Language Unity of Indonesia

Indonesian is the official language of the Republic of Indonesia and the language of national unity of Indonesia. Indonesian opened in Indonesia after the Declaration of Independence, exactly a day later, along with the entry into force of the constitution. In East Timor, the Indonesian language is the language of work (working language).

From the standpoint of linguistika, the Indonesian language is a variant of Malay language. The basis used is the Malay language from the 19th century, but experienced growth due to its use as a working language and the standardization process at the beginning of the 20th century. Until now, the Indonesian language is the language of life, which continues to produce new words, either through the creation or absorption of local languages ​​and foreign languages.

Although currently understood by more than 90% of Indonesia, the Indonesian language does not occupy a position as a mother tongue for the majority of the population. Most of the citizens of Indonesia as a native language speaking regions. Indonesian speaker often uses everyday version (kolokial) and / or mixing with other Malay dialect or native language. However, the Indonesian language is widely used in universities, in newspapers, electronic media, software, official correspondence, and various other public forums so that it can be said that Indonesian is used by all citizens of Indonesia.

Phonology and grammar of Indonesian are considered relatively easy. The basics are important for basic communication can be studied only within a few weeks.

Indonesian language is a variant of Malay, an Austronesian language that is used as a lingua franca of the archipelago possibility since the early centuries of the modern calendar.

Srivijaya kingdom (from the 7th century AD) using the Malay language (as the Old Malay) as the state language. It is known from four adjacent old inscription found in Sumatra, the southern part of the kingdom it. At that time the use studded Malay loan words from Sanskrit. As the ruler of the trade in these islands (archipelago), the trader makes a trade of people forced to use the Malay language, albeit less than perfect. This gave rise to a variety of local and temporal variants, commonly called Malay Market by researchers. The discovery of the Old Malay inscriptions in Central Java (dates to the 9th century) and in the near Bogor (Bogor inscription) from the 10th century showed a spread of the use of this language in Java. Copper pieces were found in Laguna near Manila, Luzon Island, dates to 900 AD also showed linkage region with Srivijaya.

Linguistic study of a number of texts indicate that there are at least two dialects of Old Malay language used on the adjacent. Unfortunately, the Old Malay language does not leave a note in the form of literature though reports from China claimed that the Buddhist Srivijaya have a quality education.

In the 15th century developed a form which is considered a form of Malay as the official language used by the Sultanate of Malacca, which was later called as a High Malay. Its use is limited among the royal families around Sumatra, Java and the Malay Peninsula. Alfred Russel Wallace wrote in the Malay Archipelago that "the inhabitants of Malacca have had a language of its own that comes from the most elegant way of speaking of other countries, so that the language of the Malays are the most beautiful, precise, and praised throughout the East. Language they is a language spoken throughout the Netherlands East Indies. " Furthermore, Jan van Linschoten Huyghen, in the book Itinerario ("Journey") of his work, wrote that "Malacca is a gathering place for fishermen from different countries. They then create a city and develop their own language, with words that take the best of everything language around them. City of Malacca, due to a favorable position, being the major airports in the southeast Asia region, which is called the Malay language became the language of the most polite and most fit among the languages ​​of the Far East. "

The first Indonesian Language Congress has determined that Indonesian comes from the Malay language, as well as other allied countries such as Malaysia recognizes that the standard Malay is Malay Riau-Johor.