My response in a language forum recently addressing this issue-
I think it's a bit inaccurate to say Indonesian is an easy language. Grammatically it is less complex than a lot of European languages or English. But Indonesian as taught in grammar books is what we call 'Standard Indonesian' - Bahasa Baku. These days more and more people are making a greater distinction between Standard Indonesian and the many varieties of Spoken Indonesian.
These varieties are not 'dialects'. They all constitute Indonesian, ie, what Indonesians call Bahasa Indonesia. Until recently many Indonesian linguists even refused to acknowledge these varieties as legitimate; I think because they did not conform to the standards of Standard Indonesian, and because they couldn't really be classified as dialects.
Standard Indonesian is rarely encountered in spoken form except in older movies, some TV dramas, TV advertisements and the news, and on formal occassions, although none of these contexts necessarily exhibits purely Standard Indonesian.
The disparity between Standard Indonesian and the colloquial Jakarta variety is very wide - wider than that between Standard (Oxford) English and most colloquial forms of English.
The Central Java variety (the one I'm most familiar with) is different again, but still Indonesian - not a dialect. It is endowed with a rich array of idiom and inuendo as a result of the influence of Javanese. This is not necessarily in the form of loan words from Javanese, but in the form of ideas translated over into spoken Indonesian.
The Jakarta Chinese variety, which I now encounter on a daily basis in my job as a high school teacher here in Jakarta is different again. It is influenced by a variety of factors and is spoken at a very fast pace.
In fact, it may be fair to say that once you have studied the grammar of Standard Indonesian, in order to progress on to spoken communication there is much you have to 'unlearn'.
My dilemma after years of exposure to non-standard varieties of Indonesian has actually been getting back into Standard Indonesian in order to improve my written Indonesian skills.
This shouldn't be taken as discouragement, but rather encouragement to explore the very interesting array of spoken Indonesian on offer in this country.
Cheers,
DavidG
....oh..did I mention 'Bahasa Gaul' as well? Now there's an interesting variety. There're even a few dictionaries (albeit little ones) devoted to this variety of spoken Indonesian....
I think it's a bit inaccurate to say Indonesian is an easy language. Grammatically it is less complex than a lot of European languages or English. But Indonesian as taught in grammar books is what we call 'Standard Indonesian' - Bahasa Baku. These days more and more people are making a greater distinction between Standard Indonesian and the many varieties of Spoken Indonesian.
These varieties are not 'dialects'. They all constitute Indonesian, ie, what Indonesians call Bahasa Indonesia. Until recently many Indonesian linguists even refused to acknowledge these varieties as legitimate; I think because they did not conform to the standards of Standard Indonesian, and because they couldn't really be classified as dialects.
Standard Indonesian is rarely encountered in spoken form except in older movies, some TV dramas, TV advertisements and the news, and on formal occassions, although none of these contexts necessarily exhibits purely Standard Indonesian.
The disparity between Standard Indonesian and the colloquial Jakarta variety is very wide - wider than that between Standard (Oxford) English and most colloquial forms of English.
The Central Java variety (the one I'm most familiar with) is different again, but still Indonesian - not a dialect. It is endowed with a rich array of idiom and inuendo as a result of the influence of Javanese. This is not necessarily in the form of loan words from Javanese, but in the form of ideas translated over into spoken Indonesian.
The Jakarta Chinese variety, which I now encounter on a daily basis in my job as a high school teacher here in Jakarta is different again. It is influenced by a variety of factors and is spoken at a very fast pace.
In fact, it may be fair to say that once you have studied the grammar of Standard Indonesian, in order to progress on to spoken communication there is much you have to 'unlearn'.
My dilemma after years of exposure to non-standard varieties of Indonesian has actually been getting back into Standard Indonesian in order to improve my written Indonesian skills.
This shouldn't be taken as discouragement, but rather encouragement to explore the very interesting array of spoken Indonesian on offer in this country.
Cheers,
DavidG
....oh..did I mention 'Bahasa Gaul' as well? Now there's an interesting variety. There're even a few dictionaries (albeit little ones) devoted to this variety of spoken Indonesian....
2 comments:
IN my country, Bahasa Gaul has role to enriching our Standar langueage.
yes, I agree with you at some level.
I'm live in Indonesia (Jakarta) for years, and found that spoken Indonesian, especially in Jakarta, is differ from it's Standard form.
My Indonesian friend said it is not considered as Bahasa Indonesia. As you said, it is called "Bahasa Gaul". Wikipedia said it is Indonesian slang. I think virtually any language has slang forms.
Some interesting fact is, if you start using standard Indonesian to talk with them, they will reply using standard Indonesian too, and vice versa (if you start speak using Bahasa Gaul)
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