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The Indonesian Language: Its History and Role in Modern Society
This important book, the first of its kind, is a historical, social, cultural and linguistic study of Indonesian. Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world, and one of the most linguistically complex. Its ethnic groups speak more than 500 languages and of these Malay, renamed Indonesian, was chosen to be the sole national and official language.
248 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 29, 2020
The book provides an interesting overview of the history and current state of the Indonesian language. It's useful for both foreigners and Indonesians alike, who are interested in finding out more about the lingua franca of the vast Indonesian archipelago.
January 17, 2017
Indonesian, the largest member of the Austronesian family of languages, is an interesting language because of many reasons. Malay, the broader language Indonesian and Malaysian are based on, serves as a lingua franca in large parts of Southeast Asia for people of varied ethnicities, and has done so for centuries now, even before the Portuguese conquered Malacca in 1511. It's absorbed various influences, notably lots of influence from Sanskrit (which it's famous for on the Indian internet).
This book traces its evolution, from the Classical Malay of Malacca and Riau-Johor, to the multiethnic language it is today, allowing its speakers to express and describe modern concepts - And most of this development happened in less than a century.
The anecdotes presented are entertaining and this book was informative on the whole and was able to adequately answer the questions it raised. The author also takes time to dispel common misconceptions about the language, illustrate its major historical turning points (the growth of Srivijaya, the arrival of Islam, the sack of Malacca, the arrival of the VOC, colonialism, and the nationalist movement), and discuss opposing views its planners and speakers have had, while also showing an interest in the robustness and internal diversity it possesses.
This book traces its evolution, from the Classical Malay of Malacca and Riau-Johor, to the multiethnic language it is today, allowing its speakers to express and describe modern concepts - And most of this development happened in less than a century.
The anecdotes presented are entertaining and this book was informative on the whole and was able to adequately answer the questions it raised. The author also takes time to dispel common misconceptions about the language, illustrate its major historical turning points (the growth of Srivijaya, the arrival of Islam, the sack of Malacca, the arrival of the VOC, colonialism, and the nationalist movement), and discuss opposing views its planners and speakers have had, while also showing an interest in the robustness and internal diversity it possesses.
July 24, 2016
I have to admit I wasn't reading this wholly for the sake of learning about the Indonesian language - I was reading this all the better to make my own comparisons between the development of what was essentially the same language in two different countries. Very satisfying.
July 22, 2010
Baca buku ini mungkin bisa buat tiap muka WNI merah padam--entah marah, malu, atau keduanya.
April 27, 2017
As this book will explore, as an Indonesian, I barely know anything about my own language. A friend of mine who studies Linguistics lent me this book to learn about it and it was really, really intriguing—it's totally compatible with A Nation in Waiting by Adam Schwarz. It's really refreshing to see our nation from an outsider's perspective. Everything was very, very thoroughly explained—although many, many words are wrongly written and/or understood. It goes all the way back to examining where all the languages in this country comes from, which is a lesson in history that I've never read/heard of before.
There are some parts that I find lacking. First of all, of course, the misspelling and mistranslating of some of the words—or I don't know, maybe it used to mean that but not so much anymore, but this was published in 2003 and we didn't use those words like that back then. Also, there are tons of repetitions, which means the book could be cut in half and the story would have been the same. It's such a shame that research such as this never seems to come locally—maybe it has to come from foreigners to attract our people.
Lastly, I'd love to read on this topic from more recent research, because it's been over a decade since this book and I feel like the language has evolved a lot more since then. The information in this book, though helpful, can't help but to feel rather outdated now. This is an interesting topic, no doubt, but it's one that we have to keep learning about, keep researching about, because nothing is static—it's always evolving.
There are some parts that I find lacking. First of all, of course, the misspelling and mistranslating of some of the words—or I don't know, maybe it used to mean that but not so much anymore, but this was published in 2003 and we didn't use those words like that back then. Also, there are tons of repetitions, which means the book could be cut in half and the story would have been the same. It's such a shame that research such as this never seems to come locally—maybe it has to come from foreigners to attract our people.
Lastly, I'd love to read on this topic from more recent research, because it's been over a decade since this book and I feel like the language has evolved a lot more since then. The information in this book, though helpful, can't help but to feel rather outdated now. This is an interesting topic, no doubt, but it's one that we have to keep learning about, keep researching about, because nothing is static—it's always evolving.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews