Languages of Indonesia


More than 700 living languages are spoken in Indonesia. These figures indicate that Indonesia has about 10% of the world’s languages, establishing its reputation as the second most linguistically diverse nation in the world after Papua New Guinea. Most languages belong to the Austronesian language family, while there are over 270 Papuan languages spoken in eastern Indonesia.
Languages in Indonesia are classified into nine categories: national language, locally used indigenous languages, regional lingua francas, foreign and additional languages, heritage languages, languages in the religious domain, English as a lingua franca and sign languages. Of these, Javanese is the largest language by the number of native speakers.

National language

The official language is Indonesian, a standardised form of Malay, which serves as the lingua franca of the archipelago. The vocabulary of Indonesian borrows heavily from regional languages of Indonesia, such as Javanese, Sundanese and Minangkabau, as well as from Dutch, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Arabic and more recently English.
The Indonesian language is primarily used in commerce, administration, education and the media, and thus nearly every Indonesian speaks the language to varying degrees of proficiency. Most Indonesians speak other languages, such as Javanese, as their first language. This makes plurilingualism a norm in Indonesia.

Indigenous languages and regional lingua francas

Indonesia recognizes only a single national language, and indigenous languages are recognized at the regional level, although policies vary from one region to another. Javanese is the most widely spoken language without official status, as the Javanese are the largest ethnic group, constituting 40.2% of the population, and are politically dominant. They are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of Java and also sizable numbers in most provinces. The Sundanese, Malay, Batak, Madurese, Minangkabau and Buginese are the next largest groups in the country. A sense of Indonesian nationhood exists alongside strong regional identities.
There are hundreds of indigenous languages spoken in Indonesia. Most of them are locally used indigenous languages, a category of languages referring to those spoken at the local, regional level, spoken by a small number of people, ranging from a few to a few thousands of people. These include small languages such as Benggoi, Mombum and Towei. Other languages are spoken at the regional level to connect various ethnicities. For this reason, these languages are known as regional lingua francas. According to Subhan Zein, there are at least 43 RLFs in Indonesia, categorized into two types: Malayic RLFs and Non-Malayic RLFs. The former refers to a group of regional lingua francas that are thought of as indigenised varieties of Malay or Indonesian. These include such languages as Ambon Malay, Banjar Malay and Papuan Malay. The latter refers to regional lingua francas that are not associated with Malay or Indonesian, including Biak, Iban and Onin.

Foreign languages

As early as the seventh century AD, the natives of the archipelago began an intense period of trades with those coming from China, India and other countries. This was followed by a long period of colonization by the Dutch and Japan colonials. The outcome of these processes has been the development of a group of heritage languages spoken by Arab, Chinese, Eurasian and Indian descendants, among others. Chinese linguistic varieties such as Hokkien, Hakka, and Mandarin are the most common heritage languages. A small number of heritage language speakers speak Arabic and Tamil.

Dutch

Despite the Dutch presence in Indonesia for almost 350 years, the Dutch language has no official status there and the small minority that can speak the language fluently are either educated members of the oldest generation, or employed in the legal profession, as certain law codes are still only available in Dutch.

English

English has traditionally been categorized as the first foreign language in Indonesia. However, increasing exposure to the language, the decreasing influence of native-speaker norms in the country and the prevalent use of the language as a lingua franca in the broader context such as ASEAN means that the categorization has been put into question. Scholars such as Lowenberg argue that English is best seen as an additional language. Meanwhile, Zein argues that English in Indonesia is best categorized as a lingua franca, an argument parallel with Kirkpatrick’s contention on the use of English as a lingua franca in the broader ASEAN context.

Other languages

Other languages such as Arabic, German, French, Japanese, Mandarin and Korean are non-native to Indonesia. These languages are included in the educational curriculum and may be categorized as either foreign or additional languages, depending on the instrumental function of the languages, length and types of exposure, as well as the wide-ranging motivations of the speakers or learners who use and or learn them.

Endangered languages

There are 726 languages spoken across the Indonesian archipelago in 2009, the second largest multilingual population in the world after Papua New Guinea. Indonesian Papua, which is adjacent to Papua New Guinea, has the most languages in Indonesia. Based on the EGIDS classification used by Ethnologue, 63 languages are dying, which is defined as "The only fluent users are older than child-bearing age, so it is too late to restore natural intergenerational transmission through the home."

Language policy

Indonesia's Minister of Education and Culture Muhammad Nuh affirmed in January 2013 that the teaching of local languages as school subjects will be part of the national education curriculum. Nuh stated that much of the public worry about the teaching of local languages being left out of the curriculum is misplaced and that the new curriculum will be conveyed to them.

Languages by speakers

The population numbers given below are of native speakers, excepting the figure for Indonesian, which counts its total speakers. The total population of the country was 237.6 million in 2010.
LanguageNumber % of total populationBranchYear surveyedMain areas where spoken
Indonesian21080.42Malayic2010throughout Indonesia
Javanese84.332.28Javanese2000 throughout Java Island and several provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan island.
Sundanese42.016.08Sundanese2016West Java, Banten, Jakarta
Madurese13.65.21Madurese2000 Madura Island
Minangkabau5.52.11Malayic2007West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, Bengkulu, Jakarta
Buginese5.01.91South Sulawesi2000 South Sulawesi
Palembang Malay3.91.49Malayic2000 South Sumatra
Banjarese3.51.34Malayic2000 South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan
Acehnese3.51.34Chamic2000 Aceh
Balinese3.31.26Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa2000 Bali Island and Lombok Island
Betawi2.71.03Malay-based creole1993Jakarta
Sasak2.10.80Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa1989Lombok Island
Batak Toba2.00.77Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands1991North Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, Jakarta
Ambonese Malay1.90.73Malay-based creole1987Maluku
Makassarese2.10.80South Sulawesi2000 South Sulawesi
Chinese-Min Nan1.30.50Sinitic 2000North Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, West Kalimantan
Batak Dairi1.20.46Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands1991North Sumatra
Batak Simalungun1.20.46Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands2000 North Sumatra
Batak Mandailing1.10.42Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands2000 North Sumatra
Jambi Malay1.00.38Malayic2000 Jambi
Gorontalo1.00.38Philippine2000 Gorontalo
Ngaju Dayak0.90.34West Barito2003Central Kalimantan
Nias0.80.31Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands2000 Nias Island, North Sumatra
Batak Angkola0.70.27Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands1991North Sumatra
Manado Malay0.80.31Malay-based creole2001North Sulawesi
North Moluccan Malay0.70.27Malay-based creole2001North Maluku
Chinese-Hakka0.60.23Sinitic1982Bangka Belitung, Riau Islands and West Kalimantan
Batak Karo0.60.23Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands1991North Sumatra
Uab Meto0.60.23Timor-Babar1997West Timor
Bima0.50.19Bima1989Sumbawa Island
Manggarai0.50.19Sumba-Flores1989Flores Island
Toraja-Sa’dan0.50.19South Sulawesi1990South Sulawesi, West Sulawesi
Komering0.50.19Lampungic2000 South Sumatra
Tetum0.40.15Timor-Babar2004West Timor
Rejang0.40.15Land Dayak2000 Bengkulu
Muna0.30.11Muna–Buton1989Southeast Sulawesi
Sumbawa0.30.11Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa1989Sumbawa Island
Bangka Malay0.30.11Malayic2000 Bangka Island
Osing0.30.11Javanese2000 East Java
Gayo0.30.11Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands2000 Aceh
Chinese-Cantonese0.30.11Sinitic 2000North Sumatera, Riau Islands, Jakarta
Tolaki0.30.11Celebic1991Southeast Sulawesi
Tae’0.30.11South Sulawesi1992South Sulawesi

Languages by family

Several prominent languages spoken in Indonesia sorted by language family are:
There are many additional small families and isolates among the Papuan languages.
Below is a full list of Papuan language families spoken in Indonesia, following Palmer, et al. :
  1. Trans-New Guinea
  2. #Ok-Oksapmin
  3. #Dani
  4. #Asmat-Kamoro
  5. #Mek
  6. #Paniai Lakes
  7. #West Bomberai
  8. #Somahai
  9. #Anim
  10. #Greater Awyu
  11. #Kayagaric
  12. #Kolopom
  13. #Marori
  14. Timor-Alor-Pantar
  15. North Halmahera
  16. Tambora†
  17. Nuclear South Bird's Head
  18. Inanwatan–Duriankere
  19. Konda–Yahadian
  20. Nuclear East Bird's Head
  21. Hatam–Mansim
  22. West Bird's Head
  23. Abun
  24. Mpur
  25. Maybrat
  26. Mor
  27. Tanah Merah
  28. Tor-Kwerba
  29. Lakes Plain
  30. Border
  31. Sko
  32. East Cenderawasih Bay
  33. Yam
  34. Komolom
  35. Yelmek-Maklew
  36. Eastern Pauwasi
  37. Western Pauwasi
  38. Nimboran
  39. Sentani
  40. Mairasi
  41. Kaure
  42. Lepki-Murkim
  43. Senagi
  44. Tofanma-Namla
  45. Yapen
  46. Abinomn
  47. Burmeso
  48. Elseng
  49. Kapauri
  50. Kembra
  51. Keuw
  52. Kimki
  53. Massep
  54. Mawes
  55. Molof
  56. Usku
  57. Yetfa
  58. Bayono-Awbono
  59. Dem
  60. Uhunduni

    Sign languages

There are at least 2.5 million sign language users across the country, although official report only shows less than 50,000. Sign language users are often ridiculed and stigmatized.
Indonesian languages are generally not rendered in native-invented systems, but in scripts devised by speakers of other languages, that is, Tamil, Arabic, and Latin. Malay, for example, has a long history as a written language and has been rendered in Brahmic, Arabic, and Latin scripts. Javanese has been written in the Pallava script of South India, as well as their derivative, in an Arabic alphabet called pegon that incorporates Javanese sounds, and in the Latin script.
Chinese characters have never been used to write Indonesian languages, although Indonesian place-names, personal names, and names of trade goods appear in reports and histories written for China's imperial courts.

List of writing systems

The following texts are translations of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the languages of Indonesia.
Below is a chart of several Indonesian languages. All of them except for Galela belong to the Austronesian language family. While there have been misunderstandings on which ones should be classified as languages and which ones should be classified as dialects, the chart confirms that many have similarities, yet are not mutually comprehensible. The languages are arranged geographically.
Englishonetwothreefourwaterpersonhousedogcatcoconutdaynewwe whatand
Indonesiansatuduatigaempatairorangrumahanjingkucingkelapaharibarukitaapadan
Minangkabaucie'duotigoampe'aieurangrumahanjiangkuciangkarambiaharibaruawakapojo
Palembang Malaysikokduotigoempatbanyuwongrumahanjingkucingkelaposiangbarukitoapodan
Betawiatu'duétigéempataérorangruméhanjingkucingkelapéaribarukitéapéamé
Banjareseasaduataluampatbanyuurangrumahhadupanbatingasnyiurharihanyarkitaapawan
Kutainesesatuduetigeempatranamurangrumahkoyoknyiurhariberuetamapadengan
Manado Malaysatuduatigaampaaerorangrumaanjingkucingkalapaharibarutorangapadeng
Ambonese Malaysatuduatigaampaairorangrumaanjingkucingkalapaharibarukatongapadan
Acehnesesadualhèëpeuëtiëureuëngrumohasèëmiong / mieiuuroëbangeutanyoëpeuëngon
Niassaraduatöluöfaidanönihaomoasumaobanioluobohouya'itahadiaba
Toba Bataksadaduatoluopataekhalakjabubianghutingharambiriariibbaruhitaahadohot
Mandailing Bataksadaduatoluopataekhalakbagasasuarambiraribaruhitaahadohot
Lampungsayʁuwateluampatwayjelemanuwaasukucingnyiwiʁaniampaiʁamapijama
Sundanesehijiduatiluopatcai/cijalmaimahanjingucingkalapapoéanyarurangnaonjeung
Javanesesijilorotêlupapatbanyuuwòngomahasukucingkambìldinåanyar/énggaladhéwéåpå/anulan
Maduresesettongdhuwa'tello'empa'âêngorengromapate'kochèngnyiorareanyarsengkoapabèn
Balinesebesikdaduatelupapatyéhjadmaumahcicing/kulukméongnyuhdinamarairagaapamuah/lan
Sasaksa/seke'duetelumpataikdenganbaleacong/basongkenyamen/nyiohjelobaruiteapedait
Ngaju Dayakije'due'telu'epatdanumuluhhuma'asuposaenyuhandautahetaitahnaraituntang
Kenyah Dayakséduételewpatsungaikelunan / klunanlamin / uma'asewséangnyodaumaringmé' tew / teleuinewngan
Bugineseseqdiduatellueppaje'ne'taubolaasucokikalukuessoma-baruidiqagana
Makassaresese'reruatalluappa'je'ne'tauballa'kongkongngeongkalukualloberuikatteapana
Mongondowtobatúdoyowatoḷuopattubigintaubaḷoiungkúpinggóbangósinggaimo-bagukitaonubo
Tolakio'asoo'ruoo'toluo'ombaiwoitoonolaikaodahukalukuoleowuohuinggitoohaworonga
Galelamoisinotosa'angeihaakenyawatahukasoigowangeḋamomuanengoneokiade

Citations

Bibliograhpy

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