The Language

BAHASA INDONESIA “A new language for a new nation” James Sneddon The Indonesian Language: Its history and role in modern society

The history of the language -  Where: coastal plains of east and southeast Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, coastal areas of Borneo -  Who: seafarers, traders -  Usage: lingua franca, literary tradition -  1928: declared the language of unity -  1945: the national language

ASIAN COUNTRIES COUNTRY

LANGUAGES

NATIONAL LANGUAGE

INDIA

17

HINDI

INDONESIA

350

BAHASA INDONESIA

BURMA

At least 7

BURMESE

BRUNEI

3

MALAY

CAMBODIA

At least 2

KHMER

LAOS

At least 3

LAO

MALAYSIA

At least 8

BAHASA MALAYSIA

THE PHILIPPINES

10

FILIPINO and ENGLISH

SINGAPORE

At least 7

MALAY, ENGLISH, MANDARIN, TAMIL

THAILAND

At least 2

THAI

VIETNAM

At least 5

VIETNAMESE

The standardisation -  19th century: High Malay, or Riau Malay, used in education; this was not spoken by the common people -  By 1945: high or formal language used in education, government business, the law, mass media, and formal activities; low or informal language used at home and in informal social interaction -  Conclusion: “Formal Indonesian is expected to be mastered by educated people and proficiency in it is a mark of a person’s level of education.”

Is standardisation good or bad? •  Bahasa formal: used in formal events •  Bahasa sehari-hari (everyday language) •  Native speakers: 41% (1971) and 83% (1990) •  Motto: Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity)

The language family •  The Austronesian language family: contains more than 1000 languages •  20% of the 5000-6000 languages estimated to be spoken in the world •  In the west: Madagascar •  In the east: Easter Island •  In the north: Taiwan and Hawaii •  In the south: New Zealand

The speakers •  Total speakers: 300 million •  Majority: in Indonesia and the Philippines •  “25 Austronesian languages today have more than a million speakers, all of them spoken in the Southeast Asian archipelago, with the exception of the Malagasy language of Madagascar.”

First language speakers •  Javanese: the largest, with 75 million speakers •  Sundanese: 28 million speakers •  Cebuano: 12 million speakers •  Tagalog: 11 million speakers •  Compare with: Samoan (200,000), Fijian (200,000), Tongan (90,000), and Tahitian (70,000)

The language of the colonial power (p. 11-12) MALAYSIAN

INDONESIAN

suitcase

beg

kopor (koffer)

tire

tayar

ban (band)

bicycle

basikal

ticket

tiket

sepeda (velocipede) karcis (kaartjes)

The English and Dutch influence (p. 12) MALAYSIAN

INDONESIAN

police

polis

polisi (politie)

policy

polisi

polis (polis)

television

televisyen

August

Ogos

televisi (televisie) Agustus (Augustus)

Other borrowings (p. 12) MALAYSIAN

INDONESIAN handuk (Dutch)

room

Tuala (Portuguese) Kerismas (English) bilik (Malay)

file

fail (English)

berkas (Malay)

towel Christmas

Natal (Portuguese) kamar (Dutch)

LET’S PRACTICE! Saya

Mona.

Nama

saya

Saya

mahasiswa.

Saya

belajar

Nama

Anda?

Andrew.

budaya Indonesia.

LET’S PRACTICE! Saya

suka

pizza.

Mbak

suka

apa?

Saya

dari

New York.

Mas

dari

mana?

Mbak

mahasiswa

juga?

LET’S PRACTICE! Apa

kabar?

Baik.

Mbak?

Saya

baik

Kurang

baik.

Saya

capai.

juga.