Enkomputiligis Don HARLOW

Bahasa Indonesia

by Edwin Burg

First published in Esperanto U.S.A., issue 1994(1)

slightly modified by the author in 2003

Introductory paragraph by Donald J. Harlow

[We had no intention of publishing a series of articles about constructed languages, but all of a sudden they started falling into our hands first Reg Reid and Rob Hardy's article about the history and structure of Ido; then, G. F. Proechel's article about Klingon; and now, a short discussion by Edwin Burg, Esperantist from the Netherlands, about the history of Bahasa Indonesia, the national language of one of the world's most populous nations.]

Few know that the Indonesian language is a scientifically developed, artificial language, just like a.o."Ivrit", the modern Hebrew spoken in Israel and "Nynorsk", the second language of Norway. For decades this planned language "bahasa Indonesia" has proved its value and practicability in that large island chain where 673 ⁽¹⁾ different languages are spoken. A territory of 1,300 islands which covers approximately an area from London to Yekaterinburg behind the Ural mountains in Russia, and from Sweden to halfway down the Mediterranean.

Indonesia's language is strongly related to Malay which is spoken on the Malayan peninsula alongside the Strait of Malacca and on smaller surrounding islands such as the Riau archipelago situated between Singapore and Sumatra. For many centuries the seafaring inhabitants of the Riau archipelago have conducted business along the long and seemingly endless coastline of the former Dutch East Indies, now the Republic of Indonesia. Based on reliable information their version of Malay, "bahasa Malayu", became ― most probably in its simplified form ― the "Lingua Franca" in this part of south-east Asia. First along the coast and later into the deep interior of the larger islands, where diversified segments of the population congregated at commercial centres ("Pasars"). Here this simplified and easy to learn language called "bahasa Malayu Pasar" gained popularity.

Contrary to the language policy e.g. in the British, French, Portuguese and Spanish Colonies, the Dutch Government in "The East" never imposed the Dutch language upon the native people. Almost all government employees and Europeans living in those areas spoke that rather simple, pidginlike "bahasa Malayu Pasar", but they were also familiar with some of the local varieties as well.

Born and brought up in East Java I spoke Dutch at home, but I also had to make myself understood in "bahasa Malayu Pasar", "bahasa Madura" (spoken on the nearby Island of Madura), and had to familiarise myself with at least two languages spoken by the Javanese population in Central and Eastern Java. The Javanese culture has a high moral standing, and the Javanese people can express themselves in at least three to four languages. In their culture an individual of lesser ranking will address his superior in "High Javanese", while the higher in rank will speak to his subordinate in "Low Javanese". Both "High Javanese" and "Low Javanese" are as different as for instance the Dutch to the French language. Courtiers in the former Kingdoms of Yogyakarta and Surakarta additionally spoke a "Court Javanese" and according to experts, there is still another language known as "Literary Javanese". Imagine all these different languages being spoken by the people of one nation !

In order to improve communication with the people of this widespread archipelago and their different idioms, and to enhance the contacts between the diversified ethnic groups, the then Dutch Government in The Hague, together with the Colonial Civil Service in the Dutch East Indies, expressed the need to come up with a valid "Lingua Franca". This would not only be useful, but above all necessary to govern this large conglomerate of islands with a population so different in ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In 1908 the language expert, C.A. van Ophuijsen, son of a civil servant in Bukit Tingi (ex Fort-de-Kock) on the Island of Sumatra, published the first "bahasa Malayu Pasar" grammar book. And wordlists with many new words taken from the Javanese and other island languages. He would certainly have drawn inspiration from the simple structure and grammar of Esperanto, which was by then already gaining popularity in the former Dutch East Indies. His monumental effort was labelled "bahasa Malayu van Ophuijsen". In the years between 1925 and 1930 an independent commission perfected van Ophuijsen's language project even more. It is significant to note that already on October 28, 1928, during the colonial years, the indigenous forerunners of the independence movement were granted to issue the proclamation "Indonesia-one country-one nation-one language, bahasa Indonesia". Soon after World War II this intermediate language became rather popular and in 1948 it became the official language of this newly born state. After Indonesia's Independence in 1949 this basically artificial language matured rapidly. In 1940 only 6 % of the population spoke the official language, by 1960 this number had increased to 60 % and generally spoken it is now used all over this large archipelago.

Still there is something we have to know. "bahasa Indonesia", literally translated, means "Indonesian language", so don't you say "Do you speak 'bahasa' ?", because you are saying "Do you speak 'language' ?" ! (vous parlez 'langue' ?: sprechen Sie 'sprache' ?; spreekt u 'taal' ? )

The "bahasa Indonesia", a successful story of an artificial, planned language !

Let us hope that the leaders of the European Union (EU) are sincerely willing to conserve EU's language diversity and develop a vision similar to the one developed by those who worked so diligently for the independence of Indonesia. That they ― in order to protect and preserve the language(s) of each Member-State ― will strive for the introduction of a relatively easy to learn, political neutral, supranational communication tool: the international language Esperanto, as a brillant "Lingua Franca" for the expanding European Union.