The History of Indonesian

Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia – language of Indonesia) is a codified version of “Riau Malay,” which contrary to its name, is not the native dialect of Riau. Instead, the Classical Malay of the Malaccan royal courts originally came from Northeast Sumatra. Malay has been utilized as a
lingua franca throughout the Indonesian archipelago for close to 500 years. Since 600 A.D., the Old Malay language has been spoken in Nusantara (Indonesian archipelago), recorded by
Srivijaya inscriptions and in other inscriptions discovered in the coastal areas of the island system, such as those uncovered in Java. Trade conducted between the ethnic peoples of the period was the primary disseminator of the Old Malay language as it was the form of intercourse employed
by the traders throughout the islands. Old Malay became the lingua franca and was spoken by most people in the archipelago. “Riau Malay” is a descendant of Old Malay and the basis for Indonesian.

Timor Children from Nusa Tenggara Courtesy of: www.kmbidadari-cruises.com

Bahasa Indonesia became the official language with the declaration of Indonesian independence in 1945, inspired by the Sumpah Pemuda (Youth’s Oath) event in 1928. Indonesian (in its standard form) is basically the same language as the official standard Malay of Malaysia and Brunei. There are, however, several areas in which they differ, primarily in pronunciation and vocabulary. The differences are mostly the result of the influence that both Dutch and Javanese have had on Indonesian. Bahasa Indonesia was also impacted by the “bazaar Malay,” which was the lingua franca of the archipelago during colonial times and introduced the influence of the islands’ other spoken languages.

Indonesian is mainly used as a mother tongue in large urban areas, particularly in the proximity of Jakarta, Medan, Balikpapan, and other predominantly Indonesian-speaking cities. But there are also close to 200 million people that make regular use of Bahasa Indonesia with great proficiency. Indonesia is a nation that can claim hundreds of native languages and legions of disparate ethnic groups, so the Indonesian national language plays a significant role in unifying the country. Bahasa Indonesia is utilized in the mass media, government business, education, workplaces, among the upper-classes and Indonesian nobility, as well as in many other formal functions.

However, very few native Indonesians use the standardized language during daily conversations. This is a common occurrence with most languages -- even conversational English is much different than that of written standards -- but the level of grammatical and lexical “correctness” of oral Indonesian in comparison to its written form is markedly low. This is, as can be expected, due to the natives combining facets of their own local dialects (Javanesem Sundanese, Balinese, Chinese, etc.) with Indonesian. The results are a multitude of “regional” Indonesian dialects, the likes of which foreigners are likely to encounter upon arriving in any Indonesian city or town. As is also common with most languages, this disparity is heightened by the use of colloquialisms and slang, especially in the urban centers.

More about Indonesian:

• Indonesian Language Translation
• Understanding Indonesian Translation
• Indonesian Translators

References:

• Timor Children from Nusa Tenggara
• The history of the Indonesian Language