subject: Differences Between Malay And Indonesian [print this page] Orthography Orthography
Before the 20th century, Malay was written in a modified form of the Arabic alphabet known as Jawi. After the 20th century, Malay written with Roman letters, known as Rumi, has almost completely replaced Jawi in everyday life. The romanisations originally used in Malaya (now part of Malaysia) and the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) reflected their positions as British and Dutch possessions respectively.
In Indonesia, the vowel in the English word 'moon' was formerly represented in Indonesian as oe, as in Dutch, and the official spelling of this sound was changed to u in 1947.
Similarly, until 1972, the initial consonant of the English 'chin' was represented in Malay as ch, whereas in Indonesian, it continued to follow Dutch and used tj. Hence the word for 'grandchild' used to be written as chuchu in Malay and tjoetjoe in Indonesian, until a unified spelling system was introduced in 1972 (known in Indonesia as Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan or the 'Perfected Spelling') which removed most differences between the two varieties: Malay ch and Indonesian tj became c: hence cucu.
Indonesian abandoned the spelling dj (for the consonant at the beginning of the word 'Jakarta') to conform to the j already in use in Malay, while the old Indonesian j for the semivowel at the beginning of the English 'young', was replaced with y as in Malay. Likewise, the velar fricative which occurs in many Arabic loanwords, which used to be written 'ch' in Indonesian, became kh in both languages.
However, oe was retained in some proper names, such as the name of the first President, Sukarno (written as Soekarno), and his successor Suharto, (written as Soeharto). The ch and dj letter combinations are still encountered in names such as Achmad and Djojo (pronounced as Akhmad and Joyo respectively), although the post-1972 spelling is now favoured.
Although the representations of speech sounds are now largely identical in the Indonesian and Malay varieties, a number of minor spelling differences remain, usually for historical reasons. For instance, the word for 'money' is written as wang in Malay, but uang in Indonesian, the word for 'try' is written as cuba in Malay, but coba in Indonesian, the word for 'because' is written as kerana in Malay, but karena in Indonesian, while the word for 'cake' is written as kuih in Malay, but kue in Indonesian.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation also tends to be very different, with East Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia speaking a dialect called Bahasa Baku,[citation needed] where the words are pronounced as spelt and enunciation tends to be clipped, staccato and faster than the Malay spoken in the Malay Peninsula, which is spoken at a more languorous pace. Many vowels are pronounced (and were formerly spelt) differently in Peninsular Malaysia: tujuh is pronounced (and was spelt) tujoh, pilih as pileh, etc., and many final a's tend to be pronounced as schwas.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary differences
Indonesian differs from Malay in having words of Javanese and Dutch origin, although Indonesian is based on Malay in Riau province (Bahasa Melayu Riau). For example, the word for 'post office' in Malay is "pejabat pos" (in Indonesian this means 'post officer'), whereas in Indonesian it is "kantor pos", from the Dutch word for office, kantoor. There are also some Portuguese influences: in Indonesian, Christmas is known as "Natal", whereas Malay uses "Krismas", derived from English. There are also instances where the Malay version derives from English pronunciation while the Indonesian version takes its cue from Latin. The Latin preference of the (older) Indonesian intellectuals in these instances may be ascribed to the influence of their classical-oriented education when Gymnasium schools were established during the Dutch colonial period: compare Malay kualiti, kuantiti, majoriti, minoriti and universiti with Indonesian kualitas, kuantitas, mayoritas, minoritas and universitas.
The relatively large share of Islamic (Arabic or Persian) loan words shared by 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 Malay or in Indonesian, e.g. , khidmat, wakil (see below).
English
Malay
Indonesian
account (bank,bills)
akaun
rekening (from Dutch)
accountant
akauntan
akuntan
advertisement
iklan (also used in Indonesian)
reklame (from Dutch)
after
selepas
lepas, setelah (also used in Malay to indicate consecutive actions)
afternoon
tengah hari
sore (can also refer to the evening); petang (less frequent)
agent
ejen, agen (in science term)
agen
airport
lapangan terbang
(lit. field/expanse + to fly)
bandara (from bandar udara, lit. port+air), lapangan terbang (used for air force base)
apartment
pangsapuri, rumah pangsa, rumah kondo (only for 'condominium')
apartemen, rumah susun
archive
arkib
arsip (from Dutch archief)
archdiocese
kawasan kekuasaan ketua biskop
keuskupan agung
assets
aset
aktiva, harta (Javanese= wealth) (from Dutch activa), aset also used
auction
lelong
lelang
August
Ogos
Agustus (from Dutch augustus)
auntie
makcik (also used in bahasa Melayu Riau, Indonesia)
tante (from Dutch), Ibu Gede, Ibu Cilik (Javanese)
autobiography
autobiografi (also used in Indonesian)
otobiografi (derived from the Dutch pronuncation of autobiografie, with au pronounced as French [o])
automatic
automatik (formerly otomatik)
otomatis (derived from the Dutch pronuncation of automatisch)
autonomy
autonomi
otonomi
balcony
serambi, beranda,from Bengali, Portuguese or English verandah; (also used in Indonesia but less common)
serambi, balkon, from Portuguese balco or Dutch balkon
bag
beg
Tas(from Dutch tas lit. bag)
basin
besen
wastafel (from Dutch), baskom - from Dutch waskom
because
kerana, sebab
karena, sebab, in some cases makanya (literally: thus it follows the cause is..."
- Indonesian word for mill or factory for processing or refining natural products, i.e. kilang minyak ('oil refinery')
pabrik
(from Dutch fabriek)
faction (political)
puak (tribe)
fraksi (from Dutch fractie)
February
Februari
Februari, Pebruari (slang)
federal
persekutuan
federal: pemerintah pusat (central government)
federation
persekutuan
federasi (from Dutch federatie)
fermented rice
tapai
tape, tapai (Sumatera variation)
financial
kewangan
keuangan, finansial
Finland
Finland
Finlandia
floor (as in "the 2nd floor")
tingkat (also used in Indonesian- though it means floor as in a store or office eg "Fourth floor" )
lantai (means "floor"- ground surface in Malay)
France
Perancis
Prancis or Perancis
football
bola, bola sepak
sepak bola
free of charge
percuma (in Indonesia means "worthless")
gratis (from Dutch 'free of charge')), cuma-cuma
furniture
perabot rumah, perkakas rumah(also used in Indonesian)
mebel (from Dutch meubel)
general (military)
jeneral
jenderal
golf club (stick)
kayu golf
pemukul golf
government
kerajaan (derived from raja or "king") - Indonesian word for "kingdom"
pemerintahan used in Singapore to refer to government. In Malaysia and Brunei understood but less frequently used governmental= pemerintah
governor
gabenor, yang di-pertua negeri/negara (in Malaysian state)
gubernur from Dutch gouverneur
graduate
siswazah, sarjana
gelar sarjana (1st degree most commonly of a humanities: a "Bachelor of Arts"= Sarjana Muda Sastra
head office
ibu pejabat (in Indonesia means "female officer" or "mother of an officer")
kantor pusat (from Dutch)
headscarf
tudung
kerudung, jilbab
healthy
sihat
sehat
herb
herba
jamu (in Malay (and another definition in Indonesian), means "to treat, to entertain guests")
hospital
hospital
rumah sakit (literally means "sick house", from Dutch ziekenhuis. The word is still used in Brunei to refer to hospital but in Malaysia, the term 'hospital' is more prevalent since the mid-sixties)
maternity hospital
hospital bersalin
rumah sakit bersalin
I
saya, aku
saya, aku, gue (slang, informal)
Hungary
Hungary
Hongaria (influenced by Dutch Hongarije)
ice
ais
es
ice cream
ais krim
es krim
Iceland
Iceland
Islandia
illegal drugs
dadah
narkoba -an acronym for NARKotika dan OBat-obatan terlArang (narcotics and illegal drugs), napza -an acronym for NArkotika, Psikotropika dan Zat-zat Adiktif (narcotics, psychotropics, and addictive chemical substances)
image
citra (also used in Indonesian), imej, gambar
foto (photographic image) gambar (drawn or similar), citra (as in Borrman image or corporate image). Lukisan is for paintings
warnet (short for "warung internet", "warung" is from Dutch "waroeng")
Ireland
Ireland
Irlandia
Italy
Itali
Italia
licence
lesen
ijin, lisensi (from Dutch licentie)
Japan
Jepun
Jepang
Jordan
Jordan
Yordania (from Dutch Jordani)
journalist
wartawan
wartawan, jurnalis
June
Jun
Juni (from Dutch juni)
July
Julai
Juli (from Dutch juli)
lane (roads/highway)
lorong
jalur lalu lintas (traffic) -modified version of jalur (track), (lajur is understood but not frequently used in Malaysia while jalur is used in Malaysia to mean stripe or band. e.g. broadband = jalur-lebar) Jalur in Indonesian means "line", "Column" or line of soldiers/defense/geographic.
lawyer
peguam
pengacara (used in Malay to mean 'master of ceremony', advokat (from Dutch advocaat)
Lebanon
Lubnan
Lebanon
lemon
lemon, limau
jeruk limun ('jeruk' used in Malay to mean 'pickle')
liabilities
liabiliti
pasiva, kewajiban (from Latino-Dutch passiva)
lift, elevator
lif
Elevator
lime (fruit)
limau
jeruk limau (not to be confused with jeruk nipis- the tiny lime for sambal)
Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisabon (as in Dutch Lissabon), Lisboa (as in Portuguese), Lisbon
Lithuania
Lithuania
Lituania
magistrate
majistret
hakim (from Arabic , also used in Malay)
male
lelaki, laki-laki, jantan (for animals, sometimes used as a derogatory term on men)
air keran, air ledeng ("ledeng" also means "plumbing") (from Dutch leiding)
teacher
cikgu, guru
guru (from Sanskrit)
teacher (religious, Islam)
ustaz ustad (ultimately from Persian )
ustad (ultimately from Persian)
telephone
telefon
telepon, telpon, telfon (internationalism)
terrorist
pengganas
teroris (from Franco-Dutch terrorist)
testicles
buah zakar, testis, buah keranjut
alat kelamin laki-laki, biji kemaluan , buah zakar (slang, vulgar), kanjut (slang, vulgar)
traffic jam
kesesakan lalulintas, jam (slang)
macet
turn
pusing (means 'dizzy' in Indonesian), belok
belok, puter
tapioca
ubi kayu
singkong, ubi kayu, ketela pohon, tapioka
taxi
teksi
taksi (internationalism)
television
televisyen, TV
televisi (from Dutch televisie), (also TV, pronounced 'tee-vee' or 'te-fe')
toilet
bilik air, tandas
kamar kecil, toilet, WC (pronounced 'we-se') for watercloset.
Thailand
Negara Thai, Siam, Thailand
Thailand, Siam, Muangthai used in old scripts
ticket
tiket
tiket, karcis (from Dutch kaartje)
tyre
tayar
ban (from Dutch "[auto]band")
train
keretapi, tren
kereta (api/listrik) sepor (Javanese from Dutch "Spoor")
transsexual
pondan, bapok, transseksual
bencong, banci, waria (polite), transseksual
tree
pokok, pohon
pohon
ugly
hodoh, buruk
jelek
Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraina
uncle
pakcik
oom or om (derived from Dutch, pronounced and sometimes spelt as "oom"), paman, uwak, Pak Lik or Pak De (Javanese)
university
universiti
universitas
until
sehingga, sampai
hingga, sampai
USA
Amerika Syarikat
Amerika Serikat (AS)
vagina
faraj (from Arabic, in Indonesian means vulva), pepek/pepet (slang)
alat kelamin wanita (female genitals), liang pernakan, vagina: farji, memek, pepek (slang, vulgar)
very
sangat, amat, sekali
sangat, amat, sekali, banget(Javanese ngoko)
vice president
naib presiden
wakil presiden ('wapres')
virgin
(anak)dara, (anak) gadis
perawan (formal), gadis, (anak) dara
voucher
baucer
vocer
website
laman web
situs web
weekend
hujung minggu
akhir pekan, akhir minggu
when
bila, apabila
kapan, bilamana, bila, ketika
window
tingkap (also used in Indonesian but less common), jendela
jendela - from Portuguese janela
wire
dawai, wayar
kawat, dawai
you
anda (very formal), awak, kamu, kau
Anda (everyday formal), kamu (for very familiar people only), engkau &'kau (prose): elu/loe (very vulgar Betawi slang), delo
zoo
zoo, taman haiwan
kebun binatang (derived from Dutch dierentuin (animal garden). Beside "taman haiwan", kebun binatang was also frequently used in Malaysia before the mid-sixties)
False friends
Besides vocabulary differences, there are also a number of false friends in both languages. As these words are in quite common use in either or both of the languages, misunderstandings can arise.
Word
Malay meaning
Indonesian meaning
ahli
a member (of a group)
(when the word is used by itself) (from Arabo-Persian "ahli" 'belonging to a group, people, indigenous or sim.'),
expert in a field (from Arabo-Persian "'aqli" 'belonging to the intellect or mind, intellectual')
expert in a field
akta (from Latino-Dutch acta)
act (= law)
act (= written legal document)
awak
you (polite way)
shipper
baja
fertilizer
steel
Malaysian: besi waja
banci
census
effeminate, transvestite homosexual
bandar
city
port
belanja
to treat, giving something for free
to shop
berbual
to chat
to tell a lie
bercinta
love
make love, have sexual intercourse
beredar
oscillating (planets only), asked to go home
distributed
biji
pill, tablet
seed, testicles ("balls", offensive)
bisa
venom
can/able (same as "boleh" in Malay), venom
bontot/buntut
buttock
tail ('ekor' as commonly used in Malay)
budak
kid
slave
butoh/butuh
male genitals, an offensive reference
need
calon
nominee
nominee, victim
comel
cute, pretty
(to call) someone who can not keep a secret (example: mulutnya comel= her mouth can't keep a secret)
duduk
a place to live on, and also: to sit
to sit
email
electronic mail (recently changed to "emel")
enamel
gampang
bastard
from 'anak gampang' lit. easy child
easy (non negative meaning)
gubuk gila
psychiatric hospital
crazy/insane house
jabatan
department
position
jawatan
position
department
jemput
invite
pick up
jeruk
pickles/preserved fruits or vegetables
oranges
jimat
pennywise, save money or something e.g. electricity
amulet (the Malaysian equivalent is azimat)
kacak
handsome
ber-kacak pinggang (stands with hands on your hips)
The Malaysian equivalent is bercekak-pinggang, a phrase to mean that a person is being bossy
kakitangan
employee
member of mafia/criminal organisation
kapan
or kafan: Muslim burial shroud (kain kafan/kapan)
when (kapan mau pulang?= when do you want to go home?)
karya
work of art (karyawan=artists)
work (karyawan= workers)
kerajaan
government
(historical association, most Malay states were governed by monarchs, from Raja = King, now refers to any kind of government)
kingdom
keranjang
'bola keranjang' = basketball (no other use than for basketball)
basket
kereta
car
train
khidmat
service
fully concentrate
koneksi
dick (vulgar)
connection
konfeksi
confection, sweets
clothing industry, any fancy or luxurious woman's clothings
(Dutch: confectie. A non-standard spelling sometimes used is: "konveksi")
lucu
funny
cute (sometimes can be used as 'funny' too)
operasi
mathematic operational symbol, police operation
operation/surgery (as in Dutch)
pajak
to mortgage
tax
paket
packet
package (normally used for promotion purposes, as in Dutch)
pantas
speedily
'no wonder'
pantat
vagina/pussy (vulgar)
buttock
pelan
plan
(associated with architectural work, site map etc only)
slow (perlahan in Malay)
pejabat
office
officer/officials
(those who hold office, Malay (pegawai)
pemerintah
ruler
government
pengajian
education
mass recitation of Quran
percuma
free of charge
useless, not needed
peti sejuk
refrigerator
cold Coffin
pijat
bugs
(software bugs i.e. Year 2000 bug and also commonly referring to the bed bugs)
massage
Javanese pijet
polis
police
(insurance) policy (as in Dutch)
polisi
policy
police (as in Dutch)
punggung
buttock
back
pupuk
to nurture
fertilizer (also means 'to nurture' in the metaphorical sense of the word)
pusing
to go around a place, circular in motion, to spin/rotate
dizzy, confused, headache
putera
prince
son
rambut
hair (for head only)
hair
tambang
fare
mine, rope
tandas
toilet
to explain, to finish
senang
easy
happy, relax
sulit
confidential, difficult
difficult
wakil
representative
vice (for example, 'vice chancellor' and 'vice president'), representative
Sample
Indonesian text sample
Ensiklopedia, atau kadangkala dieja sebagai ensiklopedi, adalah sejumlah buku yang berisi penjelasan mengenai setiap cabang ilmu pengetahuan yang tersusun menurut abjad atau menurut kategori secara singkat dan padat.
Kata 'ensiklopedia' diambil dari bahasa Yunani; enkyklios paideia ( ) yang berarti kumpulan instruksi atau pengajaran yang lengkap. Maksudnya, ensiklopedia adalah sebuah sarana pendidikan lengkap yang mencakup semua bidang ilmu pengetahuan. Seringkali ensiklopedia disalahartikan sebagai kamus. Hal ini disebabkan karena ensiklopedia-ensiklopedia awal memang berkembang dari kamus-kamus.
Malay text sample
Ensiklopedia, atau kadangkala dieja sebagai ensaiklopedia, merupakan koleksi maklumat atau himpunan fakta mengenai setiap cabang ilmu pengetahuan yang tersusun menurut abjad atau menurut kategori secara singkat dan padat.
Kata 'ensiklopedia' diambil daripada bahasa Yunani , egkyklios paideia (a circle of instruction) yang bererti sebuah lingkaran atau pengajaran yang lengkap. Ini bermaksud ensiklopedia itu merupakan sebuah pendidikan sempurna yang merangkumi semua aspek ilmu pengetahuan. Seringkali ensiklopedia disalahertikan sebagai kamus. Mungkin ini kerana ensiklopedia-ensiklopedia awal memang berkembang daripada kamus.
Translation
Encyclopaedia, or occasionally spelt as ensiklopedi/ensaiklopedia, is a collection of books containing explanations about all branches of science that are compiled according to the alphabet or according to the category briefly and densely.
The word 'encyclopaedia' is taken from Greek enkyklios paideia ( ), which means a circle of instructions or a complete teaching. It means that the encyclopaedia is a complete educational material that includes all science aspects. Often encyclopaedias are confused with dictionaries. One reason is that early encyclopaedias were actually developed from dictionaries.
Convergence of vocabulary
The Malay language in Malaysia is not pervasively used in all spheres of life compared to Indonesia. Competition from the English language, the emotional attachment of Malaysian Malays to the language and the desire by non-Malays to preserve the use of their mother tongues are probably the reasons for this state of affairs. As a result, the Malay language in Malaysia is not as dynamic as the Indonesian language in the introduction of new words through adaptation from other languages especially English. Many Malays are adverse to the 'Malay-ing' of English words. They rather prefer to find obscure Malay words or words from the Malay archipelago that are equivalent to the English term. For example, the English word 'plaster' or stucco would have been easily Malayised both in terms of pronunciation and common usage. However the word 'lepa' (spread) is used instead. Many new words introduced in Malay are taken from Indonesian due to this preference. For example, the word canggih (complicated) is a Javanese word that is used for translating 'sophisticated' to denote a higher status meaning (as in a sophisticated lady) instead of the Malay equivalent of 'rumit' (complicated). These words are usually adopted some ten years after their popular use in the Indonesian media.
Trivia
During the May 1998 Revolution, when calls for political reform or reformasi in Indonesia led to the resignation of President Suharto, Malaysian satirists Instant Cafe lampooned a government broadcast in which "Malaysians are reminded that reformasi is an Indonesian word, which has no equivalent in Bahasa Melayu."
References
^ From the article about Encyclopaedia on the Indonesian Wikipedia, version 15:14, 21 Agustus 2006
^ From the article about Encyclopaedia on the Malay Wikipedia, version 21:41, 5 Oktober 2005
External links
The Malay Spelling Reform, Asmah Haji Omar, (Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society, 1989-2 pp.913 later designated J11)
The MALAY LANGUAGE in MALAYSIA and INDONESIA: from lingua franca to national language Asmah Haji Omar article in The Asianists' ASIA
Categories: Indonesian language | Malay language | Language comparison | False friendsHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from April 2007 | Articles containing Ancient Greek language text | Articles lacking in-text citations from April 2009 | All articles lacking in-text citations
