The Legacy of the Barang People

Book excerpt: The Malay language, one of the most widely used in Southeast Asia, is commonly assumed to be relatively young. In the course of its development it incorporated a great number of loan words, galvanising them into an organic unit so successfully that it became the chief linguistic vehicle of regional trade. Easy to use and understand, Malay soon functioned as a kind of merchants' Esperanto across the vast archipelago. With this groundbreaking piece of research, Dr György Busztin postulates that the roots of Malay extend much deeper in time than previously thought. This study uncovers over one hundred words that tie the precursor of the Malay language - as we know it today - to languages spoken three thousand years ago on the steppes of Central Asia and its puzzling similarities to the Hungarian (Magyar) language. The Legacy of the Barang People is a must-read work for anyone interested in linguistics and the history of two unlikely cultural relatives. György Busztin, a career diplomat, has spent over a decade in Indonesia, beginning as a grade school student and most recently as the Ambassador of Hungary. With an academic background in linguistics, Dr. Busztin has held positions in both Europe and the Middle East and is fluent in five languages. The Legacy of the Barang People is his first book.