Malaysian Tamil (, , Malēsiyat Tamiḻ Moḻi), also known as Malaya Tamil, is a local variant of the Tamil language spoken in Malaysia. It is one of the languages of education in Malaysia, along with English, Malay and Mandarin.Tamil Schools. Indianmalaysian.com. Retrieved 28 July 2013.Ghazali, Kamila (2010). UN Chronicle – National Identity and Minority Languages. United Nations. There are many differences in vocabulary between Malaysian Tamil and Indian Tamil.
Influence An element needed to carry out commercial transactions is a common language understood by all parties involved in early trade. Historians such as J.V. Sebastian, K.T. Thirunavukkarasu, and A.W. Hamilton record that Tamil was the common language of commerce in Malaysia and Indonesia during historical times. The maritime Tamil significance in Sumatran and Malay Peninsula trading continued for centuries and borrowings into Malay from Tamil increased between the 15th and 19th centuries due to their commercial activities. In the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company was obliged to use Tamil as part of its correspondence. In Malacca and other seaports up to the 19th century, Malay terminology pertaining to book-keeping and accountancy was still largely Tamil.
Borrowings into Malay from Tamil (sometimes Sanskritized) include such everyday words as:
+TamilMalayEnglish aniaya persecute, misjustice kedai shop gadai pawn kapal ship kota city sate satay cukai tax cuci to clean/wash cuma only/merely syurga heaven/paradise contoh example negara city bumi earth mamak Tamil Muslim mutiara pearl rahsia secret roti bread bagai variety/type warna colours
Differences with Indian Tamil + Malaysian Tamil Indian Tamil English Notes kāṭi vaṇṭi vākaṇam car based on ਗੱਡੀ (gaḍḍī) from Punjabi cappāttu ceruppu shoe kōcam pūjyam zero based on kosong, which means empty in Malay āmāvā appaṭiyā really miṉṉikku muṉṉāṭi muṉṉāl before kūṭṭāḷi naṇpar friend pāykiraṭu upayōkikkiraṭu to use pasiyāṟai kālai uṇavu breakfast añceṭi vācal entrance thē thārik thē taṇṇi thēnīr tea based on teh and tarik from Malay, which translates to "pulled tea"
References
Sources
(Translated from Tamil by E.Sa. Viswanathan)