Indonesian is the official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standardized variety of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. With over 280 million inhabitants, Indonesia ranks as the fourth most populous nation globally. According to the 2020 census, over 97% of Indonesians are fluent in Indonesian, making it the largest language by number of speakers in Southeast Asia and one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Indonesian vocabulary has been influenced by various regional languages such as Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau, Balinese, Banjarese, and Buginese, as well as by foreign languages such as Arabic, Dutch, Portuguese, and English. Many borrowed words have been adapted to fit the phonetic and grammatical rules of Indonesian, enriching the language and reflecting Indonesia's diverse linguistic heritage.
Malay is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spoken in East Timor and parts of Thailand. Altogether, it is spoken by 290 million people across Maritime Southeast Asia.
Jawi is a writing system used for writing several languages of Southeast Asia, such as Acehnese, Magindanawn, Malay, Mëranaw, Minangkabau, Tausūg, and Ternate. Jawi is based on the Arabic script, consisting of all 31 original Arabic letters, six letters constructed to fit phonemes native to Malay, and one additional phoneme used in foreign loanwords, but not found in Classical Arabic, which are ca, nga, pa, ga, va, and nya.
In addition to its classical and modern literary form, Malay had various regional dialects established after the rise of the Srivijaya empire in Sumatra, Indonesia. Also, Malay spread through interethnic contact and trade across the south East Asia Archipelago as far as the Philippines. That contact resulted in a lingua franca that was called Bazaar Malay or low Malay and in Malay Melayu Pasar. It is generally believed that Bazaar Malay was a pidgin, influenced by contact among Malay, Hokkien, Portuguese, and Dutch traders.
The Minahasans or Minahassa are an indigenous ethnic group from the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes. The Minahasa people sometimes refer to themselves as Manado people. Although the Minahasan pre-Christian creation myth entails some form of ethnic unification, before the nineteenth century the Minahasa region was in no way unified. Instead, a number of politically independent groups (walak) existed together, often in a permanent state of conflict.
Manado is the capital city of the Indonesian province of North Sulawesi. It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 census giving a population of 451,916, and the official estimates for mid 2023 showing 458,582 inhabitants, distributed over a land area of 157.26 km2. The Manado metropolitan area had a population of 1,377,815 as of mid 2023. The city is situated on the Bay of Manado, and is surrounded by a mountainous area.
Malaysian Malay or Malaysian —endonymically within Malaysia as Standard Malay or simply Malay — is a standardized form of the Malay language used in Malaysia and also used in Brunei and Singapore. Malaysian Malay is standardized from the Johore-Riau dialect of Malay, particularly a branch spoken in the state of Johore south of the Malay Peninsula. It is spoken by much of the Malaysian population, although most learn a vernacular Malay dialect or another native language first. Malay is a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools.
Mongondow, or Bolaang Mongondow, is one of the Philippine languages spoken in Bolaang Mongondow Regency and neighbouring regencies of North Sulawesi (Celebes) and Gorontalo Provinces, Indonesia. With more than 200,000 speakers, it is the major language of the regency. Historically, it served as the official language of the Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom.
The Gorontalo language is a language spoken in Gorontalo Province, Sulawesi, Indonesia by the Gorontalo people. With around one million speakers, it is a major language of northern Sulawesi.
Sarawak Malay is a Malayic language native to the State of Sarawak. It is a common language used by natives of Sarawak and also as the important mother tongue for the Sarawakian Malay people.
The Minahasan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken by the Minahasa people in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. They belong to the Philippine subgroup.
Larantuka Malay, also known as Nagi, is a Malay-based creole language spoken in the eastern part of Flores in Indonesia, especially in Larantuka. It is a derivative of Malay which is thought to originate from Malacca. It is a language with unspecified linguistic affiliation. According to 2007 data, this language is spoken by 20,000 speakers, mainly the people of East Flores. Larantuka Malay is the mother tongue of the Nagi people. Then it also functions as a second language for several nearby communities.
Bangka or Bangka Malay, is a Malayic language spoken in Indonesia, specifically on the island of Bangka in the Bangka Belitung Islands of Sumatra. It is primarily spoken by the native Malay people of Bangka, as well as by immigrants from other parts of Indonesia and the Bangka Chinese, who use it as their second language in addition to their native Hakka. Bangka Malay is spoken exclusively on the island of Bangka, although it is related to Palembang Malay and Belitung Malay spoken on neighboring islands. There are five different dialects of Bangka Malay: the Pangkalpinang dialect, Mentok dialect, Belinyu dialect, Sungailiat dialect, and Toboali dialect. Each of these dialects has its own subdialects. Additionally, the Bangka Chinese community speaks their own dialect of Bangka Malay, which is influenced by Hakka. The differences between each of these dialects are mostly lies in their phonology and morphology, except for the Bangka Cina dialect, which also has slight differences in vocabulary.
Ternate is a language of northern Maluku, eastern Indonesia. It is spoken by the Ternate people, who inhabit the island of Ternate, as well as many other areas of the archipelago. It is the dominant indigenous language of North Maluku, historically important as a regional lingua franca. A North Halmahera language, it is unlike most languages of Indonesia which belong to the Austronesian language family.
Tontemboan is an Austronesian language, of northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is a Minahasan language, a sub-group of the Philippine languages.
This article explains the phonology of Malay and Indonesian based on the pronunciation of Standard Malay, which is the official language of Brunei and Singapore, "Malaysian" of Malaysia, and Indonesian the official language of Indonesia and a working language in Timor Leste. There are two main standards for Malay pronunciation, the Johor-Riau standard, used in Brunei and Malaysia, and the Baku, used in Indonesia and Singapore.
North Moluccan Malay is a Malay-based creole language spoken on Ternate, Tidore, Morotai, Halmahera, and Sula Islands in North Maluku for intergroup communications. The local name of the language is bahasa Pasar, and the name Ternate Malay is also used, after the main ethnic group speaking the language. It is commonly written using Indonesian orthography. One of its varieties is Sula Malay, which was formed with the influence of Ambonese Malay and Dutch.
Tondano is an Austronesian language spoken in the Tondano area of northeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is most similar to Tombulu and to Tonsea.
