Bahasa Indonesia
Indonesian
Austronesian
Also known as: Indonesian, Bahasa Indonesia
Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is the national language of Indonesia, with ~200M total speakers — primarily as L2 lingua franca across the archipelago's 700+ regional languages, with ~25-40M L1. It is a standardized form of Malay (Malayic Austronesian), sister to Standard Malay (ms) used in Malaysia/Brunei/Singapore. Adopted as the language of unification at the 1928 Sumpah Pemuda (Youth Pledge), it grew from the Riau-based market-Malay register rather than Javanese (the largest L1 community) — a deliberate political choice for ethnic neutrality. Latin orthography evolved through three reforms: van Ophuijsen 1901, Soewandi 1947, Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan 1972, the latter harmonized with Malaysian Rumi. SVO with extensive verbal affix system (meN-/di-/ber-/ter-/ke...an).
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Indonesian
Water
air
/ˈa.ir/
Fire
api
/api/
Sun
matahari
/matahari/
Moon
bulan
/bulan/
Mother
ibu
/ibu/
Father
ayah
/ajah/
Eat
makan
/makan/
Drink
minum
/minum/
Love
cinta
/tʃinta/
Heart
hati
/hati/
Tree
pohon
/pohon/
House
rumah
/rumah/
Dog
anjing
/andʒiŋ/
Cat
kucing
/kutʃiŋ/
Hand
tangan
/taŋan/
Eye
mata
/mata/
Hello
halo
/ˈhalo/
Thank you
terima kasih
/tərima kasih/
One
satu
/satu/
Good
baik
/baiʔ/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Austronesian languages
| Meaning | Indonesian | Malay | North Moluccan Malay | Ambon Malay | Old Malay | Musi | Banjar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | air /ˈa.ir/ | air /ˈa.ir/ | aer /aer/ | aer /aer/ | ayar /ajar/ | ayek /ajek/ | banyu /baɲu/ |
| Fire | api /api/ | api /api/ | api /api/ | api /api/ | api /api/ | api /api/ | api /api/ |
| Sun | matahari /matahari/ | matahari /matahari/ | matahari /matahari/ | mata hari /mata hari/ | matari /matari/ | matahari /matahari/ | matahari /matahari/ |
| Moon | bulan /bulan/ | bulan /bulan/ | bulan /bulan/ | bulan /bulan/ | bulan /bulan/ | bulan /bulan/ | bulan /bulan/ |
| Mother | ibu /ibu/ | ibu /ibu/ | mama /mama/ | mama /mama/ | ibu /ibu/ | mak /mak/ | uma /uma/ |
| Father | ayah /ajah/ | ayah /ajah/ | papa /papa/ | papa /papa/ | bapa /bapa/ | bapak /bapak/ | abah /abah/ |
| Eat | makan /makan/ | makan /makan/ | makang /makaŋ/ | makang /makaŋ/ | makan /makan/ | makan /makan/ | makan /makan/ |
| Drink | minum /minum/ | minum /minum/ | minong /minoŋ/ | minong /minoŋ/ | minum /minum/ | minum /minum/ | nginum /ŋinum/ |
| Love | cinta /tʃinta/ | cinta /tʃinta/ | cinta /tʃinta/ | sayang /sajaŋ/ | sayang /sajaŋ/ | sayang /sajaŋ/ | sayang /sajaŋ/ |
| Heart | hati /hati/ | hati /hati/ | hati /hati/ | hati /hati/ | hati /hati/ | hati /hati/ | ati /ati/ |
| Tree | pohon /pohon/ | pokok /pokoʔ/ | pohong /pohoŋ/ | pohon /pohon/ | kayu /kaju/ | kayu /kaju/ | batang /bataŋ/ |
| House | rumah /rumah/ | rumah /rumah/ | ruma /ruma/ | ruma /ruma/ | rumah /rumah/ | rumah /rumah/ | rumah /rumah/ |
| Dog | anjing /andʒiŋ/ | anjing /andʒiŋ/ | anjing /andʒiŋ/ | anjing /andʒiŋ/ | anjing /andʒiŋ/ | anjing /andʒiŋ/ | anjing /andʒiŋ/ |
| Cat | kucing /kutʃiŋ/ | kucing /kutʃiŋ/ | ikung /ikuŋ/ | kucing /kutʃiŋ/ | kucing /kutʃiŋ/ | kucing /kutʃiŋ/ | pusa /pusa/ |
| Hand | tangan /taŋan/ | tangan /taŋan/ | tangang /taŋaŋ/ | tangang /taŋaŋ/ | tangan /taŋan/ | tangan /taŋan/ | tangan /taŋan/ |
| Eye | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mato /mato/ | mata /mata/ |
| Hello | halo /ˈhalo/ | hai /hai/ | cerang /tʃeraŋ/ | hela /hela/ | — /—/ | halo /halo/ | salam /salam/ |
| Thank you | terima kasih /tərima kasih/ | terima kasih /tərima kasih/ | tarima kase /tarima kase/ | tarima kase /tarima kase/ | — /—/ | terimo kasih /terimo kasih/ | tarima kasih /tarima kasih/ |
| One | satu /satu/ | satu /satu/ | satu /satu/ | satu /satu/ | sa /sa/ | siko /siko/ | asa /asa/ |
| Good | baik /baiʔ/ | baik /baiʔ/ | bae /bae/ | bagus /baɡus/ | baik /baik/ | bagus /baɡus/ | bagus /baɡus/ |
Word order compared
Compare with major world languages
Compare with closely-related languages
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