Look upAppendix:Indonesian–Standard Malay relations in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Indonesian andMalaysian Malay are two standardised varieties of theMalay language, the former used officially inIndonesia (and inTimor Leste as a working language) and the latter inBrunei,Malaysia andSingapore. Both varieties are generallymutually intelligible, yet there are noticeable differences in spelling, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary, as well as the predominant source of loanwords.^[1][2][3] The differences can range from those mutually unintelligible with one another, to those having a closer familial resemblance. The divergence between Indonesian and "Standard" Malay are systemic in nature and, to a certain extent, contribute to the way the two sets of speakers understand and react to the world, and are more far- reaching with a discernible cognitive gap than the difference between dialects.^[4] The regionalised and localised varieties of Malay can become a catalyst for intercultural conflict, especially in higher education.^[5][6][7]

To non-native speakers the two varieties may seem identical, but to native speakers the differences are noticeable through both diction and accent. They affect the broadcasting industry with regard to foreign language subtitling, for example, in DVD movies and on cable TV. In order to reach a wider audience, both Indonesian and Malay subtitles are sometimes displayed in a movie, along with other language subtitles. Another example is Malaysian TV providing Malay subtitling on Indonesiansinetrons (TV dramas) aired in Malaysia^[8] and vice versa.^[9] An intelligibility test was done in 1998 by Asmah Haji Omar to Malaysian Malay linguistics students with Indonesian newspapers shows the odd, unintelligible and unusual items formed 30% of the totality.^[10]

The Malay language in Indonesia and Malaysia also differs in recognition, where in Malaysia it enjoys status as the national language (Malaysian Malay),^[11] while in Indonesia it is considered aregional language in Malay-speaking areas such as the eastern to southern coast ofSumatra andWest Kalimantan.^[12][13] The term "Malay language" (Bahasa Melayu) in Indonesia and Malaysia invites different perceptions from its respective people.^[14] To Malaysians, the Malay language is generally understood as thenational language of Malaysia being a precise appellation for the Malay variety used in the country.^[15] Between 1986 and 2007, the termBahasa Melayu was used instead ofBahasa Malaysia, until the latter was reinstated, in order to instill a sense of belonging among Malaysians of all races, rather than justMalays.^[16][17] Therefore, there was no clear distinction between the use of the term Malay (Bahasa Melayu) and the national language of Malaysia (Bahasa Malaysia). In Brunei and Singapore, where Malay is also an official language, the language is known asBahasa Melayu and in English as "Malay".^[18]

In Indonesia, however, there is a clear distinction between "Malay language" (bahasa Melayu) and "Indonesian" (bahasa Indonesia). Indonesian is the national language which serves as theunifying language of Indonesia; despite being a standardized form of Malay, it is not referred to with the term "Malay" in common parlance.^[19] The term "Malay" is usually reserved for the forms of Malay indigenous to the Malay ethnic group (the national standardized language of Malaysia and the non-standard idioms ofMalay people, including those used byMalay Indonesians). Thus, "Malay" is considered aregional language (bahasa daerah) in Indonesia, enjoying the same status asJavanese,Sundanese,Buginese,Balinese,Biak language and others.^[20] Moreover, to some Indonesians, the term "Malay" is more often associated with Malaysia and the Malaysian variety of Malay.^[21]

In Malaysia, the terms "Indonesian Malay" and "Malaysian Malay" are sometimes used for Indonesian and Malay as spoken in Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Indonesian Malay" usually refers to the vernacular varieties of Malay spoken by theMalay peoples of Indonesia, that is, to Malay as a regional language inSumatra, though it is rarely used.^[22]Bahasa Malaysia andBahasa Melayu are used interchangeably in reference to Malay in Malaysia.

Malay was designated as a national language by the Singaporean government after independence from Britain in the 1960s to avoid friction with Singapore's Malay-speaking neighbours of Malaysia and Indonesia.^[23] It has a symbolic, rather than functional purpose.^[24][25] It is used in the national anthem "Majulah Singapura",^[26] in citations ofSingaporean orders and decorations and in military commands.^[27] Singaporean Malay is officially written in the Latin-basedRumi script, though some Singaporean Malays also learn the Arabic-basedJawi script.^[28] Jawi is considered an ethnic script for use on Singaporean identity cards.^[29]

Before the 20th century, Malay was written in a local modified form of theArabic alphabet known asJawi. During the 20th century, Malay written withRoman letters, known as Rumi, almost completely replaced Jawi in everyday life. The romanisations originally used inBritish Malaya (now part ofMalaysia) and theDutch East Indies (nowIndonesia) reflected their history as British and Dutch colonial possessions respectively. In British Malaya, the romanisation of Malay, devised byRichard Wilkinson^[30] was influenced by English, whereas in the Dutch East Indies, thesystem devised by C. A. Van Ophuijsen was influenced byDutch.^[31] As a result, in Indonesia, the vowel[u] was formerly representedoe, as in Dutch, although the official spelling of this sound was changed tou in 1947 when theRepublican Spelling System was used.^[32]

Similarly, until 1972,[tʃ] was represented in Malaysia asch, whereas in Indonesia, it continued to follow Dutch and usedtj. Hence the word for 'grandchild' used to be written aschuchu in Malaysia andtjoetjoe in Indonesia, until a unified spelling system was introduced in 1972 (known in Indonesia asEjaan Yang Disempurnakan or the 'Perfected Spelling') which removed most differences between the two varieties: Malaych and Indonesiantj becamec: hencecucu.^[33] Indonesia abandoned the spellingdj[dʒ] to conform to thej already in use in Malaysia, while the old Indonesianj for the semivowel[j] was replaced withy as in Malaysia. Likewise, thevelar fricative[x] which occurs in many Arabic loanwords, which used to be written 'ch' in Indonesian, becamekh in both languages.^[33] However,oe was retained in some proper names, such as the name of the former vice-president,Boediono or former ministerMohammad Roem. Thech anddj letter combinations are still encountered in names such asAchmad andDjojo (pronounced asAkhmad andJoyo respectively), although the post-1972 spelling is now favoured.

One notable difference inpunctuation between the two languages is the use of differentdecimal marks; Indonesian, influenced by Dutch, uses thedecimal comma,^[34] whereas Malay, influenced by English, uses thedecimal point.^[35]

Pronunciation also tends to be very different, with East Malaysia, Standard Singapore, and Indonesia pronouncing words in a form calledBahasa Baku,^[36] where the words are pronounced as spelled.^[37] Moreover, enunciation tends to be clipped, staccato and faster than on the Malay Peninsula, which is spoken at a more languorous pace. Many vowels are pronounced (and were formerly spelt) differently in Peninsular Malaysia, Colloquial Singapore, and Riau Sumatra:tujuh is pronounced (and was spelt)tujoh,pilih aspileh, etc., and many finala's tend to be pronounced asschwas;[e] and[o] are also allophones of/i/ and/u/ in closed final syllables in peninsular Malaysian, Colloquial Singaporean and Riau Sumatran varieties of Malay; These pronunciation rules is known asJohor-Riau pronunciation.^[38][39]

The names for Latin letters are also of different origins, Indonesian names are from Dutch, while Malaysian Malay names are from English (seeMalay-Indonesian alphabet).

Look upAppendix:Indonesian–Standard Malay relations in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Indonesian and (Standard Malaysian) Malay have similar derivation and compounds rule. However, there is difference on quasi-past participle or participle-like adjective when attached to a noun or verb. (Standard Malaysian) Malay uses prefixber- to denote such, while Indonesian uses prefixter- to do so. It is important to note that prefix ber- can denote several other meanings.

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Indonesian and Malaysian Malay both differ in the forms of loanwords used due to division of the Malay Archipelago by the Dutch and the British and their long-lasting colonial influences, as a consequence of theAnglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824: Indonesian absorbed primarily Dutch loanwords whereas Malaysian Malay absorbed primarily English words. Pronunciation of certain loanwords in Malaysian Malay follows English, while in Indonesian it follows Dutch, for example Malay "televisyen" (from English: television) and Indonesian "televisi" (from Dutch:televisie); the "-syen" and "-si" also prevail in some other words, though "-si" has become more preferred in Malay of late likegenerasi anddimensi.^{[citation needed]}

Malaysian Malay has also experienced significant conservative pushback as precedent entities that existed within the British sphere made efforts to create words that would fit naturally foreign ideas of governance and thought through a Malay-oriented context. The Pakatan Belajar Mengajar Pengetahuan Bahasa inJohore headed byAbdul Rahman Andak during the 19th century was especially important in introducingneologisms likepejabat ("office", cf. Indonesiankantor fromkantoor) andsetiausaha ("secretary", cf. Indosekretaris fromDutch:secretaris) into the Malay lexicon.^[41] For example, the word for 'post office' in Malaysia is "pejabat pos" (in Indonesia this means 'post officer'), whereas in Indonesia it is "kantor pos".

There are also somePortuguese influences: in Indonesia, Christmas is known as "Natal", whereas Malaysia uses both "Natal" and "Krismas", the latter derived from English. There are also instances where the Malaysian Malay version derives from English pronunciation while the Indonesian version takes its cue fromLatin. The Latin preference of the (older) Indonesian intellectuals in these instances may be ascribed to the influence of their classical-oriented education whenGymnasium schools were established during the Dutch colonial period: compare Malaysian Malaykualiti,kuantiti,majoriti,minoriti anduniversiti with Indonesiankualitas,kuantitas,mayoritas,minoritas anduniversitas.^{[citation needed]}

Some words which are spelt the same in both languages may even carry entirely different meanings in the other language, potentially leading to humorous or embarrassing situations:^[42] whilebaja means "steel" in Indonesian,^[43] in Malaysian Malay it means "fertiliser".^[44] Also, whereas the Indonesian wordbutuh (fromSundanese ᮘᮥᮒᮥᮂ butuh) means "require" or "need",^[45] in Malay, it is a vulgar slang term referring to male genitalia.^[46] Conversely, where the word "banci" seems innocuous enough in Malaysia ("census"),^[47] in Indonesia it is a derogatory term for "transvestite".^[48]

The relatively large share of Islamic (Arabic or Persian) loan words shared by Malaysian Malay and Indonesian often poses no difficulty in comprehension and usage, although some forms may have developed a (slightly) different meaning or have become obsolete either in Malaysian Malay or in Indonesian, e.g.khidmat,wakil.^{[citation needed]}

One important aspect in differences between Malay (Malaysian and Brunei) and Indonesian is the degree of influence from English. Apart from being heavily influenced by the Dutch language, the Indonesian language also adopted a significant number of English loanwords in its vocabulary, although English did not play significant role on the Indonesian language and in fact most of these vocabulary are of Dutch origin – Dutch and English share a similarGermanic origin, and Dutch has also borrowed fromLatin, although to a lesser extent than English. There have been many changes in Indonesian as a result of its historical development. Words have been freely borrowed from English and only partly assimilated, in many cases, to the Indonesian patterns of structure.^[49]

By the late 1970s, English words began pouring into the language, leading one commentator, writing in 1977, to refer to the "trend towards Indo-Saxonization",^[50] known in Indonesian aspengindosaksonan. Many loanwords from English sometimes fulfill no communicative need, expressing concepts adequately covered by existing words. Among the examples are:akurat instead oftepat (accurate, Dutchaccuraat),aliansi in the place ofsekutu (alliance, Dutchalliantie),eksis rather thanada (exist),kandidat as well ascalon (candidate, Dutchkandidaat),konklusi instead ofkesimpulan (conclusion, Dutchconclusie),kontaminasi in the place ofpencemaran (contamination, Dutchcontaminatie),opini rather thanpendapat (opinion, Dutchopinie) andopsi in the place ofpilihan (option, Dutchoptie),brutal instead ofkasar andkejam (savagely violent and harsh, Dutchbrutaal).^[51] However, thesepengindosaksonan are not borrowed directly from English, but through their cognates in Dutch pronunciations, asPedoman Umum Pembentukan Istilah is heavily influenced by Dutch cognates.

Lexical items that reflect separate social and cultural development.

There are several notable differences in greeting terms.^[52]

Indonesia has a more uniform nationwide system of terms than does Malaysia. Public school (a publicly funded and administered school) is known assekolah negeri in Indonesian andsekolah kebangsaan in Malaysia. Meanwhile,sekolah tinggi is a translation ofhigh school in Malaysia (similar to English usage), while it refers touniversity college in Indonesia (similar to Flanders Dutchhogeschool).

There are slight difference in numerical expression between Indonesian and Standard Malay. Indonesian, influenced by Dutch, uses thedecimal comma, pronounced as "koma",^[34] whereas Malay, influenced by English, uses thedecimal point, pronounced as "perpuluhan".^[35]

Indonesia uses24-hour clock convention as standard, although12-hour clock is common orally. In Malaysia,12-hour clock is the standard. Brunei and Singapore use24-hour clock convention as standard. In Indonesian, "pukulsetengah tujuh" refers to half to seven (6.30) referring to Dutch "half zeven". However, in (Malaysian) Malay, "pukul tujuh setengah" means half past seven (7.30).

There are several confusing differences in academic, scientific and legal terms between Indonesian and Malaysian Standard Malay.

A glossary ofInformation Technology terminology, available in English, Indonesian, and Malay, was published to facilitate the comparison and comprehension of language variations among individuals in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei who are seeking assistance and information online.^[53]

The rift of evolution between the two languages is based more on political nuance and the history of their formation than on cultural reasons. As a result, views regarding each other's languages differ amongst Malaysians and Indonesians. In Malaysia, the national language is Malay; in Indonesia, it is Indonesian. Malaysians tend to assert that Malay and Indonesian are merely different varieties of the same language, while Indonesians tend to treat them as separate – albeit closely related – languages. The result of this attitude is that the Indonesians feel little need to synchronize their language with Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, whereas the Malaysians are keener to coordinate the evolution of the language with the Indonesians.^[54] However, both parties have realized that communication may benefit from mutually comprehensible and intelligible languages, which motivated efforts to synchronize the languages' development. The effort to synchronize both languages' evolution to increase their mutual intelligibility has been embarked by imposing standardrules of language. This process is headed byBadan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa on the Indonesian side andDewan Bahasa dan Pustaka as its Malaysian counterpart throughMajlis Bahasa Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia (MABBIM). Authorities in both Brunei and Singapore generally abide by the Malaysian standard in disputes.^{[citation needed]} Although, MABBIM is not working properly which reflects Indonesian attitude of little need to synchronize their language.^[55][56]

Original text in Indonesian:^[57]

Apabila peraturanpakta stabilitas Eropadihormati sampai kedetailnya,rasio utang publikdibandingproduk domestik brutopadaharikrisis akan berada diposisi10persentase poinkurang dalamzonaeuro, katanya.

In Malay (Malaysian and Brunei):

Jika peraturanpakatan kestabilan Eropahdihormati secara terperinci,nisbah hutang awamberbandingkeluaran dalam negara kasarpadazamankrisis akan berada dikedudukan 10mata peratusankurang dalamzoneuro, kata beliau.

In English:

If theEuropean stability pact rules had been respected indetail, theratio of public debttogross domestic product on thedays of crisis would have been at theposition 10percentage points less in the eurozone, he said.

The following texts are excerpts from the official translations of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights in Indonesian and Malay (Malaysian and Brunei), along with the original declaration in English.

• Majlis Bahasa Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia
• Malay-Indonesian orthography
• Malay-Indonesian grammar
• Indonesian orthography
• Indonesian slang

• Haji Omar, Asmah (1989)."The Malay Spelling Reform".Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society:9–13. Archived fromthe original on 27 September 2006. Retrieved2 November 2006.
• Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. 2008. Pusat Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional
• Regina Pasys."Ternyata 4 Negara Ini Mempunya Bahasa yang Mirip dengan Bahasa Indonesia, Sudah Tahu?". Grid Kids.
• Senarai komprehensif perbezaan ejaan Malaysia dan ejaan Indonesia, Hiroki Nomoto, Nahoko Yamashita, Ayano Osaka (orthographic differences between Standard Malay and Indonesian)

• Malay language
• Indonesian language
• Language comparison
• False friends
• Indonesia–Malaysia relations

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