MALAY DIALECT VARIANTS IN LANGKAWI: A DIACHRONIC PERSPECTIVE ANALYSIS

Background and Purpose: Dialectical studies scrutinised the closeness, kinship or genealogy of dialects derived from a language. Previous scholars divide Malay dialects in Peninsular Malaysia into four main clusters. The first cluster are the Johor-Melaka-Selangor and Central Perak. The second cluster is a group that spreads from the Patani region covering the Patani-Kelantan-Terengganu dialect. The third is the Negeri Sembilan cluster, and the fourth is the Kedah dialect. Generally, the Kedah dialect is divided into seven groups, covering Kedah (including Langkawi), Perlis, Penang and northern Perak Taiping. This study aims to investigate the Malay dialect variants in Langkawi Island via the Historical Linguistics approach and qualitative comparison research design.   Methodology: This study utilised the qualitative research method. A total of 23 native speakers of Langkawi Malay dialect participated in this study. These informants were selected using NORM (an acronym for non-mobile, older, rural and males). Data collection mainly used several techniques such as interviews, recordings, and observations. The data were analysed based on the scope of comparative linguistics.   Findings: The findings show that there are five characteristics of separated innovation between the Kuah and Air Hangat variants in one group and the Kedawang variant in other groups. Furthermore, there are nine innovations that separate the Langkawi Malay dialect from the Proto Malayik language. This study indicates that the Kedawang variant is an earlier variant apart from the Kuah and Air Hangat variants.   Contributions: In addition to further strengthen the research on the various dialects spoken in Malaysia, this study attempts to highlight the complete description of the Kedah dialect varieties. This study also contributes to the science of Malay language variants and Malay Dialectology studies.   Keywords: Historical linguistics, reconstruction, innovation, Langkawi Island, Malay dialect.   Cite as: Ab. Hamid, N., Shahidi, A. H., Aman, R., Ramli, N., Zakaria, Z., & Iswary, E. (2022). Malay dialect variants in Langkawi: A diachronic perspective analysis.  Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(1), 142-167. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss1pp142-167