In addition to its classical and modern literary form, Malay had various regional dialects established after the rise of the Srivijaya empire in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Also, Malay spread through interethnic contact and trade across the south East Asia Archipelago as far as the Philippines.

Besides the general simplification that occurs with pidgins, the Malay lingua franca had several distinctive characteristics.

Other common features: For example,[2] Baba Malay is spoken by the Peranakans in Melaka (in Malaysia) and Singapore.

The most famous variety is found in East Java, especially in Surabaya and surrounding areas, called Basa Suroboyoan (Surabayan language), with a strong emphasis of low Javanese (ngoko Javanese) and informal tone, which is not only spoken by Chinese-Indonesian in Surabaya, but also by non-Chinese-Indonesians when conversing with the former.

It is the native language of perhaps 5 million people; a precise number is difficult to determine due to the vague use of the name.

[15] Bazaar Malay is used in a limited extent in Singapore and Malaysia, mostly among the older generation or people with no working knowledge of English.

There are also some speakers in the southernmost parts of the Philippines, particularly in the Sulu Archipelago as a trade language, also spoken in south Palawan.

It appears that Makassar Malay also used as the first language of younger generation who live in the cities or regencies' capital across those three provinces.

[27] Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin is a pidgin that sprang up in Broome, Western Australia in the early 20th century to facilitate communication between the various groups working in the pearling industry there—Japanese, Malays, Torres Strait Islanders, Koepangers, Hakka Chinese, Filipinos, Sri Lankans of Sinhalese and Tamil descent, a small number of Koreans, and local Indigenous Australians,[28] mainly of the Bardi people but also Nyulnyul, Jabirr Jabirr, Jukun, Yawuru and Karajarri people.

Speakers perceive Alor Malay to be a different register of standard Indonesian, but both of these are prestige varieties of the archipelago.

Many people are able to understand standard Indonesian, but cannot speak it fluently and choose to use Alor Malay on a daily basis.