6 Jul /16

Indonesian language forged a national identity

Indonesian language forged a national identity - EVS Translations

Modern Indonesian language comes from the Classical Malay used in the courts of the Malacca Sultanate. While its predecessor, Old Malay, progressively became the dominant language in the region through trade, Indonesian, which is essentially a North-east Sumatran version of Malay, achieved widespread usage as a way to forge a national identity.

The official Indonesian language is Bahasa Indonesia, but within Indonesia, over 700 other languages are spoken. Surprisingly, being in the colonial spheres of Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Japan, Indonesian, though importing words from some other languages (mostly Dutch), is one of the few native Asian languages that has emerged without the influence of a colonial language.

Ironically, when Indonesia achieved its independence, modern Indonesian never logically made sense as a national language: sure, it has been used in commerce and travel for centuries and was instrumental in spreading Christianity and Islam to Indonesia, but it was only the native language of approximately 5% of the population, dwarfed by Javanese (~45%) and Sundanese (15%). What separated Indonesian was that, although it was only a first language to a few, thanks to its ties with commerce and religion, almost everyone knew a little of it, thus giving it a unifying effect for the new country’s population.

Being a regional language in East Asia is always difficult: no matter what you are always going to be smaller than Mandarin (China) and Hindi (India). However, for a business looking for new markets, Malay Indonesian language that covers Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia, offers a marketplace of over a quarter of a billion people.

If you are interested in placing or expanding your business, to reach the quarter of a billion customers who speak Indonesian language, consult EVS Translations to find out about our certified Indonesian translation and Indonesian interpreting, along with Indonesian voiceovers and web- and software- localisation services.