MALAY IS A BRANCH OF THE BANJAR LANGUAGE THAT WAS BROUGHT WITH THE SPREAD OF AUSTRONESIAN PEOPLE FROM KALIMANTAN TO SUMATERA.
By: Hamly Hadi
History Observer
People have long assumed that Banjarese, which shares 70% of its vocabulary with Malay, is influenced by Malay. However, this is not true, as Banjarese is much older than Malay. Banjarese has been spoken since prehistoric times by the indigenous people of Kalimantan, known today as the Dayak Meratus.
In ancient times, the Dayak Meratus lived only in the interior around the Meratus Mountains, living a nomadic, shifting agricultural life. They were unfamiliar with the outside world and had never encountered Malays. Since prehistoric times, before the Srivijaya Kingdom or any other kingdom, the Dayak Meratus have spoken the language now known as Banjarese.
On the contrary, it was the Malay language that was influenced by the Banjarese language, as Sumatra was the last island to be visited by Austronesian people who migrated 2,500 years before Christ. They spread from Kalimantan to Sumatra, bringing the Banjarese language with them. Therefore, Malay and Banjarese share many vocabulary similarities. Not only do they share many vocabulary with Malay, but Banjarese also shares many vocabulary with other languages, such as Sundanese, Minangkabau, and Madurese.
New research suggests that the language family spoken in parts of Indonesia actually originated in the interior of Kalimantan. Professor Dr. H. Djantera Kawi, Professor of Indonesian Language at the Faculty of Pharmacy (PKIF) at Lambung Mangkurat University (Unlam), stated in Banjarmasin on Thursday that the origin of the Malay language family from Champa was the first research conducted by European language researchers, which has since become widely used in university literature. However, recent research conducted by American researchers confirms that the Malay language family originated in mainland Borneo, specifically in the interior of Kalimantan.
The explanation: The research results show that the island of Kalimantan plays a significant role in the world’s linguistic landscape, and its people are quite dynamic, allowing its language, Banjar, to spread to various continents. Regarding the Banjar regional language in South Kalimantan, he explained that, when viewed from a dialect perspective, it is divided into three: Banjar Kuala, Banjar Hulu, and Pedalam, which is the language of the isolated indigenous community or the Dayak Meratus tribe.**
Banjarmasin, February 9, 2026
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