Malay
Melayu
ms
20M speakers
Malay
(Melayu)
is a Austronesian language
with approximately 20M speakers speakers.
It is written using 2 different scripts.
Its BCP 47 language code is ms.
Writing Systems Used for Malay
Compare Scripts Used for Malay
Frequently Asked Questions
What scripts does Malay use?
Malay is written in 2 scripts: Arabic, Latin. The primary script is Latin.
What direction is Malay written?
Malay is written Left-to-right. Text runs from left to right, the same direction as most European languages.
How many people speak Malay?
Malay has approximately 20M speakers speakers worldwide. It is a member of the Austronesian language family.
What language family does Malay belong to?
Malay belongs to the Austronesian language family. It is written with the Latin script.
What is the language code for Malay?
The BCP 47 language code for Malay is "ms". This code is used in software, web standards (the HTML lang attribute), and internationalization contexts.
Language Facts
- BCP 47 Code
- ms
- ISO 639-3
- msa
- Status
- living
- Scope
- macrolanguage
- Speakers
- 20M speakers
- Language Family
- Austronesian
- Scripts
- 2
- Primary Script
- Latin
Data sourced from Unicode CLDR and ISO 639-3. Last updated April 20, 2026.