Last updated on March 31, 2022
The Lingua Franca
I would not say that learning Indonesian is “easy”, because I don’t believe for an adult learning any language is “easy”. It is, however, relatively “easy” to get by in Indonesian. This article will explain the short history of the Indonesian language.
The basis of this language was for many centuries used as a lingua franca. A means of communication among the traders, missionaries etc in the Indonesian archipelago. That is including Indians, Chinese, Arabs and Europeans, perhaps as early as the first century. As a lingua franca it had to be relatively simple for the different people visiting the archipelago. People need to be able to communicate with it, in a relatively short time.
The Place of Origin
The place of origin of this language is around the Riau islands in the Malacca Straits, the thoroughfare of the trading traffic. The busy trade routes of the Strait of Malacca date from the 5th century CE. The earliest epigraphical evidence of the language, known as the “old Malay” language, is dated around 7th century. It was found at sites in Sumatera such as Kedukan Bukit, Talang Tuo, Kota Kapur and Karang Berahi.
The language belongs to the family of Austronesian languages. It was found in the region from Madagascar in the west, Taiwan in the north, Easter Island in the East, and New Zealand, Christmas and Cocos Islands in the south. The first “foreign” contact were with Hindu Indians, followed by Muslim Arabs and Chinese before the arrival of the Europeans. The Portuguese (1511 to 1596), then the Dutch (from 1596 onwards) languages, and of course English, enriched the vocabulary of the language, as did the 300 regional languages.
The Influence of Other Languages
The Sanskrit influence from India is found mostly in religion, literature, architecture and philosophy. You can find in words like pustaka, sastra, darma, karya, mandala, guru.
The Arabic influence is of course mostly in religion and law. (nikah, akad, talak, hibah, hakim).
The Chinese vocabulary is very limited and to be found mostly in food (tahu, mi, taoge, but also loteng).
Portuguese is the origin of many words describing things which were introduced through contact with Europeans. For examples: mentega, sekolah, gereja, meja, jendela, sepatu.
The Dutch introduced much administrative and educational terminology such as kantor, polisi, kamar, administrasi.
English is the origin of most contemporary technical and electronic terminology, for examples: komputer, internet.
The language was originally written in the pre-Nagari (Pallawa) script. With the arrival of Islam it was then written in the Arabic script (called Jawi script in Malaysia). The Dutch introduced the Romanised script using the Dutch spelling. This is when the Malay language used in what is now Malaysia – began to differ from the Indonesian language in the former Netherlands East Indies Territory.
Spelling Systems
Indonesian language have used several different spelling systems:
- Van Ophuijzen in 1901 was the original spelling system,
- then the Soewandi system from 1947,
- finally in 1972, in an Indonesian – Malaysian Language Agreement, the Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan (EYD: Improved Spelling) system.
Knowing the older spelling systems is useful in understanding the different ways in which some personal names are written. Tjokroaminoto as to Cokroaminoto, Soeharto as opposed to rather than Suharto, Soerja rather than Surya.
The Grammar
At the initial stages, Indonesian grammar is relatively simple, because it does not have conjugation/tenses, plural, article, gender. It is a non-tonal language, and a non-hierarchical one. Essentially the same vocabulary is used no matter to whom you are speaking or writing.
Indonesian differs in this respect from Javanese. Javanese is the first language of a majority of Indonesians, which has a hierarchical structure. It is seen by many modern Indonesians as a feudal language. However, advanced learners of Indonesian have to learn a complex system of affixation (prefixes, infixes and suffixes). And the list of exceptions and inconsistencies – though thankfully, although difficult to learn, these are not large in number.
So the simplicity of the grammar at the beginning level is misleading. Because it makes it more difficult for the foreigners to be able to imitate the native speakers.
The Word Order
For native speakers of English, word order in Indonesian can be confusing. Thus for instance the adjective follows the noun, rather than precedes it. So rumah merah, meaning red house, where rumah means house, and merah means red.
Duplication
Duplication can be used to create new words that differ in meaning. For instance, hati means heart (alongs other things) but hati-hati means to be careful.
Where is Indonesian spoken?
- the Republic of Indonesia,
- East Timor
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- Brunei
- some parts of the southern Philippines
- the southern part of Thailand, and
- in the Australian territory in Christmas Island and Cocos Islands.
About the author: Iem Brown has many years of experience in teaching Indonesian language at the tertiary level in Australia: James Cook University; University of Queensland; Griffith University, University of Tasmania, Flinders University and The University of Adelaide. She has translated Mohammad Hatta memoirs (1981) and in collaboration with Joan Davis, has translated some Indonesian Poetry “Di Serambi – On the Verandah” (1995). She has written a number of research papers on Buddhism in Indonesia.