Arabic Lexical Influence on The Malay Language: Civilizational and Humanistic Dimensions

This study examines Arabic lexical items in Malay, focusing on words retained in recognisably Arabic forms and those that have undergone phonological, morphological, or semantic adaptation. It further explores the civilizational and humanistic significance attached to selected Arabic-derived vocabulary in Malay-speaking communities. The study is situated within the historical expansion of Islam in the Malay Archipelago, where Arabic served not only as the language of the Qur’an and Prophetic tradition but also as a key medium of religious learning, intellectual transmission, and cultural exchange. This descriptive-analytical approach identifies representative lexical items and classifies them by semantic domains, including social, religious, administrative, military, and scientific usage. The analysis shows that Arabic-derived vocabulary has become embedded in Malay at several levels of everyday and institutional life. Examples such as tahniah, korban, ibadah, masjid, kuliah, makmal, ulama, hasil, and askar illustrate how Arabic-derived forms have been integrated into Malay while acquiring usage patterns appropriate to the Malay linguistic environment. The study argues that the persistence of these lexical items constitutes an important linguistic record of sustained contact between Arabic-Islamic civilisation and Malay society. At the same time, lexical borrowing should be understood as a historical and sociolinguistic process rather than as evidence of simple linguistic replacement. The article therefore proposes studying Arabic loanwords in Malay as part of a broader history of Islamization, education, intellectual exchange, social organisation, and cultural identity in the Malay Archipelago.