North Moluccan Malay

North Moluccan Malay (autonymously Bahasa Pasar Ternate, "the market language of Ternate") is a Malay-based contact variety of the Maluku archipelago, spoken as L1 by around 700,000 people and as L2 by approximately 1 million in the eastern Indonesian province of North Maluku. The language descends from the trade Malay used by Maluku spice traders and the Sultanate of Ternate (one of four major Maluku spice sultanates with Tidore, Bacan, and Jailolo) since at least the 14th century. The Sultanate of Ternate was a major regional power in the 16th century during the European spice trade, and its influence ensured Malay became the regional lingua franca, gradually replacing the indigenous Papuan-related Halmaheran languages (West Papuan family) and Austronesian Sahu-related languages. Today, North Moluccan Malay is the dominant lingua franca of all North Maluku, with active intergenerational transmission and a vibrant urban speech community.