Question about language situation in Indonesia

[David Gil]

Dear all,

In response to Chris:

To my mind, the two most salient differences between the language
situation in Indonesia and the Philippines are

(a) The unimportance of the ex-colonial language in the contemporary
linguistic landscape of Indonesia.  (In this regard, the status of
English in the Philippines is more closely paralleled by its status in Malaysia.)

(b) The more general acceptance of Malay (as Bahasa Indonesia) as the
national language of Indonesia, in comparison with Tagalog (as
P/Filipino) in the Philippines.

> How do most Indonesians view other languages as simply dialects?

In general: no.  Unlike, say, the Chinese, the Indonesians take for
granted the fact that different people in different places within their
country speak different languages. This conception is enshrined in the
(Indonesian language) term "bahasa daerah", or "regional language".

In Indonesian, language names are often constructed in accordance with
the formula "bahasa [toponym]", for example "bahasa Jambi" and "bahasa
Palembang", named after two cities in Sumatra.  In fact, since many
linguists would characterize these two isolects as dialects of a single
language, namely Malay, it seems as though Indonesians, if anything, are
willing to exaggerate the degree to which different isolects represent
different languages as opposed to different dialects (even though the
term "dialek' is also quite widespread in its usage).

On the other hand, if an average Indonesian is asked to guess the number
of different languages are spoken in Indonesia, the answer will
invariably fall far short of the real number, often by an order of
magnitude or more.  But this is simply because they are largely unaware
of the extent of linguistic diversity in Irian Jaya and other parts of
the country.

> Are languages such as Javanese, Buginese, Batak, etc. used as the medium of
> instruction in their respective regions?  If not, are Indonesians satisfied
> with that?

Yes, they are used.  I myself have not encountered much discussion of
these issues, though I wouldn't be surprised if other people have had
different experiences.

David



--
David Gil

Department of Linguistics
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Inselstrasse 22, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany

Telephone: 49-341-9952321
Fax: 49-341-9952119
Email: gil at eva.mpg.de
Webpage:  http://monolith.eva.mpg.de/~gil/