The establishment of the bureau began with the approval of a motion (usul) during a State Legislative Council (Majlis Mesyuarat Negeri) meeting on 18 April 1960.[1] The motion was to establish an independent body answerable to the government with the function of consolidating the status of Malay as the official language of Brunei, as enacted in the Constitution (Perlembagaan) which was promulgated in the previous year.[1][2] However, it was later renamed to Bahagian Bahasa dan Pustaka (Language and Literature Section) in 1962.[3] At the time it was established under the authority of Jabatan Pelajaran or the Department of Education, the predecessor to the Ministry of Education.[4] On 1 January 1965, it was made into a separate department and eventually adopted its current name.[4] In 1984, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei was subsumed under the authority of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.[3]
Dictionary and other publications
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei publishes Kamus Bahasa Melayu Brunei, the official dictionary of the Brunei Malay language, the de facto lingua franca in Brunei. The dictionary was first published in 1991 and it is currently in its second edition, with entries over 15,000.[5]
The Dewan also publishes four journals, namely Bahasa, Beriga, Pangsura and Undang-Undang Syariah, as well as three magazines, namely Bahana, Juara Pelajar and Mekar.[6]
^DK. SAIDAH POA (19 February 1992). "PERANAN DBP DALAM MENGEMBANGKAN BAHASA"(PDF). Aneka Pelita Brunei (in Malay). No. 8. Jabatan Penerangan. p. 2. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
