languages in indonesia

7/25/2019 Languages in Indonesia

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Languages of Indonesia

P.W.J. Nababan


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Map showing the languages ofIndonesia


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I. Sociolinguistic Prole of Indonesia

II. Characteristic Structures ofIndonesian Languages

III. Sociocultural Context of IndonesianLanguages


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I. Sociolinguistic Prole of Indonesia

Indonesia has a co!plex sociolinguistic situation

"here are at least #$$ languages %language and

dialect&. "hese languages are not at all the sa!e insi'e or in sociocultural i!portance( but the) are all

legall) the sa!e( with the sole exception ofIndonesian.

"he !ost i!portant and uni*uel) placed language isIndonesian or +ahasa Indonesia( which was declared

the state language b) the ,-# Constitution( Section/0( 1rticle 23

It is the national language and the onl) o4ciallanguage in Indonesia


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5ali! %,-63& for!ulates the functions of theIndonesian languages as follows7

%,& 1s the national language( it functions as7

%i& the s)!bol of national pride%ii& the s)!bol of national identit)

%iii& a tool to enable the unication of the 8ariousethnic groups with di9erent cultural bac:grounds

and languages into a unied Indonesian nation(and

%i8&as a tool for inter;regional and inter;culturalco!!unication


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%


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Vernaculars; the other indigenouslanguage of Indonesia

; the greatest nu!ber of the population>about ninet) percent>start lifespea:ing one of the 8ernaculars(learning Indonesian later on ?usuall) in

pri!ar) school %in particular 5o::ien(5a::a and Cantonese( "a!il( etc&


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Foreign languages

; 1!ong the! @nglish is the !ost i!portant

@nglish was selected b) the Ao8ern!ent as the language ofwider co!!unication at the beginning of Independence

It has occupied a special position in the countr) as the onl)co!pulsor) foreign language subBect in public schools

ther foreign languages learnt in certain schools are Aer!an(Drench( Japanese( Eussian( Mandarin and so!e others. f theselanguages( onl) Aer!an and Drench are fairl) widel) taught inthe upper c)cles of secondar) .

Futch occupies a special position( as it is used b) a fair nu!berof the older generation and is being learnt as a spo:en languagein pri8ate courses %in the larger urban centers& b) an increasingnu!ber of )ounger people( !ostl) wo!en.


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Linguistic Diversity

Indonesia is a countr) !ade up of apluralit) of ethnic groups( cultures andlanguages.

"he great di8ersit) of languages isreGected in the nationHs !otto nit)

in Fi8esit)K %+hinne:a "unggal I:a&


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Indonesia is the worldHs largest archipelago( extending o8er#($$ :ilo!eters along the e*uator( with a population of o8er,2$ !illion.

Fue to the great nu!ber of languages spo:en in the countr)and the great 8ariet) of sociocultural s)ste!s( Indonesia isconsidered one of the worldHs sociolinguistics giantsK

In spite of this !ulti;lingualis!( there is ho!ogeneit) in that!ost of the population is of the sa!e %Mala);Indonesian& ethnicstoc: and !ore than ninet) percent of the Indonesians spea:languages of the Mala)o;Pol)nesian %1ustronesian& languagefa!il)


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"he Mala);Indonesian peoples !igrated to the Indonesian islandsfro! the Southeast 1sian !ainland in two wa8esK distinguished asProto;Mala) and Feutero;Mala).

"here the) !ingled with( and largel) assi!ilated with( and

replaced peoples of 8arious ethnic groups which had alread) beenresidents in the area;;;who were of Negrito( 0eddoid( andMelanesoid stoc:.

It has been the tradition to assu!e that Southeast 1sia( peninsularand insular( has been !ostl) a recei8er of cultural de8elop!ents

originating elsewhere.It is :nown that b) the beginning of the Christian era( Indonesiansea!en and traders 8entured as far north as China and as far westas the coast of 1frica( and were in regular contact with these distantlocalities.


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Language Classications%sources consulted are7 thepopulation census of ,-6,( Eoberts %,-3


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"rade contacts also brought so!e inGuence of the Chinese and West1sia. "hese contacts ne8er too: the for! of a large inGux of people=therefore Indonesia can be considered as not signicantl) inGuenced b)outside ph)sical traits.

"he interior of the island( because of the di4cult terrain and isolationistattitudes of the inhabitants( was less a9ected b) these inGuences.

,. 1chehnese7 ,.6 !illion spea:ers in the pro8ince of 1ceh(northern!ost Su!atra= 8er) si!ilar to the Cha! languages of Indochina.


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#. Minang:abau7 2.2 !illion spea:ers( in the west;central highland part of Su!atra

. erinchi7 "here are ,3($$$ spea:ers of a nu!ber of related languages si!ilarto Minang:abau( of which erinchi %63( $$$ spea:ers& is the !ost i!portant.

3. +atin 7 a group of about 6$($$$ people( of !ixed ethnic origin.

6. Pe:al7 ,#($$$ people of !ixed ethnic origin( spea:ing a language closel) relatedto Minang:abau( with EeBang inGuence.

. EeBang7 in Southwestern Su!atra(


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,,. La!pung7 designates a group of Mala) dialectsspo:en b) about $$($$$ people in southern Su!atra.

,


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B. Java"he island of Ja8a is the !ost hea8il) populated island ofthe archipelago. It contains !ore than half of thepopulation of the countr). "here is howe8er( !uch less

linguistic di8ersit) a!ong this population than in theother areas of the countr).

,. Ja8anese7 the latest census %,-6,& sa)s there are #6.#!illion spea:ers of Ja8anese. "he language has a literar)tradition that goes bac: to the ele8enth centur)( in theclassic language :nown as awi %ld Ja8anese&( with anindigenous script. Ja8anese is distinguished b) a co!plexs)ste! of speech le8els go8erned b) social usage.


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C. Bali

+alinese7 two !illion spea:ers on the island of +ali(

and 3$($$$ on Lo!bo:.

D. Lombo! Sumba"a

,. Sasa:7 ,.3 !illion spea:ers on the island ofLo!bo:.


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#.$%SA $''A(A &I)%( *S+%&,#S($ ISLA$DS-

I.FLORES AND BANDA SEAS AREA

,.Su!banese7


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. Si:anese7 ,-($$$ spea:ers in east;central Dlores island

3. @nde7 ,6-($$$ spea:ers in south;central Dlores island.

6. Solorese7 ,2$($$$ spea:ers on@astern Dlores island and on the

islands of Solor( 1donara and Lo!blen.


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II. ALOR AND PANTAR ISLANDS

"he coastal areas of these islands are occupied b) i!!igrantsfro! other islands= the interior areas howe8er( are occupied b)a di8ersit) of language groups.

"hese interior groups( although of ceanic negroid ph)sicalt)pe( spea: Mala)o;Pol)nesian languages. "hese languagesinclude7 1dang( awel( 1bul( elong( a!ang( olana and ul;ra!ang %all on 1lor island&= and +elagar( Nedebang( Feing(Manta( and Le!!e %on Pantar island&.

"otal spea:ers of these languages are about -$($$$. "here arealso s!all groups of spea:ers of Papuan languages on theseislands.


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III. Timor Archipelago

"he island of "i!or contains at least fourteen di9erent languages

So!e of these languages belong to the Mala)o;Pol)nesian fa!il)(for exa!ple( 1to!i( Wai:eno( "etun( Aalali( Ma!bai( "a:oda( Idate.

thers are Papuan languages( for exa!ple( Ma:assai( :airui( +una:.

n the island of Eoti( there are so!e 6$($$$ spea:ers of Eotinese(and another 2$($$$ on "i!or and Senau.

n the 8er) s!all %- :ilo!eters& island of Ndao( ,< :ilo!etreso9shore fro! Eoti( there are about


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F. KALIMANTAN (BORNEO)

"he island of ali!antan including Sabah( Sarawa: and +runeiis recogni'ed as ha8ing been a cultural crossroads of prehistoricand earl) historic ti!es.

there is considerable ethnic( cultural( and linguistic di8ersit) inthe area.

,. Fusun7 the ter! :ada'anK is also used( and Isla!i'ed Fusunare :nown as IdahanK= about ,$($$$ spea:ers. "he wordFusunK !eans upri8er peopleK and is often used to indicatelocation rather than language.


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%a&Idahan Murut7 2($$$ spea:ers of a group of six languages %"heselanguages are related to Fusun( and rese!ble Philippine languages.

%b& elabit Murut7 scattered groups( possibl)


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. "o!ini7 $($$$ spea:ers( North Sulawesi= 8arious distinct dialects%for exa!ple "ialo( "aBio( LauBe&.

3. "oraBa7 toraBaK or :ingl) people is not a language designation butrather designates the groups of people of central Sulawesi "here arethere distinct language groups in the "oraBa area7

a. Western "oraBa7 in interior central Sulawesi( ,$($$$ spea:ers of a8er) di8erse group of dialects %at least 2


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6. Loinang %Madi&7 ,#($$ in eastern Sulawesi and o9;shore islands( Philippine t)pe

. +alanta: %Sian&7 ,,($$$ in eastern Sulawesi

-. +anggai %1:i&7


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,2. Maro!ene7 s!all group at extre!e southeasternSulawesi( and on island of abaeno.

,#. +uginese Ma:assarese7 two closel) related languages(often put together for classication %for exa!ple( inIndonesian census&. "here are # !illion spea:ers of the twolanguages. Ma:assarese spea:ers are in the area centeringon Bung Pandang %Ma:assar& cit)( in South Sulawesi=+uginese spea:ers are located in South Sulawesi( north ofMa:assar territor).

,. Muna;+uton7 two closel) related languages spo:en b)so!e ,#($$$ people( on islands o9 the southeastern coastof Sulawesi. +utonese has a written literature. "here is aspecial o4cialK dialect( called Wolio( which is spo:en b) thenobilit) of the territor).


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#. MALK (MOL""AS)

I. S+%&,#($ )AL%% ISLA$DS

"his area contains ele8en groups of islands l)ing betweenIrian %New Auinea& and "i!or. "otal population of the area is

about ,


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III. ,AL)A,#(A

"he population of the area is about 26


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"his Mala) dialect also ser8ed as a regional lingua franca(spo:en b) groups of Coastal Mala)s.

No esti!ate of the nu!ber of languages found in this

territor) can be !ade( although the nu!ber is probabl)

o8er one hundred.J. SCA&(#D LA$'%A'# '(+%/S

"here are three groups rather widel) scattered about theterritor)( without an) denite ho!eK territor). "hese are7

,.Mo:en %rang Laut&7 scattered s!all groups( on coastal

areas and o9;shore island of Southern+ur!a( Eiau islands(east Sulawesi( north and east ali!antan %+orneo&( theMoluccas( and the north coast of Dlores( Su!bawa( and

1donara islands.


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+. C,A(AC(IS&IC S&(%C&%(#S+F I$D+$#SIA$ LA$'%A'#S

Most of the Indonesian languages are of Mala)o;Pol)nesian %1ustronesian& stoc:.

"he di9erences between the! range fro! fairl)high !utual intelligibilit) %si!ple correspondence(

for exa!ple( between Indonesian and Minang:abau&to 'ero !utual intelligibilit) %for exa!ple( betweenAa)o and ia&. n the whole( the degree of !utualintelligibilit) is low.

"his linguistic frag!entation is still !ore se8erethan in @urope( which is considered one of the areasof the highest linguistic frag!entation in the world.


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"his curiousl)( see!s to ha8e one factor for theread) acceptance of Indonesian as the nationallanguage( as the spea:ers of !ost of thelanguages in Indonesia face the sa!e di4cult) %or

ease& in learning Indonesian as a second language.

1 su!!ar) description is gi8en below of thecorrespondences between Indonesian and

Minang:abau and a short co!parati8e list betweenIndonesian and +ata: I%whose di9erence will be inthe !iddle range>list


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S+CI+C%L&%(AL C+$& +F I$D+$#SIA$ LA$'%A'#S

)ultilingualismSo far( no extensi8e stud) has been !ade of the extent andpatterns of bilingualis! and !ultilingualis! Indonesia.

It is clear( howe8er that practicall) e8er)bod) is a bilingual

in the cities and towns of IndonesiaIn !an) cases( people spea: three Indonesian languages(so!eti!es with one or !ore foreign languages in addition%with the older generation( the foreign language is oftenFutch= with )ounger people( it will li:el) be the @nglish&.

"he abo8e re!ar:s do not i!pl) that the le8el of procienc)will be the sa!e in all the languages one spea:s. 5owe8er(the prociencies of an educated person bilingual in his rstlanguage and Indonesian could be considered e*uall) high


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"he rst language is !ost often used in personal(inti!ate and a9ecti8e do!ains and Indonesian in!ore for!al and public do!ains.

Language Attitudes

"hrough a luc:) co!bination of accidents of histor)(geographical proxi!it) of di9erent languages( andnatural disposition( Indonesians ha8e ac*uired arelati8el) high degree of linguistic tolerance.

Aenerall) spea:ing( people ta:e the funn)KK wa)sof spea:ing of other people without too !uchanno)ance.


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"his tolerance has greatl) helped in the read)acceptance of +ahasa Indonesia as the nationallanguage.

"he di9erent ethnic groups of Indonesia do ha8e the

co!!on( and perhaps health) a!ount of( preBudiceagainst other ethnic groups.

5owe8er( these preBudices are generall) expressedin cultural and character stereot)pes rather than

linguistic ones= that is( people !ore often expressdisli:e of the other ethnic groupHs food( custo!s(beha8ior( etc( rather than the sound of theirlanguage.


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Language %sage /atterns

@xcept in the re!otest areas a!ong the older generations(bilingualis! or !ultilingualis! is the !ost co!!on linguisticpattern in Indonesia( especiall) a!ong the )ounger people whoha8e gone through school

1s !entioned pre8iousl)( the !ost co!!on pattern is ofcourse the 8ernacular %that is( ho!e language& and Indonesian.

"he situation is usuall) diglossic( the 8ernacular being used forcertain do!ains of interaction and Indonesian for others.

1n interesting pheno!enon is the fact that certain people(

especiall) the uneducated %older& people ( !a) ha8e onl) acertain le8el of recepti8e co!petence in Indonesian without an)producti8e abilit) to spea: of the other language


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1 special case of !ultilingualis! that see!s to begrowing in nu!ber can be found in the inter;ethnic orinter;lingual fa!il).

"he 8er) co!!on result is that +ahasa Indonesia

beco!es the predo!inant language in the ho!e witheither one or both of the parentsH 8ernaculars as the

secondar) languages.

"he spread of +ahasa Indonesia throughout the

countr) and into all le8els and sectors of societ)through education( co!!erce and the ci8il ser8icehas resulted in a sharp increase in !ultilingualis!a!ong the whole population.


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Dor the literate population( especiall) in urban centers(co!petence in three languages %8ernacular( Indonesianand other 8ernacular& is co!!on.

It will be clear that in addition to the nor!al code

switching( the) ha8e a great deal of code;!ixing inIndonesia. Code !ixing !a) in8ol8e Indonesian and a8ernacular( Indonesian and a foreign language. "his code;!ixing is a pheno!enon onl) a!ong the !ore educatedpeople.

Closel) related to code;switching and code;!ixing is thechange that !a) be found in the speech habits of aperson( especiall) in the context of !igration to urbancenters or to other language areas of the countr).


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Language Contact and Interference

Since anti*uit)( the languages in Indonesia ca!e incontact with other languages through trade andculture contacts.

"hese contacts resulted in the adoption of artifactsand religious practices which brought with the! newwords and thus caused linguistic changes calledinterference %Weinreich( ,-2&.

"he earliest source of linguistic change %around thebeginning of the Christian era & was Sans:rit(especiall) in the real! of religion %5induis!& andastrolog).


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ey to Symbols %sed *Slig1t )odication ofFerguson! *2345-,. 1ccording to Status7

MO !aBor language7 a language which is spo:en as a nati8e language b)at least one !illion people %e8en though this is less than


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II. According to Function

,. gO Aroup language7 used pri!aril) forco!!unication within a particular speech co!!unit)(!a:ing it as an identiable group in the nation


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#.eO language of education7 used as !ediu!of instruction( has subBect !atter textboo:sprinted in it.

.rO language of religion7 language used inreligious ser8ices

3.iO international language7 language used b)!e!bers of the population for co!!unicationbe)ond national boundaries

6.sO stud) language7 language widel) studiedin the schools as a subBect %not !ediu! ofinstruction&


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III. According to use in 6riting

W; not nor!all) used for writtenpurposes

W,; used for personal written purposes;letters

W


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Language in #ducation

"he two i!portant categories of language in education are !ediu! ofinstruction %MI& and language taught as a subBect %LS&.

1nother interesting categori'ation is local languages %L,&. +ahasa

Indonesia and 8ernaculars& and foreign languages %DL&.

+ahasa Indonesia is used as a !ediu! of instruction fro! indergartento ni8ersit)

In the rst three )ears of pri!ar) school( the local 8ernacular !a) beused as the !ediu! of instruction=

onl) nine of the !aBor 8ernaculars are used as !ediu! of instruction(na!el) 1chehnese( +ata:( Minang:abau( Sundanese( Ja8anese( Madurese(+alinese( Sasa:( Ma:assarese +uginese.


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In a s!all nu!ber of Isla!ic religious schools %pesantren&(1rabic !a) be used as !ediu! of Instruction ( oftensupple!ented b) the 8ernacular or Indonesian.

+ahasa Indonesia is taught in pri!ar) schools %all standards&( insecondar) schools %all for!s&( and one )ear in the uni8ersit)%except of course( in Indonesian depart!ents where the 8ariouss:ills in the language are taught throughout the progra!!e&.

"he teaching of Indonesian has not been 8er) successful(!ainl) because too !uch e!phasis is put on for!al gra!!arand not enough attention is gi8en to the language arts andco!!unicati8e co!petence.


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Doreign languages !a) be taught beginning fro! the rst )ear ofsecondar) schools %grade 6&. "he foreign languages that !a) be o9eredare7 @nglish( Aer!an( Drench( Japanese( Mandarin( Eussian( and 1rabic.

In certain uni8ersit)( other foreign languages !a) be taught7 Futch(Spanish( Latin and 1ncient Aree:.

@nglish is a co!pulsor) foreign language subBect in secondar) schools(taught at an a8erage of ,


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Language Functions

Indonesian to so!e extent is also used forinternational co!!unication between Indonesiaand Mala)sia.

@nglish is the designated language of widerco!!unication for the countr). It is the languageused in international sociopolitical and scienticcontacts and co!!erce.

"he 8ernaculars are used for intra;grouppurposes7 +ahasa Indonesia is used for inter;group co!!unication.


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"he onl) o4cial language in Indonesia is +ahasaIndonesia. 5owe8er( on the 8illage le8el a great dealof o4cial business( ad!inistrati8e and Budicial( hasstill to be transacted in the local language because

of the inabilit) of !an) 8illagers to understand orspea: Indonesian.

"he countr) is ta:ing a prag!atic attitude towardsthis situation= and it is en8isaged that a gradual

increase in the use of +ahasa Indonesia on this le8elwill ta:e place when the )ounger people who ha8egone through the educational s)ste! start replacingtheir elders on 8illage councils.


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Fespite the rapid increase of the practical use of +ahasaIndonesia in rban households and in 8illage;le8el o4cialbusiness( it is not en8isaged that the 8ernaculars( except thosewith onl) a handful of spea:ers( will ne8er die out.

In fact( the constitution %@xplication of Section /0( 1rticle 23&guarantees the preser8ation of those 8ernaculars that areproperl) !aintained b) their spea:ers.

"here has also been no public e9ort to discourage people touse an) of the 8ernaculars. In short( it can be said thatLanguage is not a sociopolitical proble! in Indonesia and wasnot an issue in an) of the secession !o8e!ents of the ,-$s.


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"han: )ou for )our indulgence

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