From: John MacDougall <apakabar@clark.net>
Received: (from apakabar@localhost) by explorer2.clark.net (8.7.1/8.7.1) id VAA21847 for reg.indonesia@conf.igc.apc.org; Sat, 14 Sep 1996 21:29:55 -0400 (EDT)
MALAYAN LANGUAGES
The Malayan languages form one branch of the Malayo-Polynesian
language family, which is often considered part of a larger group
called Austronesian. The latter is more a geographical than a
linguistic term. The languages included within the Malayan branch are
to be found from Madagascar (the Malagasy, or Malgache, languages) to
Taiwan (Formosan) but are concentrated largely in Indonesia, Malaysia,
and the Philippines.
According to scholars, Indonesia possesses approximately 250 languages
and dialects, but much investigation remains to be done to prove or
disprove this assertion. Among the local vernaculars of significance,
Javanese, spoken in central and western Java, is the largest. Next are
Sundanese, spoken in western Java, and Madurese, on the adjacent
island of Madura and in eastern Java. The next largest group consists
of Achinese and Gayo, spoken in northern Sumatra; the Batak languages
and Minangkabau, in central Sumatra; the Lampung languages, in
southern Sumatra; and Malay, along the east coast of Sumatra, in West
Malaysia, in southern Thailand, and along the coast of Borneo. Also
spoken in Borneo are the Dayak languages, among which Ngadju should be
mentioned. Other important languages are Balinese, Buginese, and
Macassarese (the last two spoken in South Sulawesi). Languages of the
Malayan branch are spoken as far east as the Moluccas. Although the
relationship of these languages is close, they are not mutually
intelligible.
In the Philippines, where almost 90 languages are spoken, more than 85
percent of the population speak one of the following languages:
Tagalog, the basis for the Filipino national language; Sugbuhanon;
Hiligaynon and Iloko; Bikol; and Waray-Waray.
In addition to the local vernaculars, Indonesia possesses a national
language based on Malay and called Bahasa Indonesia (``the Indonesian
language''). Malay had been the lingua franca of the entire coastal
area of the Indonesian archipelago for centuries before the first
Europeans entered the area. It was the native language of the Malay
Peninsula and nearby east Sumatra and was closely related to the
Minangkabau of west central Sumatra. Its use by Minangkabaus in novels
and other writings from 1910 onward encouraged more widespread use in
competition with Dutch, the language of the Indonesian intellectuals.
In October 1928 the Second Youth Congress, held in Djakarta,
proclaimed Bahasa Indonesia the national language, and in 1938 the
Indonesian Language Congress was held in Solo for the purpose of
discussing the problems of Indonesian. With the Japanese invasion in
March 1942, all languages but Japanese and Indonesian (called Malay by
the Dutch and Japanese) were forbidden. This provided tremendous
impetus to the spread of Indonesian and to the necessity for making it
an adequate vehicle for modern society. In the pre-World War II period
the influence of Sumatran Malay on the development of Indonesian was
great, but today Djakarta's influence as the center of a centralized
government is spreading rapidly. The influence of Javanese, Sundanese,
and Minangkabau continues. A terminology commission to supervise the
elaboration of Bahasa Indonesia was established (1942-1945) and
revived after the Indonesian revolution against the Dutch (1945-1949).
The governments of Indonesia and Malaysia have begun to prepare a
common dictionary, unify orthography, and reconcile other differences
between Bahasa Indonesia and Malay. In 1956 Malay was proclaimed the
national language of the Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) and of
Brunei. Historically, Malay has undergone three significant
influences: Indic (a.d. 300-1200); Muslim (1100-1600); and European
(since 1600). During the period of Indian influence Old Javanese and
Malay absorbed many Sanskrit loan words, through translations of the
Ramayana and Mahabharata. Islam became Indonesia's major religion and
brought with it hundreds of loan words, which are now an integral part
of Malay. The early European contribution was largely confined to
words for newly introduced cultural artifacts such as ``window,''
``writing- pen,'' ``table,'' ``ink,'' and many others from Portuguese,
Dutch, and English. Dutch influence has continued to be great, and
Dutch idioms and syntax are evident in present-day Indonesian in spite
of puristic efforts to counteract this influence.
The structure of the Malayan languages is based on affixes (prefixes,
infixes, and suffixes) joined to base words: Indonesian, rumah,
``house, '' perumahan, ``housing.'' Indonesian does not inflect nouns,
expresses no difference of person or number in its verbs, has no noun
or verb classes, and has only one form for the adjective. It expresses
tense, if necessary, by various auxiliaries, and distinguishes between
inclusive and exclusive in the first person plural pronoun--thus,
kami, ``we' ' (excluding the person addressed), but kita, ``we''
(including the one addressed).
Extensive use is made of counters or classifiers. In speaking of one
person, seorang will be used; when an animal is referred to, seekor
occurs before the animal in question--thus, seekor kutjing, ``a cat.
'' The plural is expressed in several ways, though if the context
clearly indicates plurality, it will often not be formally shown.
Indonesian writes a raised two ([sup2]) to indicate plurality--thus
buku, ``book''; buku[sup2] (read buku-buku), ``books.'' Reduplication
is also used to express repetition, duration, reciprocal action, etc.
___
Echols, John M., MALAYAN LANGUAGES.., Vol. 15, Colliers Encyclopedia
CD-ROM, 02-28-1996.