Basics & Pronunciation
Bahasa Indonesia is a brilliant invention: When the founding fathers needed a common language in 1928, they did not choose Javanese (which most spoke), but Malay — a trade language considered neutral and grammatically extremely simple. Today, over 270 million people speak Bahasa Indonesia.
Why Bahasa is so easy
- No Conjugation: "Saya makan" = I eat, I ate, I will eat (time indication gives the context)
- No Declension: No gender, no case, no plural endings
- Latin Script: Everything is pronounced almost exactly as written
- Many Loanwords: From Dutch (gratis = gratis, handuk = towel), Portuguese (meja = mesa = table), Arabic and Sanskrit
Pronunciation
- c = ch (as in "chess"): candi = chandi
- j = dj (as in "jungle"): Jakarta = Djarkarta
- ng = as in "singing": nangka = nangka
- ngg = as in "finger": Mangga = Mangga
- r = rolled (as in Spanish)
- h = always audible, even at the end of a word: rumah = ruma-h
