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Language code: msa

Technical information about ISO 639 language code msa

Documentation

The table below provides technical details for the Malay (macrolanguage) language, designated by the msa code from the ISO 639-2 standard.

Code

msa (Terminology)

Name

Official

Malay (macrolanguage)

Native

Bahasa Melayu

Text direction

Left-to-Right

Language varieties
Standard MalayIndonesian (Bahasa Indonesia)Johor–Riau MalayKelantan–Pattani MalayKedah–Perlis MalayTerengganu MalaySarawak MalayBrunei Malay
Related languages
MinangkabauBanjarIbanKerinci
Key facts
Uses both Latin-based Rumi and Arabic-derived Jawi scriptsOld Malay inscriptions date back to the 7th-century Srivijaya realmVocabulary is heavily enriched by loans from Sanskrit, Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch and EnglishWord formation relies on extensive prefix–infix–suffix derivation rather than tense inflectionBasic clause order is Subject-Verb-Object, with particles marking aspect and modality.
Sample phrase

Halo, apa khabar?

Character encodings

UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-32

Supported in Localizely

The Malay (macrolanguage) language, identified by the code msa, falls under the 'Macrolanguage' category in terms of its scope and is classified as 'Living' by its type.

The ISO 639-2 standard offers two codes for the Malay (macrolanguage) language: msa for terminology purposes and may for bibliographic uses.

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