Wikijunior:Languages/Indonesian
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[edit] What writing system(s) does this language use?
Indonesian (known locally as Bahasa Indonesia, literally the "Indonesian Language") uses the Roman alphabet, like English and German.
It is written mostly phonetically, with the exception of the letter 'e', which can be pronounced either hard or soft depending on the word. The hard 'e' is pronounced like 'eh'. Some dictionaries represent this by writing 'é'. The soft 'e' is like the English schwa sound, an unstressed sound, like the 'a' at the beginning of 'agree' or the 'o' at the beginning of 'other'.
The Indonesian language has a simple way to form words. There are base words (kata dasar) that can be used with prefixes (awalan) and suffixes (akhiran). To build your vocabulary, you only need to memorize the base word, and you can often make sense of the variations using the prefixes and suffixes.
[edit] How many people speak this language?
Slightly less than 255 million people speak Bahasa Indonesia as a main language. However many Indonesians, especially those of the older generations, are not fluent in Indonesian.
The Indonesian language is based on the Malay language with many words added from Dutch, Javanese, and many local languages of Indonesia like Sundanese, Betawi, Minangkabau, etc.
Since becoming the official national language of Indonesia, the language has developed quickly with the addition of many English-based words.
[edit] Where is this language spoken?
Bahasa Indonesia is chiefly spoken in the Republic of Indonesia, as well as minority populations around the world.
[edit] What is the history of this language?
Indonesian is the official language of the country of Indonesia. Indonesian is a standardized dialect of the Malay language that became Indonesia's official language when Indonesia declared independence in 1945.
dialect - one form of a language; sometimes different regions of an area develop slightly different forms of a language, called dialects
[edit] Who are some famous authors or poets in this language?
[edit] What are some basic words in this language that I can learn?
Basic words:
Yes.
Ya. (EEYUH)
No.
Tidak. (TEE-duh)
Sorry.
Maaf. (MA-AF)
Greetings & phrases:
Good morning.
Selamat pagi. (slum-mut PUH-GUEE)
How are you?
Apa kabar? (AH-pAh KAH-bar?)
My name is ______ .
Nama saya ______ . (NUM-MUH suh-yuh _____ .)
Where is the toilet?
Di mana toiletnya? (DEE muh-nuh TOY-leht-nyuh?)
Numbers:
0 : nol
1 : satu
2 : dua
3 : tiga
4 : empat
5 : lima
6 : enam
7 : tujuh
8 : delapan
9 : sembilan
10 : sepuluh
[edit] What is a simple song/poem/story that I can learn in this language?
Burung Kakatua
| Song in Indonesian | English translation |
| Burung kakatua | Cockatoo |
| Hinggap di jendela | Perched on the windowsill |
| Nenek sudah tua | Grandma is already old |
| Giginya tinggal dua | She only has two teeth left |
[edit] References
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Wikijunior: Languages | edit | |
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Introduction • Glossary • Authors and Contributing • Print Version |
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