Sejarah Bahasa Indonesia

Key Points

• The name "Indonesia" was first used by British scholar George Samuel Ur to describe the island group in the Indian Ocean; later, JR Logan used "Indonesian" in his journal, and German scholar Adolf Bastian also used the term.
• Bahasa Indonesia was born on October 28, 1928, when youths from across the archipelago gathered and pledged the Sumpah Pemuda (Youth Pledge), declaring one homeland, one nation, and one unifying language.
• The third point of the Sumpah Pemuda affirmed Bahasa Indonesia as the language of national unity, establishing its status as the national language.
• Bahasa Indonesia was declared the state language on August 18, 1945, when the 1945 Constitution was ratified, stating that the state language is Bahasa Indonesia (Article 36).
• The development of Bahasa Indonesia is inseparable from the development of the Malay language, which was adapted to the culture and times.
• Malay was chosen as the base for Bahasa Indonesia for several reasons: it had played an important role in inter-ethnic communication since around the 7th century; it was the official language of the Sriwijaya kingdom; and it served as the lingua franca across the archipelago.
• Malay spread widely through trade, communication, and religious dissemination, and its use expanded during Dutch colonial rule for correspondence and agreements with local rulers.
• Malay was used as the medium of instruction in indigenous schools and became the second official language of the Dutch East Indies government.
• Malay is open and transparent, easily absorbing foreign and regional vocabulary, and adaptable to modern societal and technological demands.
• Malay's character suited the democratic and egalitarian aspirations of Indonesia, lacking the speech-level distinctions found in Javanese and Sundanese.
• No rivalry existed among regional languages to become the basis of the national language, which encouraged all ethnic groups to willingly accept Malay as the foundation.

Summary

The text outlines the historical development of Bahasa Indonesia, beginning with the origins of the name "Indonesia." The term was first introduced by British scholar George Samuel Ur to designate the island group in the Indian Ocean. Later, JR Logan, also British, used the term "Indonesian" in his journal, Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia. German scholar Adolf Bastian also employed the word Indonesia in his book to name the scattered islands of the Indian Ocean. Today, Indonesia is the name of a country in Southeast Asia.

Bahasa Indonesia was born on October 28, 1928, when young people from various parts of the archipelago gathered and made a solemn pledge known as the Sumpah Pemuda (Youth Pledge). The pledge contained three declarations: one homeland, Indonesia; one nation, Indonesia; and one unifying language, Bahasa Indonesia. The third point of the pledge explicitly affirmed Bahasa Indonesia as the language of national unity, and thus in 1928, Bahasa Indonesia was confirmed as the national language. Subsequently, on August 18, 1945, Bahasa Indonesia was declared the state language when the 1945 Constitution was ratified, which states in Article 36 that the state language is Bahasa Indonesia.

The historical development of Bahasa Indonesia is closely tied to the development of the Malay language. The foundation of Bahasa Indonesia is Malay, which was adapted to the culture of society and the demands of the times. Bahasa Indonesia grew and developed in harmony with the growing national consciousness of the Indonesian people.

There were several reasons why Malay was chosen as the basis for Bahasa Indonesia. First, since approximately the 7th century, Malay had played an important role in inter-ethnic relations throughout the archipelago. Based on discovered inscriptions, Old Malay was used as the official language of the Sriwijaya kingdom. The Malay people were fond of sailing and traveling to other regions. Malay served as the lingua franca—the language of communication among ethnic groups in the archipelago. Consequently, Malay had a very wide area of distribution and was known by other ethnic groups, spreading through trade, communication, and religious dissemination.

Second, the spread of Malay throughout the archipelago expanded further with the onset of Dutch colonization. The Dutch East India Company used Malay for correspondence and agreements with local kings and chiefs. Indigenous schools used Malay as the official medium of instruction. Since then, Malay rose from a language of social interaction among ethnic groups to the second official language of the Dutch East Indies government. School textbooks were written in Malay because the colonial government could not find alternatives in language policy.

Third, Malay is open or transparent, easily accepting elements from other languages. Its rules easily adapt to societal demands and modern technological progress. Vocabulary, terms, and scientific concepts from foreign or regional languages were readily absorbed into Malay—for example, the word "administrasi" (administration) and its derivations easily integrate into Indonesian.

Fourth, Malay has a character suited to the aspirations of Indonesia, which strives toward a democratic and egalitarian society. Unlike Javanese with its speech levels (unggah-ungguh) and Sundanese with its undak-usuk, Malay lacks words marking differences in social status.

Fifth, an important reason was the fact that no rivalry occurred among regional languages to become the basis of Bahasa Indonesia or to achieve the status of national language. These various facts encouraged ethnic groups across the archipelago to sincerely and consciously support Malay as the foundation of Bahasa Indonesia. The development of Malay, which later became the unifying language of Indonesia or the national language, eventually became separate from the development of Malay as a regional language living within its own local environment.