Indonesia is home to over 700 living languages spoken across its extensive archipelago. This significant linguistic variety constitutes approximately 10% of the world’s total languages, positioning In
The Kedukan Bukit inscription (7th century CE), found in South Sumatra, is the oldest surviving specimen of the Old Malay language, which later evolved into various dialects across the archipelago, one of which was standardized into modern Indonesian.
The Youth Pledge, a pledge made by Indonesian youths on October 28, 1928, defining the identity of the Indonesian nation. On the last pledge, there was an affirmation of Indonesian language as a unifying language throughout the archipelago.
The use of Dutch, Javanese and Malay in Java, Dutch East Indies
One of the Yupa inscriptions from Kutai, East Kalimantan, written in Sanskrit using the Tamil Grantha script.
Javanese is an Austronesian language spoken primarily by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indonesia. There are also pockets of Javanese speakers on the nor
Languages of Indonesia
…which are distinct from the Austronesian family and represent a unique linguistic heritage. The language most widely spoken as a native language is Javanese, primarily by the Javanese people in the central and eastern parts of Java Island, as well as across many other islands due to migration. Languages in…
Madurese in Javanese script
Susuhunan Pakubuwono X of Surakarta. Surakarta has been a center of Javanese culture, and its dialect is regarded as the most "refined".
A modern bilingual text in Portuguese and Javanese in Yogyakarta
A Javanese noble lady (left) would address her servant with one vocabulary, and be answered with another. (Studio portrait of painter Raden Saleh's wife and a servant, colonial Batavia, 1860–1872.)