Malays in the Holy Land: An Ethnolinguistic Study

Book excerpt: This book is an ethnolinguistic study of Malay settlers in Mecca, Madinah and Jeddah, based on a research undertaken by the authors in 2014. Narration from the people themselves of their background history and community life had resulted in a wealth of data depicting a historical landscape of maintenance and shift of language use and lifestyle of three generations of informants. Where there used to be a strong inclination to adopt and adapt to the Arab lifestyle inclusive of language use, there now appears to be a revitalisation among the younger generation in the use of Malay in preparation for their return to the Malay world, a situation motivated by a more stringent policy of the Saudi government in offering foreign settlers citizenship and permanent residence.