Languages of Indonesia

Languages of Indonesia
Sign in Yogyakarta encouraging people to prioritize the Indonesian language
OfficialIndonesian
Regional
Foreign
SignedIndonesian Sign Language
Keyboard layout

More than 700 living languages are spoken in Indonesia. This figure indicates that Indonesia has about 10% of the world's languages, establishing its reputation as the second most linguistically diverse nation in the world after Papua New Guinea. Most languages belong to the Austronesian language family, while there are over 270 Papuan languages spoken in eastern Indonesia. The language most widely spoken as a native language is Javanese.

Languages in Indonesia are classified into nine categories: national language, locally used indigenous languages, regional lingua francas, foreign and additional languages, heritage languages, languages in the religious domain, English as a lingua franca, and sign languages.

National language

The official language of Indonesia is Indonesian (locally known as bahasa Indonesia), a standardised form of Malay, which serves as the lingua franca of the archipelago. The vocabulary of Indonesian borrows heavily from regional languages of Indonesia, such as Javanese, Sundanese and Minangkabau, as well as from Dutch, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Arabic and more recently English. The Indonesian language is primarily used in commerce, administration, education and the media, and thus nearly every Indonesian speaks the language to varying degrees of proficiency. Most Indonesians speak other languages, such as Javanese, as their first language. This makes plurilingualism a norm in Indonesia.

Indigenous languages and regional lingua francas

The major ethno-linguistic groups within Indonesia

Indonesia recognizes only a single national language, and indigenous languages are recognized at the regional level, although policies vary from one region to another. For example, in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, the Javanese language is the region's official language along with Indonesian. Javanese is the most spoken indigenous language, with native speakers constituting 31.8% of the total population of Indonesia (as of 2010). Javanese speakers are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of Java, and there are also sizable numbers in most provinces. The next most widely spoken regional languages in the country are Sundanese, local Malay, Madurese and Minangkabau. A sense of Indonesian nationhood exists alongside strong regional identities.

There are hundreds of indigenous languages spoken in Indonesia. Most of them are locally used indigenous languages, a category of languages referring to those spoken at the local, regional level, spoken by a small number of people, ranging from a few to a few thousands of people. These include small languages such as Benggoi, Mombum and Towei.[page needed] Other languages are spoken at the regional level to connect various ethnicities. For this reason, these languages are known as regional lingua francas (RLFs). According to Subhan Zein, there are at least 43 RLFs in Indonesia, categorized into two types: Malayic RLFs and Non-Malayic RLFs. The former refers to a group of regional lingua francas that are thought of as indigenised varieties of Malay or Indonesian. These include such languages as Ambon Malay, Banjar Malay and Papuan Malay. The latter refers to regional lingua francas that are not associated with Malay or Indonesian, including Biak, Iban and Onin.[page needed]

Foreign languages

As early as the seventh century AD, the natives of the archipelago began an intense period of trade with people from China, India and other countries. This was followed by a long period of colonization by the Dutch and Portugal colonials. The outcome of these processes has been the development of a group of heritage languages spoken by Arab, Chinese, Eurasian and Dutch descendants, among others. Chinese linguistic varieties such as Hokkien, Hakka, and Mandarin are the most common heritage languages. A small number of heritage language speakers speak Arabic and Dutch.

Dutch

The use of Dutch, Javanese and Malay in Java, Dutch East Indies

Despite the Dutch presence in Indonesia for almost 350 years (parts of Indonesia were ruled by the Dutch East India Company and the whole of modern Indonesia was in the Dutch East Indies) the Dutch language has no official status in Indonesia. The small minority that can speak the language fluently are either educated members of the oldest generation, or employed in the legal profession, as certain law codes are still only available in Dutch.

English

English has historically been categorized as the first foreign language in Indonesia. However, increasing exposure to English, the decreasing influence of native-speaker norms in the country and the prevalent use of English as a lingua franca in the broader context such as ASEAN means that the categorization has been put into question. Scholars such as Lowenberg argue that English is best seen as an additional language. Meanwhile, Zein argues that English in Indonesia is best categorized as a lingua franca, an argument parallel with Kirkpatrick's contention on the use of English as a lingua franca in the broader ASEAN context.

Other languages

Other languages, such as Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Portuguese and Spanish, are non-native to Indonesia. These languages are included in the educational curriculum and may be categorized as either foreign or additional languages, depending on the instrumental function of the languages, length and types of exposure, as well as the wide-ranging motivations of the speakers or learners who use and or learn them.

Endangered languages

There are 726 languages spoken across the Indonesian archipelago in 2009 (dropped from 742 languages in 2007), the second largest multilingual population in the world after Papua New Guinea. Indonesian Papua, which is adjacent to Papua New Guinea, has the most languages in Indonesia. Based on the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale classification used by Ethnologue (formerly the Summer Institute of Linguistics), 63 languages are dying (shown in red on the bar chart, subdivided into Moribund and Nearly Extinct, or Dormant), which is defined as "The only fluent users (if any) are older than child-bearing age."

Language policy

In January 2013, Indonesia's then minister of education and culture, Muhammad Nuh, affirmed that the teaching of local languages as school subjects would be part of the national education curriculum. Muhammad stated that much of the public worry about the teaching of local languages being left out of the curriculum is misplaced, and that the new curriculum will be conveyed to them.[clarification needed]

Languages by speakers

The population numbers given below are of native speakers, excepting the figure for Indonesian, which counts its total speakers. The total population of the country was 237.6 million in 2010.

Largest languages in Indonesia
Language Number
(millions)
% of total
population
Branch Year surveyed Main areas where spoken
Indonesian 210 80.42 Malayic 2010 Throughout Indonesia
Javanese 84.3 32.28 Javanese 2000 (census) Throughout Java Island and several provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan islands.
Sundanese 42.0 16.08 Sundanese 2016 West Java, Banten, Jakarta
Madurese 13.6 5.21 Madurese 2000 (census) Madura Island (East Java)
Minangkabau 5.5 2.11 Malayic 2007 West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, Bengkulu, Jakarta
Buginese 5.0 1.91 South Sulawesi 2000 (census) South Sulawesi
Palembang Malay 3.9 1.49 Malayic 2000 (census) South Sumatra
Banjarese 3.5 1.34 Malayic 2000 (census) South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan
Acehnese 3.5 1.34 Chamic 2000 (census) Aceh
Balinese 3.3 1.26 Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa 2000 (census) Bali Island and Lombok Island
Betawi 2.7 1.03 Malay-based creole 1993 Jakarta
Sasak 2.1 0.80 Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa 1989 Lombok Island (West Nusa Tenggara)
Batak Toba 2.0 0.77 Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands 1991 North Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, Jakarta
Ambonese Malay 1.9 0.73 Malay-based creole 1987 Maluku
Makassarese 2.1 0.80 South Sulawesi 2000 (census) South Sulawesi
Chinese-Min Nan 1.3 0.50 Sinitic (Min Nan) 2000 North Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, West Kalimantan
Batak Dairi 1.2 0.46 Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands 1991 North Sumatra
Batak Simalungun 1.2 0.46 Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands 2000 (census) North Sumatra
Batak Mandailing 1.1 0.42 Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands 2000 (census) North Sumatra
Jambi Malay 1.0 0.38 Malayic 2000 (census) Jambi
Gorontalo 1.0 0.38 Philippine 2000 (census) Gorontalo (province)
Ngaju Dayak 0.9 0.34 West Barito 2003 Central Kalimantan
Nias 0.8 0.31 Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands 2000 (census) Nias Island, North Sumatra
Batak Angkola 0.7 0.27 Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands 1991 North Sumatra
Manado Malay 0.8 0.31 Malay-based creole 2001 North Sulawesi
North Moluccan Malay 0.7 0.27 Malay-based creole 2001 North Maluku
Chinese-Hakka 0.6 0.23 Sinitic 1982 Bangka Belitung, Riau Islands and West Kalimantan
Batak Karo 0.6 0.23 Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands 1991 North Sumatra
Uab Meto 0.6 0.23 Timor-Babar 1997 West Timor (East Nusa Tenggara)
Bima 0.5 0.19 Bima 1989 Sumbawa Island (West Nusa Tenggara)
Manggarai 0.5 0.19 Sumba-Flores 1989 Flores Island (East Nusa Tenggara)
Toraja-Sa’dan 0.5 0.19 South Sulawesi 1990 South Sulawesi, West Sulawesi
Komering 0.5 0.19 Lampungic 2000 (census) South Sumatra
Tetum 0.4 0.15 Timor-Babar 2004 West Timor (East Nusa Tenggara)
Rejang 0.4 0.15 Land Dayak 2000 (census) Bengkulu
Muna 0.3 0.11 Muna–Buton 1989 Southeast Sulawesi
Sumbawa 0.3 0.11 Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa 1989 Sumbawa Island (West Nusa Tenggara)
Bangka Malay 0.3 0.11 Malayic 2000 (census) Bangka Island (Bangka Belitung)
Osing 0.3 0.11 Javanese 2000 (census) East Java
Gayo 0.3 0.11 Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands 2000 (census) Aceh
Chinese-Cantonese 0.3 0.11 Sinitic (Yue) 2000 North Sumatera, Riau Islands, Jakarta
Tolaki 0.3 0.11 Celebic 1991 Southeast Sulawesi
Tae’ 0.3 0.11 South Sulawesi 1992 South Sulawesi

Languages by family

Several prominent languages spoken in Indonesia sorted by language family are:

There are many additional small families and isolates among the Papuan languages.

Below is a full list of Papuan language families spoken in Indonesia, following Palmer, et al. (2018):

Sign languages

There are at least 2.5 million sign language users across the country, although official report only shows less than 50,000. Sign language users are often ridiculed and stigmatized.

Writing system

Indonesian languages are generally not rendered in native-invented systems, but in scripts devised by speakers of other languages, that is, Tamil, Arabic, and Latin. Malay, for example, has a long history as a written language and has been rendered in Brahmic, Arabic, and Latin scripts. Javanese has been written in the Pallava script of South India, as well as their derivative (known as Kawi and Javanese), in an Arabic alphabet called pegon that incorporates Javanese sounds, and in the Latin script.

Chinese characters have never been used to write Indonesian languages, although Indonesian place-names, personal names, and names of trade goods appear in reports and histories written for China's imperial courts.

List of writing systems

  • Latin – The official writing system of Indonesian; most Indonesian vernacular languages now adopt Latin script.
  • Kaganga – Historically used to write Rejang, an Austronesian language from Bengkulu.
  • Rencong – A Brahmic-based script, formerly used by Malays before the arrival of Islam, which introduced the Jawi script.
  • Sundanese – A Brahmic-based script, used by Sundanese to write the Sundanese language, although Sundanese also has a standard Latin orthography.
  • Jawi and Pegon – An Arabic-based script, once widely used throughout Indonesia, now in decline but still used by Malays, Minangkabau, Banjarese, Acehnese, Javanese, Osing, Sundanese, and Madurese (which has its own form of Arabic writing known as Pegon.)
  • Javanese – A Brahmic-based script used by the Javanese and related peoples. Today the script is in rapid decline and largely supplanted by Latin.
  • Kawi script – The oldest known Brahmic writing system in Indonesia and the ancestor to all Brahmic based writing systems in Insular Southeast Asia.
  • Balinese – A Brahmic-based script used by the Balinese people to write Balinese. It is closely related to Javanese script.
  • Rejang – A Brahmic-based script used by the Rejang people of Bengkulu, Sumatra. It is closely related to Kerinci, Lampung and Rencong script.
  • Kerinci (Kaganga) – A Brahmic-based script used by the Kerincis to write their language.
  • Batak – A Brahmic-based script, used by the Batak people of North Sumatra.
  • Lontara – A Brahmic-based script, used by the Buginese and Makassarese in Sulawesi.
  • Lampung – A Brahmic-based script, still used by Lampung people to write Lampung language, although they are in rapid decline. Lampung script is closely related to Rencong, Kerinci and Rejang script.
  • Hangeul Cia-Cia – The Hangeul script used to write the Cia-Cia language in Buton Island, Southeast Sulawesi.

Sample text

The following texts are translations of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the languages of Indonesia.

  • Dutch (Nederlands)

Alle mensen worden vrij en gelijk in waardigheid en rechten geboren, ze zijn begiftigd met rede en geweten en behoren tegenover elkaar te handelen in een geest van broederschap.

  • Chinese (中文)

所有人都生而自由,并享有相同的尊严和权利。他们都具有理性和良知,应该以兄弟般的精神交往。

  • English

All people are born free and have the same dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should associate with each other in a spirit of brotherhood.

  • Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia)

Semua orang dilahirkan merdeka dan mempunyai martabat dan hak-hak yang sama. Mereka dikaruniai akal dan hati nurani dan hendaknya bergaul satu sama lain dalam semangat persaudaraan.

  • Javanese (Basa Jawa)

Sabên manungsa kalairake mardika lan darbe martabat lan hak-hak kang padha. Kabeh pinaringan akal lan kalbu sarta kaajab anggone pasrawungan mêmitran siji lan liyane tansah ngugemi jiwa paseduluran.

  • Malay (Bahasa Melayu)

Semua manusia dilahirkan bebas dan samarata dari segi kemuliaan dan hak-hak. Mereka mempunyai pemikiran dan perasaan hati dan hendaklah bertindak di antara satu sama lain dengan semangat persaudaraan.

  • Minangkabau (Baso Minangkabau)

Sadonyo manusia dilahiakan mardeka dan punyo martabat sarato hak-hak nan samo. Mareka dikaruniai aka jo hati nurani, supayo satu samo lain bagaul sarupo urang badunsanak.

  • Buginese (Basa Ugi)

Sininna rupa tau ri jajiangngi rilinoe nappunnai manengngi riasengnge alebbireng. Nappunai riasengnge akkaleng, nappunai riasengnge ati marennni na sibole bolena pada sipakatau pada massalasureng.

  • Balinese (Basa Bali)

Sami manusane sane nyruwadi wantah merdeka tur maduwe kautamaan lan hak-hak sane pateh. Sami kalugrain papineh lan idep tur mangdane pada masawitra melarapan semangat pakulawargaan.

  • Sundanese (Basa Sunda)

Sakumna jalma gubrag ka alam dunya téh sipatna merdika jeung boga martabat katut hak-hak anu sarua. Maranéhna dibéré akal jeung haté nurani, campur-gaul jeung sasamana aya dina sumanget duduluran.

  • Madurese (Basa Madura)

Sadajana oreng lahir mardika e sarenge drajat klaban hak-hak se dha-padha. Sadajana eparenge akal sareng nurani ban kodu areng-sareng akanca kadi taretan.

  • Musi (Baso Pelembang)

Galo-galo uwong dari lahirnyo bebas, samorato martabat jugo hak-haknyo. Wong dienjuk utak samo raso ati, kendaknyo tu begaul sesamo manusio pecak wong sedulur.

  • Acehnese (Bahsa Acèh)

Bandum ureuëng lahé deungon meurdéhka, dan deungon martabat dan hak njang saban. Ngon akai geuseumiké, ngon haté geumeurasa, bandum geutanjoë lagèë sjèëdara.

  • Tetum (Lia-Tetun)

Ema hotu hotu moris hanesan ho dignidade ho direitu. Sira hotu iha hanoin, konsiensia n'e duni tenki hare malu hanesan espiritu maun-alin.

  • Dawan (Uab Metô)

Atoni ma bife ok-okê mahonis kamafutû ma nmuî upan ma hak namnés. Sin napein tenab ma nekmeü ma sin musti nabai es nok es onlê olif-tataf.

Kanan mansian mahonis merdeka ma nok upan ma hak papmesê. Sin naheun nok tenab ma nekmeû ma sin es nok es musti nfain onlê olif-tataf.

  • Banjar (Bahasa Banjar)

Sabarataan manusia diranakakan bibas mardika wan ba'isi martabat lawan jua ba'isi hak-hak nang sama. Bubuhannya sabarataan dibari'i akal wan jua pangrasa hati nurani, supaya samunyaan urang antara sa'ikung lawan sa'ikung bapatutan nangkaya urang badangsanakan.

  • Lampung (Bahasa Lampung)

Unyin Jelema dilaheʁko merdeka jama wat pi'il ʁik hak sai gokgoh. Tiyan dikaruniako akal jama hati nurani maʁai unggal tiyan dapok nengah nyampoʁ dilom semangat muaʁiyan.

  • Rejang (Baso Jang)

Kutê tun laher mêrdeka, tmuan hok-hok gik srai. Kutê nagiak-ba akêa peker ngen atêi, kêrno o kêlok-nê bêkuat-ba do ngen luyên lêm asai sêpasuak.

  • Bengkulu Malay (Bahaso Melayu Bengkulu)

Segalo orang dilahirkan merdeka kek punyo martabat kek hak-hak yang samo. Tobonyo dikasi akal kek hati nurani supayo bekawan dalam raso cak orang besanak.

Comparison chart

Below is a chart of several Indonesian languages. All of them except for Galela belong to the Austronesian language family. While there have been misunderstandings on which ones should be classified as languages and which ones should be classified as dialects, the chart confirms that many have similarities, yet are not mutually comprehensible. The languages are arranged geographically.

English one two three four water person house dog cat coconut day new we, us what and
Dutch een twee drie vier water mensen thuis hond kat kokosnoot dag nieuw ons wat en
Chinese 房子 椰子 新的 我们 什么
Indonesian satu dua tiga empat air orang rumah anjing kucing kelapa hari baru kita apa dan
Minangkabau cie' duo tigo ampe' aie urang rumah anjiang kuciang karambia hari baru awak apo jo
Palembang Malay sikok duo tigo empat banyu wong rumah anjing kucing kelapo ari baru kito apo dan
Betawi atu' dué tigé empat aér orang ruméh anjing kucing kelapé ari baru kité apé amé
Banjarese asa dua talu ampat banyu urang rumah hadupan batingas nyiur hari hanyar kita apa wan
Kutainese satu due tige empat ranam urang rumah koyok nyiur hari beru etam apa dengan
Manado Malay satu dua tiga ampa aer orang ruma anjing kucing kalapa hari baru torang apa deng
Ambonese Malay satu dua tiga ampa air orang ruma anjing kucing kalapa hari baru katong apa dan
Acehnese sa dua lhèë peuët ureuëng rumoh asèë miong / miei u uroë ban geutanyoë peuë ngon
Nias sara dua tölu öfa idanö niha omo asu mao banio luo bohou ya'ita hadia ba
Toba Batak sada dua tolu opat aek halak jabu biang huting harambiri ari ibbaru hita aha dohot
Mandailing Batak sada dua tolu opat aek halak bagas asu arambir ari baru hita aha dohot
Lampung say ʁuwa telu ampat way jelema nuwa asu kucing nyiwi ʁani ampai ʁam api jama
Komering osai rua tolu opak uway jolma lombahan asu kucing nyiwi harani ompai/anyar ram/kita apiya rik
Rejang
(of Lebong dialect)
do duai tlau pat bioa tun
manusio
umêak kuyuk kucing nioa bilai blau itê jano, gen ngen, magêa
Sundanese hiji dua tilu opat cai/ci jalma imah anjing ucing kalapa poé anyar urang naon jeung
Javanese siji loro têlu papat banyu uwòng omah asu kucing kambìl dinå anyar/énggal adhéwé åpå/anu lan
Madurese settong dhuwa' tello' empa' âêng oreng roma pate' kochèng nyior are anyar sengko apa bèn
Balinese besik dadua telu papat yéh jadma umah cicing/kuluk méong nyuh rahina mara iraga apa muah/lan
Sasak sa/seke' due telu mpat aik dengan bale acong/basong kenyamen/nyioh jelo baru ite ape dait
Bima ica dua tolu upa oi dou uma lako ngao ni'u nai bou nami au labo
Ngaju Dayak ije' due' telu' epat danum uluh huma' asu posa enyuh andau taheta itah narai tuntang
Kenyah Dayak dué telew pat sungai kelunan / klunan lamin / uma' asew séang nyo dau maring mé' tew / teleu inew ngan
Buginese seqdi dua tellu eppa je'ne' tau bola asu coki kaluku esso ma-baru idiq aga na
Makassarese se're rua tallu appa' je'ne' tau balla' kongkong ngeong kaluku allo beru ikatte apa na
Mongondow tobatú doyowa toḷu opat tubig intau baḷoi ungkú pinggó bangó singgai mo-bagu kita onu bo
Tolaki o'aso o'ruo o'tolu o'omba iwoi toono laika odahu kaluku oleo wuohu inggito ohawo ronga
Galela moi sinoto sa'ange iha ake nyawa tahu kaso igo wange ḋamomuane ngone okia de
Biak oser/eser suru kyor fyak war snon/kawasa rum naf/rofan pus sray ras babo ko sa ma/kuker
Tetum ida rua tolu haat bee ema uma asu busa nuu loron foun ami ne'ebé no

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-02-19 09:30 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari