What language family is Malay?
Malay language
Malay is a member of the Austronesian family of languages, which includes languages from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia. Malagasy, a geographic outlier spoken in Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, is also a member of this language family. Although each language of the family is mutually unintelligible, their similarities are rather striking. Many roots have come virtually unchanged from their common ancestor, Proto-Austronesian language. There are many cognates found in the languages' words for kinship, health, body parts and common animals. Numbers, especially, show remarkable similarities.
Filipinos of Malay descent
In the Philippines, there is misconception and often mixing between the two definitions. Filipinos consider Malays as being the natives of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Consequently, Filipinos consider themselves Malay when in reality, they are referring to the Malay Race. Filipinos in Singapore also prefer to be considered Malay, but their desire to be labeled as part of the ethnic group was rejected by the Singaporean government. Paradoxically, a minor percentage of Filipinos prefer the Spanish influence and may associate themselves with being Hispanic, and have made no realistic attempts to promote and/or revive the Malay language in the Philippines.