Comparison of Standard Malay and Indonesian

Malaysian and Indonesian are two standardised registers of the Malay language, used in Malaysia and Indonesia, respectively. Both varieties are generally mutually intelligible, yet there are significant differences in spelling, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary, as well as the predominant source of loanwords.^[1][2][3] The differences can range from those mutually unintelligible with one another, to those having a closer familial resemblance. The regionalised and localised varieties of Malay can become a catalyst for intercultural conflict, especially in higher education.^[4][5][6]

Perception

To non-native speakers the two varieties may seem identical, but to native speakers the differences are noticeable through both diction and accent. They affect the broadcasting industry with regard to foreign language subtitling, for example, in DVD movies and on cable TV. In order to reach a wider audience, both Indonesian and Malay subtitles are sometimes displayed in a movie, along with other language subtitles. Another example is Malaysian TV providing Malay subtitling on Indonesian sinetrons (TV dramas) aired in Malaysia,^[7] and vice versa.^[8]

The Malay language in Indonesia and Malaysia also differs in recognition, where in Malaysia it enjoys status as the national language (Malaysian language),^[9] while in Indonesia it is considered as a regional language in Malay-speaking areas such as the eastern coast of Sumatra and West Kalimantan.^[10][11] The term "Malay language" (Bahasa Melayu) in Indonesia and Malaysia invites different perceptions from its respective people.^[12] To Malaysians, the Malay language is generally understood as the national language of Malaysia, with Malaysian language (Bahasa Malaysia) being a precise appellation for the Malay variety used in the country.^[13] Between 1986 and 2007, the term Bahasa Melayu was used instead of Bahasa Malaysia, until the latter was reinstated, in order to instill a sense of belonging among Malaysians of all races, rather than just Malays.^[14][15] Therefore, there was no clear distinction between the use of the term Malay (Bahasa Melayu) and the national language of Malaysia (Bahasa Malaysia). In Brunei, where Malay is also an official language, the language is known as Bahasa Melayu and in English as "Malay".^[16]

In Indonesia, however, there is a clear distinction between "Malay language" (bahasa Melayu) and "Indonesian" (bahasa Indonesia). Indonesian is the national language which serves as the unifying language of Indonesia; despite being a standardized form of Malay, it is not referred to with the term "Malay" in common parlance.^[17] The term "Malay" is usually reserved for the forms of Malay indigenous to the Malay ethnic group (the national standardized language of Malaysia and the non-standard idioms of Malay people, including those used by Malay Indonesians). Thus, "Malay" is considered a regional language (bahasa daerah) in Indonesia, enjoying the same status as e.g. Javanese, Sundanese, Buginese, Balinese, Batak languages and others.^[18] Moreover, to some Indonesians, the term "Malay" is more often associated with Malaysia and the Malaysian variety of Malay.^[19].

In Malaysia, the terms "Indonesian Malay" and "Malaysian Malay" are sometimes used for Indonesian and Malaysian as spoken in Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Indonesian Malay" usually refers to the vernacular varieties of Malay spoken by the Malay peoples of Indonesia, that is, to Malay as a regional language in Sumatra, though it is rarely used.^[20] Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Melayu are used interchangeably in reference to Malay in Malaysia.

Orthography

Before the 20th century, Malay was written in a local modified form of the Arabic alphabet known as Jawi. During the 20th century, Malay written with Roman letters, known as Rumi, almost completely replaced Jawi in everyday life. The romanisations originally used in Malaya (now part of Malaysia) and the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) reflected their past history as British and Dutch colonial possessions respectively. In Malaya, the romanisation of Malay, devised by Richard Wilkinson^[21] was influenced by English, whereas in the Dutch East Indies, the system devised by C. A. Van Ophuijsen was influenced by Dutch.^[22] As a result, in Indonesia, the vowel in the English word 'moon' was formerly represented oe, as in Dutch, although the official spelling of this sound was changed to u in 1947 when the Republican Spelling System was used.^[23]

Similarly, until 1972, the initial consonant of the English 'chin' was represented in Malaysia as ch, whereas in Indonesia, it continued to follow Dutch and used tj. Hence the word for 'grandchild' used to be written as chuchu in Malaysia and tjoetjoe in Indonesia, until a unified spelling system was introduced in 1972 (known in Indonesia as Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan or the 'Perfected Spelling') which removed most differences between the two varieties: Malay ch and Indonesian tj became c: hence cucu.^[24] Indonesia abandoned the spelling dj (for the consonant at the beginning of the word 'Jakarta') to conform to the j already in use in Malaysia, while the old Indonesian j for the semivowel at the beginning of the English 'young', was replaced with y as in Malaysia. Likewise, the velar fricative which occurs in many Arabic loanwords, which used to be written 'ch' in Indonesian, became kh in both languages.^[24] However, oe was retained in some proper names, such as the name of the first President, Sukarno (written as Soekarno), and his successor Suharto, (written as Soeharto). The ch and dj letter combinations are still encountered in names such as Achmad and Djojo (pronounced as Akhmad and Joyo respectively), although the post-1972 spelling is now favoured.

Although the representations of speech sounds are now largely identical in the Indonesian and Malay standards, a number of minor spelling differences remain, usually for historical reasons. For instance, the word for 'money' is written as wang in Malaysia, but uang in Indonesia, the word for 'try' is written as cuba in Malaysia, but coba in Indonesia, the word for 'because' is written as kerana in Malaysia, but karena in Indonesia, while the word for 'cake' is written as kuih in Malaysia, but kue in Indonesia. One notable difference in punctuation between the two languages is the use of different decimal marks; Indonesian, influenced by Dutch, uses the decimal comma,^[25] whereas Malay, influenced by English, uses the decimal point.^[26]

Pronunciation

Pronunciation also tends to be very different, with East Malaysia, Brunei and East Indonesia pronouncing words in a form called Bahasa Baku,^[27] where the words are pronounced as spelled.^[28] and enunciation tends to be clipped, staccato and faster than on the Malay Peninsula, which is spoken at a more languorous pace. Many vowels are pronounced (and were formerly spelt) differently in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Sumatra: tujuh is pronounced (and was spelt) tujoh, pilih as pileh, etc., and many final a's tend to be pronounced as schwas; [e] and [o] are also allophones of /i/ and /u/ in closed final syllables in peninsular Malaysian, Singaporean and Sumatran varieties of Malay.^[29][30]

Vocabulary

Syllabification

The influence of English

One of the most important aspect in differences between Malaysian and Indonesian is the degree of influence from English. Apart from being heavily influenced by the Dutch language, Indonesian language also adopted a significant number of English loanwords in its vocabulary, although English did not play significant role on the Indonesian language and in fact most of these vocabulary are of Dutch origin - Dutch and English share a similar Germanic origin, and Dutch has also borrowed from Latin, although to a lesser extent than English. There have been many changes in Indonesian as a result of its historical development. Words have been freely borrowed from English and only partly assimilated, in many cases, to the Indonesian patterns of structure.^[33]

By the late 1970s, English words began pouring into the language, leading one commentator, writing in 1977, to refer to the "trend towards Indo-Saxonization",^[34] known in Indonesian as pengindosaksonan. A great many borrowings from English sometimes fulfill no communicative need, expressing concepts adequately covered by existing words. Among the examples are: akurat instead of tepat (accurate), aliansi in the place of sekutu (alliance), eksis rather than ada (exist), kandidat as well as calon (candidate), konklusi instead of kesimpulan (conclusion) kontaminasi in the place of pencemaran (contamination), opini rather than pendapat (opinion) and opsi in the place of pilihan (option). Contrary to its Indonesian counterpart, Malay has shown a remarkable resilience, despite formerly being part of British Empire.^[35]

Some in Indonesia view this trend of excessive borrowings as "language dynamism", while some Malaysian linguists called it mass "language pollution",^[36] and lack of creativity in creating new terms.

Convergence of vocabulary

The rift of evolution between the two languages is based more on political nuance and the history of their formation than on cultural reasons. As a result, views regarding each other's languages differ amongst Malaysians and Indonesians. In Malaysia, the national language is Malaysian; in Indonesia, it is Indonesian. Malaysians tend to assert that Malaysian and Indonesian are merely different varieties of the same language, while Indonesians tend to treat them as separate – albeit closely related – languages. The result of this attitude is that the Indonesians feel little need to synchronize their language with Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, whereas the Malaysians are keener to coordinate the evolution of the language with the Indonesians.^[38] However, both parties have realized that communication benefits from mutually comprehensible and intelligible languages, which motivated efforts to synchronize the languages' development. The effort to synchronize both languages' evolution to increase their mutual intelligibility has been embarked by imposing standard rules of language. This process is headed by Pusat Bahasa^[39] on the Indonesian side and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka as its Malaysian counterpart.

Sample

The following texts are excerpts from the official translations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Malaysian and Indonesian, along with the original declaration in English.

• Malaysian text sample:^[40]

Maka dengan ini,

Perhimpunan Agung mengisytiharkan

PERISYTIHARAN SEJAGAT HAK ASASI MANUSIA ini sebagai suatu ukuran bersama terhadap pencapaian oleh seluruh umat manusia dan kesemua negara dengan tujuan supaya setiap individu dan setiap badan masyarakat, dengan sentiasa mengingati Perisytiharan ini, hendaklah berazam melalui pengajaran dan pendidikan bagi memajukan sanjungan terhadap seluruh hak-hak dan kebebasan ini dan secara langkah-langkah berperingkat-peringkat, di bidang negara dan antarabangsa, bagi menjaminkan pengkitirafan dan pematuhan sejagatnya yang berkesan, kedua-duanya di antara negara-negara anggota masing-masing dan rakyat wilayah-wilayah di bawah bidangkuasa mereka.

Perkara 1.

Semua manusia dilahirkan bebas dan samarata dari segi kemuliaan dan hak-hak. Mereka mempunyai pemikiran dan perasaan hati dan hendaklah bertindak di antara satu sama lain dengan semangat persaudaraan.

• Indonesian text sample:^[41]

Maka,

Majelis Umum memproklamasikan

PERNYATAAN UMUM TENTANG HAK ASASI MANUSIA sebagai satu standar umum keberhasilan untuk semua bangsa dan negara, dengan tujuan agar setiap orang dan setiap badan dalam masyarakat dengan senantiasa mengingat Pernyataan ini, akan berusaha dengan jalan mengajar dan mendidik untuk menggalakkan penghargaan terhadap hak-hak dan kebebasan-kebebasan tersebut, dan dengan jalan tindakan-tindakan progresif yang bersifat nasional maupun internasional, menjamin pengakuan dan penghormatannya secara universal dan efektif, baik oleh bangsa-bangsa dari negara anggota sendiri maupun oleh bangsa-bangsa dari daerah-daerah yang berada di bawah kekuasaan hukum mereka.

Pasal 1

Semua orang dilahirkan merdeka dan mempunyai martabat dan hak-hak yang sama. Mereka dikaruniai akal dan hati nurani dan hendaknya bergaul sesama lain dalam semangat persaudaraan.

• The original English version of the text:^[42]

Now, therefore,

the General Assembly proclaims

this UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

References

External links

• The Malay Spelling Reform, Asmah Haji Omar, (Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society, 1989-2 pp. 9–13 later designated J11)
• The MALAY LANGUAGE in MALAYSIA and INDONESIA: from lingua franca to national language Asmah Haji Omar article in The Asianists' ASIA
• Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. 2008. Pusat Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional