Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family spoken in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is spoken by 290 million people across the Strait of Malacca, including the coasts of the Malay Peninsula of Malaysia and the eastern coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, and has been established as a native language of part of western coastal Sarawak and West Kalimantan in Borneo. It is also used as a trading language in the southern Philippines, including the southern parts of the Zamboanga Peninsula, the Sulu Archipelago and the southern predominantly Muslim-inhabited municipalities of Bataraza and Balabac in Palawan. 

As the "Bahasa Kebangsaan" or "Bahasa Nasional" (National Language) of several states, Standard Malay has various official names. In Singapore and Brunei it is called "Bahasa Melayu" (Malay language); in Malaysia, "Bahasa Malaysia" (Malaysian language); and in Indonesia, "Bahasa Indonesia" (Indonesian language) and is designated the "Bahasa Persatuan/ Pemersatu" ("unifying language/ "lingua franca""). However, in areas of central to southern Sumatra where the language is indigenous, Indonesians refer to it as "Bahasa Melayu" and consider it one of their regional languages. 

Standard Malay, also called Court Malay, was the literary standard of the pre-colonial Malacca and Johor Sultanates, and so the language is sometimes called Malacca, Johor, or Riau Malay (or various combinations of those names) to distinguish it from the various other Malayan languages. According to "Ethnologue" 16, several of the Malayan varieties they currently list as separate languages, including the "Orang Asli" varieties of Peninsular Malay, are so closely related to standard Malay that they may prove to be dialects—these are listed with question marks in the infobox at right or on top (depending on device). There are also several Malay trade and creole languages which are based on a lingua franca derived from Classical Malay, as well as Macassar Malay, which appears to be a mixed language. QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. What language does the passage discussed?
2. What language is at the center of the article?
3. Which world language is mentioned in the article?
Q2:
1. What family speaks Malay?
2. What family of people is Malay spoken by?
3. What population speaks Malay?
Q3:
1. Where is Malay spoken?
2. Where do people speak Malay?
3. Where is Malay a main language?
Q4:
1. Are there several official names for standard Malay?
2. Are multiple official names ascribed to standard Malay?
3. Is standard Malay known under a number of official names?
Q5:
1. What is the name for standard Malay in Malaysia?
2. What is standard Malay called in Malaysia?
3. What do Malaysians call standard Malay?
Q6:
1. What is the name for standard Malay in Singapore?
2. What is standard Malay called in Singapore?
3. What do Signaporians call standard Malay?
Q7:
1. What is the name for standard Malay in Indonesia?
2. What is standard Malay called in Indonesia?
3. What do Indonesians call standard Malay?
Q8:
1. How many people speak Malay?
2. How many speakers does Malay have?
3. What's the number of people worldwide that speak Malay?
Q9:
1. Where is Malay a native language?
2. Where do people speak Malay as their native language?
3. In what region are there native speakers of Malay?
Q10:
1. What else is standard Malay called?
2. What's another name for standard Malay?
3. By what other name is standard Malay known?
Q11:
1. Is Malay also used as a trading language?
2. Does standard Malay also serve as a language for trading?
3. Is standard Malay also used in trading contexts?
Q12:
1. Why can Malay sometimes be referred to as Malacca, Johor or Riau Malay?
2. For what reason do people sometimes call Malay Malacca, Johor or Riau Malay?
3. Why are Malacca, Johor or Riau Malay also names for Malay?
