Assalamualaikum and hey there.
Just like English, we have numerous kinds of accents. There are Northern, Southern, Sarawakian, Sabahan, Nogori, Kelate and much more. Unfortunately, growing up in KL, (even though I was born in Negeri Sembilan) I don't have any accent. So, poor me. huhuhu~~~
Anyway, the Malay language has copious translations for "You" and "I", which can lead to a lot of unnecessary confusions. If English only use "I" to represent yourself and mostly "You" (and maybe "Your Highness" too,, whatsoever) to call other people, we have "Saya", "aku", "kita" "kamek" and several more as the equivalent of "I". Whereas as for "You", we have "awak", "kau", "anda", "mu", "hang", "kitak" and some more as its translation.
Basically, it depends on who you're talking to. In our culture, we have a much higher respect for the elders that we simply can't call them the same way we call our friends. If we are talking to older people- teachers for example, we call ourselves "saya" and address them as "Cikgu", which by the way means "teacher" in Malay. When talking to someone older than you but not like Mom-Dad old, you address them as "Kak" for females and "Bang" for males. As for parents, they also have their own calling names - for Moms - Mama, Mak, Ibu, Umi, Mami, Bonda. As for Dads - Papa, Ayah, Abah, Abi, Papi. This depends on how our parents call themselves when we were little. Mama and Ayah are quite commonly used. And we call ourselves by our nickname in the family- Kakak, Kaklong, Kakngah, Kaklang, Angah (depends on what number is you in your siblings - the firstborn, the second, the third.) See? We are so complicated. :P Sometimes we just call ourselves by our first name, like - Mom: I Mama want to go buy groceries, Want anything? You: Yes, I Luke wants some Nyam Nyam. Gee, now writing it as English looks/sounds sooo weird. But it works in Malay. It is very rare to call ourselves as "saya" when talking to our parents because it will sound too formal. "Anda" is used as a general way to say "you", like when in advertisements and TV commercials. (Eg: Drive Carefully. You Anda can make a change.)
As for with friends, we commonly use "saya" to call ourselves and "awak" to address them when first met with someone new, for the sake of being polite. Then, when we get quite comfortable with each other's company, we'd change the "I-You" to "aku" and "kau". And this is when things get much more complicated. Because sometimes, they are people who are comfortable to use "saya-awak" even after knowing someone for ages. Some people even use "kita" or,, yeah, their own first name, to call themselves. (Gee, can you imagine English people addressing themselves as their first name instead of "I"? Like, "where are you going?" "I Lucy am going to the bank." SO WEIRD.) And some even use other words, depending on their accents. As for Sarawakians, they change "I-You" to "Kamek-Kitak" (But yeah, if they are close to the person, they'd also use the usual "aku-kau" ). As for Kelantanese, they use "aku-mu". As for Northern people, they use "aku-hang". As for people of Negeri Sembilan, they use "eden-ekau" . As for Perakians, they use "teman-kamu". As for ravers people (hahaha), they use "wa-lu" just for the effect of fake savageness.
OMG, look how complicated we are that I could actually make a whole entry about "you" and "I"!! This whole thing is so confusing that some of us fed up and just use "I-You" instead. Yes, we mix the languages. "I nak pergi makan ni, you nak ikut?" "Of courselah I nak ikut. Jom!" Yes, that happens. Usually, couples would use this, other than those fed-up people.
So yaa, that's my language. It's confusing but I find it very unique. ;)
Ikhlas Daripada,
