Indonesian Language Articles

Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is the official language of Indonesia. It is a standardized register of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Most Indonesians also speak one of more than 700 indigenous languages.

Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world. Of its large population, the majority speak Indonesian, making it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

Most Indonesians, aside from speaking the national language, are often fluent in another regional language (examples include Javanese, Sundaneseand Madurese) which are commonly used at home and within the local community. Most formal education, and nearly all national media and other forms of communication, are conducted in Indonesian. In East Timor, which was an Indonesian province from 1975 to 1999, Indonesian is recognised by the constitution as one of the two working languages (the other being English), alongside the official languages of Tetum and Portuguese.

The Indonesian name for the language is Bahasa Indonesia (literally "the language of Indonesia"). This term is occasionally found in English. English speakers sometimes use the term "Bahasa" instead, to refer to both the standard languages of Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia) and of Malaysia,Brunei, and Singapore (Bahasa Melayu), though the word literally just means "language".

Indonesian has 23 million native speakers and 140 million second language speakers,who speak it alongside their local mother tongue. It is used extensively as a first language by Indonesians in urban areas, and as a second language by those residing in more rural parts of Indonesia.

The VOA and BBC use Indonesian as their standard for broadcasting in Malay.In Australia, Indonesian is one of three Asian target languages, together with Japanese and Mandarin, taught in some schools as part of the Languages Other Than English programme.

The status of Indonesian language is the official language of the Republic of Indonesia, thus its usage is encouraged throughout Indonesia. TheConstitution of Indonesia 1945 Chapter XV specifies the flag, official language, coat of arms, and national anthem of Indonesia.
The Indonesian law No. 24 year 2009 Chapter III Section 25 to 45 mentioned specifically about Indonesian language status.The function of Indonesian language is as the national identity, national pride, and unifying language among diverse Indonesian ethnic groups, and also serves as a communication vehicle among Indonesian provinces and different regional cultures in Indonesia.The language is used as national official language, the language for education, communication, transaction and trade documentation, used for the development of national culture, science, technology, and mass media in Indonesia. It has become one of the national symbols of Indonesia.

According to Indonesian law, the Indonesian language is the language proclaimed as the unifying language during Sumpah Pemuda in 28 October 1928, developed further to accommodate the dynamics of Indonesian civilization.

The disparate evolution of Indonesian and Malaysian has led to a rift between the two standards. This has been based more upon political nuance and the history of its standardization than on cultural reasons, and as a result there are asymmetrical views regarding each other's standard among Malaysians and Indonesians. In Malaysia, the national language is Malaysian; in Indonesia, it is Indonesian. The Malaysians tend to assert that Malaysian and Indonesian are merely variants of the same language, while the Indonesians tend to treat them as separate, albeit related, languages. The result of this attitude is that the Indonesians feel little need to harmonize their language with Malaysia and Brunei, whereas the Malaysians are keener to coordinate the evolution of the language with the Indonesians. although the 1972 Indonesian alphabet reform was largely a concession of Dutch-based Indonesian to the English-based spelling of Malaysian.