Malay people: Encyclopedia II - Malay people - Origin of the word Malay

Malay people - Origin of the word Malay

The word "Malay" was adopted into English via the Dutch word "Malayo", which ultimately originates from the Malay word "Melayu". According to one popular theory, the word Melayu means "migrating" or "fleeing", which might refer to the high mobility of these people across the region.

In his 1775 doctoral dissertation titled De generi humani varietate nativa (On the Natural Varieties of Mankind), anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach outlined four main human races by skin color, namely Caucasian (white), Ethiopian (black), American (red), and Mongolian (yellow).

By 1795, Blumenbach added another race called Malay which he considered to be a subcategory of the Mongolian race. The Malay race were those of a "brown color, from a clear magohany to the darkest clove or chestnut brown." Blumenbach expanded the term "Malay" to include the inhabitants of the Marianas, the Philippines, the Malukus, Sundas, as well as Pacific Islands such as Tahitians. He considered a Tahitian skull he had received to be the missing link; showing the transition between the "primary" race, the Caucasians, and the "degenerate" race, the Negroids.

Since Blumenbach, many anthropologists have rejected his theory of five races, citing the enormous complexity of classifying races.

The term is used as a form of ethnic self-identification. It is both generic and specific.

For example, in the Philippines, many Filipinos consider the term "Malay" to refer to the indigenous population of the country as well as the population of neighboring countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. This misconception is due in part to American anthropologists H. Otley Beyer who proposed that the Filipinos were actually Malays who migrated from Malaysia and Indonesia. This idea was intern propagated by Filipino historians and is still taught in schools. However, the prevalent consensus among contemporary anthropologists, archaeologists, and linguists actually propose the reverse.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Origin of the word Malay", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki