| Register | Sign In

Indonesian Language Facts

Information About Indonesian Language

Indonesian Phrasebase Discuss Discussion

Indonesian Phrasebase Discuss Topics

Extinct: no

Family: Malayo-Polynesian

Branch: Western

Continent: Asia

Country: Indonesia

Region: Used in all regions of Indonesia. Also spoken in Netherlands, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, USA. PERANAKAN: East and central Java.

Countries Where Spoken: 17,000,000 to 30,000,000 mother tongue speakers; over 140,000,000 second language users with varying levels of speaking and reading proficiency. Population total all countries 17,050,000 to 30,000,000. PERANAKAN: Many thousands of speakers (1981 Wurm and Hattori).

Countries Where Official: Indonesia

Native Speakers: 17,050,000

Speakers Total: 30,000,000

Phrasebase members who speak this language at a native level: 443

Phrasebase members who speak this language at a conversational level: 443

Phrasebase members primary language they are trying to learn: 955

Phrasebase members secondary language they are trying to learn: 1,546

Three Letter Code: INZ

Alternative Names: BAHASA INDONESIA, CHINESE INDONESIAN, BABA INDONESIAN, PERANAKAN

Dialects:

Summary: Reported to be modeled on Riau Malay of northeast Sumatra. Has regional variants. Over 80% cognate with Standard Malay. National language. Grammar. Roman and Arabic scripts. Muslim. Bible 1974-1985. PERANAKAN: It is based in Indonesian and Javanese. It has Mandarin elements, in contrast to Baba Malay, which has Hokkien elements. Monolinguals are over 70 years old. Developed at the beginning of the 17th century among Low Malay speaking Chinese traders from Fukien who married Javanese women. Investigation needed: intelligibility with Baba Malay, bilingual proficiency in Indonesian, Javanese.

Indonesian Books

Indonesian Phrasebooks

Indonesian DVD's

Indonesian Videos