Abstract

It is the assumption that Bruneian Malay language has been influenced by other languages from the Borneo Island. According to Nothofer (1991), the multilingualism in Bruneian Malay is so great that it qualifies to be regarded as supra-regional. For example, there exists linguistic evidence that Bruneian Malay is still being used in interactions in Borneo. This is observed especially in basic intra-ethnic social interaction in Sabah (Collins 1990). In fact, Bruneian Malay’s influence has reached further then the Borneo regions. Bruneian Malay language has contributed many words to the vocabulary of the ethnic people in the Borneo islands. A sociolinguistic history of languages in Sabah, which used to be a region under Brunei sovereignty, demonstrates that the Bruneian Malay language is greatly accepted. Based on these assumptions, this paper intends to examine Bruneian Malay language from lexical aspects which have dominated Borneo and the sociolinguistic implications to explore further the interconnectedness of language and culture’s impact upon one’s identity.