PURBAWIDYA: Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Arkeologi p-ISSN: 2252-3758, e-ISSN: 2528-3618 ■ Terakreditasi Kementerian Ristekdikti No. 21/E/KPT/2018 Vol. 9 (1), Juni 2020, pp 15 – 30 ■ DOI: https://doi.org/10.24164/pw.v9i1.323 15 KAJIAN LINGUISTIK HISTORIS KOMPARATIF TERHADAP BAHASA MELAYU KUNO PADA PENULISAN PRASASTI PAṆAI  Historical Comparative Linguistic Study of Ancient Language in Paṇai Inscription Writing Churmatin Nasoichah Balai Arkeologi Sumatera Utara Jalan Seroja Raya, Gang Arkeologi No. 1 Tanjung Selamat, Medan Tuntungan, Medan, Sumatera Utara E-mail: curma.oke@gmail.com Naskah diterima: 16 Februari 2020 - Revisi terakhir: 27 Maret 2020 Disetujui terbit: 21 April 2020 - Tersedia secara online: 01 Juni 2020 Abstract The Paṇai inscription found in the Biaro Bahal area 1, Bahal Village, Portibi District, Padang Lawas Utara Regency, is one of the proofs of the existence of the Ancient Malay community that lived and existed in the 11th -14th century AD. The inscription was written using the Old Sumatran script and the Old Malay language. Old Malay is a member of the Proto Austronesian language family. The problem is related to the changing form of the Old Malay language based on the inscription of the Paṇai when viewed from a historical comparative linguistic study. The purpose of this research is to find out how the shape changes of the Old Malay language based on the inscription of Paṇai. The method used is descriptive qualitative method. Based on the results of the analysis it can be seen that all the words found in the inscription of the Paṇai were descended from the Proto Austronesian language. There are several forms of inheritance of sounds dominated by linear inheritance, then inheritance of innovations with several places of articulation which turns out not to all be inherited in the same articulation, inheritance of aferesis (change of sound by removing a phoneme or more at the beginning of words), and inheritance of paragog (change sounds with the addition of 1 phoneme at the end of the word). Another interesting phoneme change is that there is a change due to the labilization factor. Keywords: Paṇai Inscription, Austronesian Proto Language, Ancient Malay Language, historical comparative linguistic study Abstrak Prasasti Paṇai yang ditemukan di area Biaro Bahal 1, Desa Bahal, Kecamatan Portibi, Kabupaten Padang Lawas Utara merupakan salah satu bukti keberadaan masyarakat Melayu Kuno yang ada pada abad 11 – 14 Masehi. Prasasti tersebut ditulis menggunakan aksara Sumatra Kuno dan bahasa Melayu Kuno. Bahasa Melayu Kuno merupakan anggota rumpun bahasa Proto Austronesia. Permasalahan tulisan ini adalah perubahan bentuk bahasa Melayu Kuno berdasarkan penulisan Prasasti Paṇai apabila dilihat dari kajian linguistik historis komparatif. Adapun tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui perubahan bentuk dan makna bahasa Melayu Kuno berdasarkan penulisan Prasasti Paṇai.  Artikel ini merupakan penyempurnaan dari makalah berjudul “Jejak Bahasa Proto Austronesia dan Keberlanjutan Bahasa Melayu Kuno Pada Penulisan Prasasti Paṇai” yang disampaikan pada Seminar Nasional Arkeologi: Indonesia Rumah Besar Austronesia dari Masa Prasejarah Hingga Kini, diselenggarakan oleh Balai Arkeologi Jawa Barat bertempat di Mason Pine Hotel, Kota Baru Parahyangan, Bandung Barat tanggal 19-21 November 2019.