi: https://doi.org/10.37052/jb25(1)no1.
Section
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