Indonesia Languages
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Description
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. It is a standardized variety of Malay.
Most Indonesians, aside from speaking the national language, are fluent in at least one of the more than 700 indigenous local languages. However, most formal education and nearly all national mass media, governance, administration, and judiciary and other forms of communication are conducted in Indonesian. [1]
Word List(s)
Indonesian Genealogical Word List - FamilySearch Wiki
- Indonesian Phrases - MyLanguages.org
- Indonesian Lessons - MyLanguages.org
- Indonesian Common Phrases - Wikipedia
Alphabet and Pronunciation
Alphabet
- Indonesian alphabet - Omniglot
- Indonesian Vowels and Consonants - Wikipedia
Pronunciation
- Indonesian pronunciation - Omniglot
- Indonesian Pronunciation - IELanguages
Language Aids and Dictionaries
Dictionaries
- A L N Kramer & Willie Koen, Tuttle concise Indonesian dictionary : Indonesian-English, English-Indonesian, Clarendon : Tuttle, 2014 - Available at WorldCat
- A L N Kramer, Van Goor's Concise Indonesian dictionary : English-Indonesian, Indonesian-English, Rutland, Vt. : Charles E. Tuttle, 1991 - Available at WorldCat
Online Dictionaries
- English–Indonesian Dictionary - Cambridge Dictionary
- Indonesian dictionary - Lexilogos
- Dictionary Indonesian - English - Glosbe
Language Aids
- Explore the Inner Workings of Indonesian Language Grammar - IndonesianPod101
- Indonesian Grammar - Wikipedia
Additional Resources
References
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Indonesian_language," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_language, accessed 27 Oct 2021.
For word list and help researching in Indonesian records, see Indonesian Genealogical Word List.
There are 250 speech forms, each with its own regional dialects in Indonesia. Often the inhabitants of the same island do not all speak the same native language. Fortunately today, one language, Bahasa Indonesia, is taught in all schools from the elementary grades up. However, Indonesian is by no means the native language in all parts of the archipelago.
The vast majority of the population speak Bahasa Indonesian (or modified Malay), which is the national language of Indonesia. Only 5% speak it as a mother tongue, among 669 other indigenous languages spoken. Bahasa Indonesian has been adopted as the official Indonesian language and is used in schools, television and government. However 42% speak Javanese as a mother tongue, 15% speak Sundanese, 6% Malay, 5% Madurese, 5% Minangkabau, 2% Balinese, 2% Buginese, and 1% each speak Acehnese, Toba Batak, Banjarese, Makassarese, Sasak, Lampung, Dairi Batak, Rejang and Chinese. 9% speak one of the many other local languages. Many of the older population can still speak Dutch, and English is also now understood by many. The major languages of records in Indonesia are Dutch, Indonesian, Malay and Javanese.
Almost universally known as a second language, Bahasa Indonesia is the only cultural element that unifies the entire population. Indonesian, or a dialect of it, is the native language throughout Sumatra (especially on the east coast), the coasts of Borneo, Manado and environs, in scattered locales around the Lesser Sunda Islands and Maluku, and in large urban centers such as Jakarta and Semarang.
Bahasa Indonesia started as a trader's language for use throughout the archipelago, a prototype of the old Melayu ("Malay") language. The earliest Malay dictionary was published in Europe in 1603, and the Dutch used Malay as the native language of government during their rule.
In its history, Indonesian has devoured thousands of words from Indonesia's local languages, as well as from Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil, French, and English.