Bacan Malay

Bacan Malay[1] or Bacan[2] is a Malayic language spoken on the island of Bacan in North Maluku province, Indonesia, by the minor Bacan ethnic group.[3][4] It is an anomalous presence in the region, being surrounded by genetically distant Austronesian languages and languages of the unrelated North Halmahera family.[5][6] Bacan is geographically removed from the Malay heartlands in the western archipelago.[7][8]

It is used as a first language in five villages (Indomut, Awanggo, Amasing, Labuha, and Mandawong).[1] It is not closely related to other eastern Indonesian varieties of Malay, such as Ambonese Malay and Ternate Malay, the two major linguae francae of the Moluccas. Unlike those languages, which are often thought of as Malay-based creoles,[9][10] Bacan Malay is not known to have developed as a trade language. Instead, it appears to have been transplanted by a migrant Malayic community, arriving from Borneo several hundred years ago.[4][6] It is not generally known by other ethnic groups.[4] Collins (1996) considers it to be an offshoot of Brunei Malay and a relatively close relative of Banjarese, spoken in Kalimantan.[11]

In contrast to contact varieties of Malay, it has been passed as a first language from generation to generation,[4] a fact still reflected in its complex inflectional system, as well as its preservation of indigenous Malay proverbs.[6] It retains a number of archaic features not universally found in other Malayic languages.[12][13] The Bacan community must have maintained a high level of language loyalty, considering that for much of its history, it probably numbered no more than a few hundred people.[6] However, the impact of the surrounding Moluccan languages on Bacan Malay is considerable,[3] and its relationship to Brunei Malay has been obscured by the separate development of both languages.[14]

During the colonial era, it was linked to the Sula language, as well as certain languages of Sulawesi, a classification reflected in older linguistic literature, drawing upon a 1914 work by N. Adriani and A.C. Kruyt.[15] It was thought to be a "mixed language" (mengtaal)[15] or a non-Malayic language with extensive Malay influence,[16] and its Malayic character remained largely unrecognized. However, as early as 1869, A.R. Wallace described it as a form of "pure Malay" with a "Papuan element",[17] and its Malayic nature was also noted in a 1958 article by R.D. Udinsah.[18] No major descriptive efforts were made during the colonial period.[14] In more recent times, J.T. Collins has elaborated on the historical development and characteristics of Bacan Malay, establishing its status as a Malayic language.[2][19] A dictionary has also been produced (2022).[20]

The language, confined to a small community, is definitely endangered, with a decreasing number of speakers. In the late 1950s, it was still reported to be a common means of communication in the Bacan area.[18] The 16th edition of Ethnologue reports a 1991 figure of 2,500 speakers.[21] In 1996, it was estimated to have less than 5,000 speakers, residing in a few villages.[14] The 22nd edition of Ethnologue reports that it is spoken by six people.[22] Collins (2018) estimates that it is spoken by approximately 5% of Bacan Island's largely migrant population of 90,000. The Bacan Islands are also home to speakers of North Halmahera languages (especially Tobelo, Galela, and Ternate), languages of Southeast Sulawesi, as well as the two Makian languages (Taba and Moi). The dominant lingua franca of the region is Ternate Malay.[23]