History of Indonesian Language: Birth & Development (Complete)

As Indonesian citizens, it seems that we all know that Indonesian is the language used by Indonesian people in daily communication. This language has also become a national identity among other nations worldwide. Then how is the history so that the language we use is Indonesian?

History of Indonesian Language Development

In short, before officially becoming the national language, Indonesian was first known as Malay. It was only since October 28, 1928, that Indonesian was officially used by the State of Indonesia as the national language.

Meanwhile, to explore the history of the development of the Indonesian language, it must be started from the history of its birth, which will be presented in the explanation below.

History of the Birth of the Indonesian Language

The history of the birth of the Indonesian language stems from the old Malay language, which until now can still be investigated as a relic of the archipelago's past. Further research conducted by experts even found that this Austronesian language also has a familial relationship with other languages ​​spoken in mainland Southeast Asia (Pramuki et al., 2014, p. 3).

This language has always been a liaison language between countries in Southeast Asia. This is evidenced by the existence of the inscriptions of Kedukan Bukit (683 AD), Talang Tuo (684 AD), Kota Kapur (686 AD), Karah Barahi (686 AD), which use a similar language.

When Europeans first came to Indonesia, the Malay language already had an extraordinary position in the midst of the people of the archipelago. Pigafetta, who followed Magellan's journey around the world, wrote Malay words when his ship docked at Tidore in 1521.

In fact, the Malay language comes from the western part of the archipelago. This is strong evidence showing that the Malay language at that time had spread widely to the archipelago, which was far in the east (Pramuki et al., 2014, p. 3).

In addition, Jan Huygen van Linschoten, a Dutch sailor who 60 years later sailed to Indonesia, revealed that not only has Malay been widely used, but it has been regarded as an honourable language among the languages ​​of the east.

He compared people from the archipelago who could not speak Indonesian to Dutch people who could not speak French, which was well known and privileged by the Dutch.

Inauguration of Indonesian as the National Language

During the Dutch era, when the People's Council was formed on May 18, 1918, Malay was recognized as the second official language in addition to Dutch, which was the first official language in the session of the People's Council.

However, on October 28, 1928, Indonesian has declared the language of unity or the national language through the Youth Pledge Pledge. The desire to have a common fighting spirit to feel bound in one nation and language is the background of this pledge; One Homeland, One Nation, One Language.

The following are the points of the youth oath pledge, one of the points of which is to establish the Indonesian language as national unity.

Youth Pledge Pledge

1. First: We, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, confess that we have one bloodshed, the land of Indonesia.
2. Second: We, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, claim to be one nation, the Indonesian nation.
3. Third: We, sons and daughters of Indonesia, uphold the language of unity, Indonesian.

Unfortunately, not many members of the Bumiputera take advantage of it. The official language issue then came to the fore again at the first Indonesian Language Congress in Solo in 1938. The congress resulted in two important decisions, namely that Indonesian became: (1) the official language; (2) the language of instruction in representative bodies and legislation (Pramuki et al., 2014, p. 6).

History of Indonesian After Independence

Then on August 18, 1945, one day after independence, the 1945 Constitution was signed. This time, in Chapter XV, Article 36, it has been legally established that Indonesian is the state language.

That is how Indonesian was finally born and officially became the national language of the Indonesian nation. There are three important moments regarding its inauguration.

However, many experts argue that the birth of the Indonesian language actually occurred on October 28, 1928, because it was a joint election, pledge, and inauguration of the nation that first established Indonesian as the language of unity.

Shortly after independence, our nation made a spelling change. The spelling previously used was Spelling van Ophuysen, replaced by Spelling Republik on March 19, 1947. After that, spelling changes and developments continued.

History of Indonesian Spelling

The Indonesian language continues to grow and develop as time wheels turn. Likewise, spelling is one of the most visible forms of development in its changes. The following is a timeline of Indonesian spelling changes.

Republic Spelling (1947)

Spelling Republic is a simplification of the previously used Spelling van Ophuysen. This spelling came into effect on March 19, 1947. The Minister of Education, Teaching and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia at that time was Mr Suwandi. Therefore, this spelling is also often referred to as the Suwandi spelling.

Some of the changes and differences between the Spelling Republic and Spelling van Ophuysen can be seen in the list below.

1. The combined oe in van Ophuysen's spelling is replaced with u in the Republican spelling.
2. The sound of hamzah (') in van Ophuysen's spelling is replaced with k in the Republican spelling.
3. Re-words may be marked with a two in Republic Spelling.
4. The letters e taling and e pepet in the Republic Spelling is not distinguished.
5. The trema (') in van Ophuysen's spelling is omitted in Republican spelling.

The following is an example of van Ophuysen's Spelling change when compared to Republic Spelling.

Van Ophuysen spelling	Republic Spelling
Koeboer	Kubur
Oemoer	Umur
Ma’loem	Maklum

Spelling Update (1957)

This spelling is a spelling created to update the Republic Spelling. This spelling arrangement was completed in 1957 by the Indonesian Spelling Reform Committee led by Professors Prijono and E. Katoppo.

One of the unique things about the Spelling Update concept is the simplification of consonant combination letters with single letters, as shown in the example below.

1. Consonant consonants dj are changed to j
2. Consonant consonants tj are changed to ts
3. Consonant combination ng is changed to nj
4. Consonant consonants nj are changed to ń
5. Consonant consonants sj changed to š
6. In addition, the combination of the vowels ai, au, and oi, or what is commonly called a diphthong, is written based on the pronunciation as ay, aw, and oy.

Republic Spelling	Spelling Update
Kalau	Kalaw
Gulai	Gulay
Harimau	Harimaw

Spelling Melindo (1959)

The formulation of the Melindo Spelling began with the convening of the second Indonesian Language Congress in 1945, in Medan, North Sumatra. Spelling Melindo (Malay – Indonesia) results from the Malay and Indonesian spelling, which was completed in 1959.

The form of the Melindo Spelling formula is a form of improvement from the previous spelling. However, unfortunately, this spelling has not been used because, at that time, the relationship between the Republic of Indonesia and Malaysia was not good.

The things that are different from the Melindo spelling are:

1. Consonant consonants tj, as in the word tjinta, are replaced by c to become love.
2. The consonant combination nj is like njonja, replaced by the letter Nc, which is completely new.
3. In the Spelling Update, both consonants are replaced by ts and n.

New Spelling / LBK Spelling (1967)

This spelling is basically a continuation of the efforts initiated by the Melindo Spelling committee. This spelling was designed by the LBK Spelling committee and the spelling committee from Malaysia. This committee succeeded in formulating a spelling concept which was later named the New Spelling.

The committee works on the basis of the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture, No. 062/67, 19 September 1967. The changes contained in the New Spelling or Spelling LBK are as follows.

1. Consonant consonants dj are changed to j. For example, remadja becomes remaja; djalan becomes jalan; perdjaka to be perjaka.
2. Consonant consonants tj are changed to c, for example batja to baca; tjakap becomes cakap; tjipta becomes cipta.
3. Consonant combinations nj are changed to ny. For example, sunji becomes sunyi, njala becomes nyala, bunji menjadi bunyi.
4. Consonant consonants sj are changed to sy. For example sjarat becomes syarat; sjukur becomes syukur; isjarat becomes isyarat.
5. Consonant consonants ch are changed to kh, for example tachta becomes takhta; machluk becomes makhluk; ichlas becomes ikhlas.

Improved Spelling/EYD (1972)

This spelling is an achievement of the work of the Indonesian spelling committee which was formed in 1966. The improved Indonesian spelling is a simplification and refinement of the Suwandi Spelling or Republic Spelling which has been used since March 1947.

This spelling was inaugurated to coincide with the XXVII Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia on 17 August 1972 through Presidential Decree no. 57 of 1972. Some of the new policies set out in the EYD are described below.

1. The letters f, v, and z, which are borrowed elements from foreign languages, ​​are officially used. For example, fission, currency, university, khilaf, zakat, khazanah.
2. The letters q and x, which are commonly used in the field of science, are still used, for example, in words Furqan and xenon.
3. Writing di- as a prefix is ​​distinguished from di-, which is a preposition. As a prefix, di- is written often with an accompanying element, while di- as a preposition is written separately from the word that follows it.
4. The word rewrite is written in full by repeating its elements. The number two is not used as a repetition marker. For example, children become children; shake hands to shake hands.

Improved spelling also suggests:

1. Writing letters, including capital letters and italics.
2. Word writing.
3. Punctuation writing.
4. Writing abbreviations and acronyms.
5. Writing numbers and symbols for numbers.
6. Writing absorption elements.

Indonesian Spelling/EBI (2015)

The General Guide to Indonesian Spelling, or PUEBI, is the latest spelling that was inaugurated in 2015. This spelling is a substitute for EYD, based on the Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia Number 50 of 2015.

EBI is built on the basis of the previous EYD, there are only a few additional rules in writing. The main differences between Indonesian Spelling and Enhanced Spelling will be presented in the following presentation.

1. Addition of diphthong vowels. In EYD, there are only three diphthongs, namely ai, au, and oi, while in EBI, one diphthong is added, namely ei (for example, in words geiser and survei).
2. Use of capital letters. In EYD, capital letters are not regulated to write epithet elements, while in EBI, nickname elements are regulated and written with a capital letter beginning.
3. Use of bold letters. In EYD, there are three functions of boldface: writing the title of a book, chapter, and the like, specifying letters, and writing an entry or sub-lemma in a dictionary. In EBI, the third function is removed.

Background for Choosing Indonesian as National Language

Why was Indonesian chosen as the language of unity? In fact, Javanese or Sundanese is the language with the largest number of speakers in the archipelago. Wouldn't it be more practical if Javanese was appointed as the national language?

Prof. Dr. Slamet Muljana, a great Indonesian historian mentions 5 reasons why the Malay language was chosen as the basis for the birth of the Indonesian language as follows.

1. Malay language has always been used as a lingua franca or language of communication for centuries throughout the country (Nusantara). This does not happen in Javanese, Sundanese, or other regional languages.
2. The Malay language has the widest distribution area and transcends the boundaries of other languages, although the native speakers are not as many as Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese, or other regional languages.
3. Malay is still related to other languages ​​in the archipelago, so it is familiar to most people in the country.
4. Malay is simple and does not recognize language levels, so it is easy to learn. This is different from Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese, which recognize language levels that make learning more complex.
5. The Malay language is able to overcome the differences and language problems between speakers from various regions in the archipelago which are very large in number. The choice of the Malay language also does not cause feelings of defeat against the stronger or most numerous group.

History of the Function and Position of the Indonesian Language

So what exactly is the position and function of Indonesian in this country after looking at its history? First of all, we make sure the meaning and purpose of the position and function first in relation to the Indonesian language.

Position is defined as the relative status of language as a symbol system of cultural values ​​formulated on the basis of the social values ​​of the language concerned. While the function is the value of using language which is formulated as the task of using the language in the position given to it.

First, Indonesian has a position as the national language and as the state language. The position of Indonesian as the national language has been held since the Youth Pledge was made on October 28, 1928.

Second, Indonesian has a position as the state language since it was inaugurated by the 1945 Constitution (August 18, 1945). In the 1945 Constitution, Chapter XV, Article 36, "The state language is Indonesian".

The following are some of the functions of Indonesian based on their position.

Indonesian as National Language

One of the positions of Indonesian is as a national language. In its position as the national language, Indonesian functions as:

1. A symbol of national pride.
2. Symbol of national identity.
3. A unifying tool for various ethnic groups with different socio-cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
4. Interregional and intercultural communication tools.

Indonesian as State Language

In addition to its position as the national language, Indonesian is also the state language, following the provisions contained in the 1945 Constitution, Chapter XV, Article 36. In its position as the state language, Indonesian functions as:

1. State official language.
2. The language of instruction in the world of education.
3. Communication tools at the national level for the purposes of planning and implementing national development and the interests of the government.
4. Tools for developing culture, science, and technology.