Indonesian Arabic (Arabic: العربية الاندونيسية, romanized: al-‘Arabiyya al-Indūnīsiyya, Indonesian: Bahasa Arab Lokal) is a variety of Arabic spoken in Indonesia. It is primarily spoken by people of Arab descent and by students who study Arabic at Islamic educational institutions or pesantren. This language generally incorporates loanwords from regional Indonesian languages in its usage, reflecting the areas where it is spoken.
| Indonesian Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Bahasa Arab Lokal العربية الاندونيسية | |
 Arab Indonesians in Talise, Palu c. 1920 | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Area with a significant population of Arab descent and pesantren |
| Ethnicity | Arab Indonesians Santri (formal) |
Native speakers | 60.000 (2010)[1] |
| Arabic script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
 The location of Indonesian Arabic usage in the enclave is marked with a blue circle; it is primarily found in the eastern part of Java | |
History
editFrom a historical perspective, Arabic language and culture have been known since the introduction of Islam to the Malay Archipelago, which means that long before Indonesia's independence, Arabic was already becoming familiar to the indigenous people. When examining the relationship between Arabic and Islam in Indonesia, it is clear that Arabic culture and language have had a significant influence on the life of the society and the culture of Islam Nusantara (Indonesian Islam). For example, in terms of the language used daily by the people, Arabic is one of the foreign elements that has contributed a substantial amount of vocabulary to the native languages in Indonesia, including standard Indonesian, the official language of Indonesia.[2] The development of the Arabic occurred due to the arrival of Arab and Persian traders in Indonesia over a long period. It is known that Arabic language and literature are estimated to have been present in Indonesia since the early 7th to 8th centuries AD and began to develop rapidly during the 9th to 12th centuries AD. This theory is supported and agreed upon by Hamka, van Leur, and T.W. Arnold.[2]
Distribution and usage
editThe Arabic spoken in Indonesia is generally used by people of Arab descent and santri, primarily based on Hadhrami Arabic brought by Arab traders from Hadramaut, Yemen. This language has a unique feature, which is the mixture of vocabulary from Arabic and Indonesian, as well as other regional languages.[3][4] This is notably different from the Modern Standard Arabic used by 21st-century Arab expatriates. The language is commonly used in Islamic educational institutions or pesantren and in villages inhabited by people of Arab descent, often referred to as Kampung Arab.[5][6]
Arabic in Indonesia is generally spoken by Arab descendants in Bogor (Empang and Cisarua), Surabaya (Ampel), Bangkalan (Kamal), Jakarta (Pekojan), Gresik, Pekalongan, Kediri, Pasuruan (Bangil), Bondowoso, Banjarmasin, Palembang, Palu (Talise), Ambon, and other areas with a significant Arab-descendant population in Indonesia.[7] The number of speakers is currently approximately half of the Arab descendants, or perhaps even less. This number does not include the santri who use it as a formal language. Based on rough estimates, this language had about 60,000 speakers in 2010. Rather than maintaining their Arabic language, younger generations typically prefer to use Malay-based Creole languages, where they actually play a significant role in contributing Arabic vocabulary, but it is then adapted to local pronunciation. A prominent example is Betawi, where the majority of Arab descendants in urban Jakarta currently use this language.[8]
Pronunciation errors
editIt has been revealed that the use of Arabic is significantly influenced by syntax in Indonesian, particularly among santri in pesantren. Phrases such as lâ mâdza-mâdza (لا ماذا ماذا, meaning 'it's okay') or maujûd-maujûd faqath (موجود موجود فقط, meaning 'just there') are examples of syntactic pronunciation errors in Arabic among santri that result in word reduplication. In reality, when looked at word by word in Indonesian, these examples are not incorrect, but when combined, they become less accurate and hard to understand, and they cannot be found in other varieties of Arabic, as these expressions do not exist in their language. The correct expression in Modern Standard Arabic for 'it's okay' is lâ ba’sa (لا بأس) or laisa musykilah (ليس مشكلة). Meanwhile, the expression 'just there' essentially responds to something considered a joke or something unusual, and it can be translated into Modern Standard Arabic as laqad mazahta (لقد مزحت, meaning 'you are just joking') or hâdzaâ sya’un jadîd (هذا شيء جديد, meaning 'this is something new').[9]
The inaccuracy in using expressions like these in this variation of Arabic is certainly influenced by Indonesian, or more precisely, by colloquial Indonesian. Another possible cause could be a lack of understanding of Arabic rules and knowledge about them, or it could be because such expressions have become common in forming Arabic sentences among santri. Native speakers of other Arabic varieties might consider or view this as Arabic with poor pronunciation and grammar.[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Ananta, Aris; Arifin, Evi Nurvidya; Hasbullah, M. Sairi; Handayani, Nur Budi; Pramono, Agus (14 July 2015). "Demography of Indonesia's Ethnicity (Table 4.38 The 145 Ethnic Groups: Indonesia, 2010)". Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ a b Masyrufah (2020-01-07). "Bahasa Arab di Indonesia" [Arabic language in Indonesia]. FITK (in Indonesian). Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University Malang. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
- ^ "RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Naqobatul Asyrof Al-Kubro". wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ^ "Metode Pembelajaran Bahasa Asing Arab di Pondok Pesantren Modern" [Methods of Learning Arabic as a Foreign Language in Modern Pesantren]. www.neliti.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Evi Nurus Suroiyah; Dewi Anisatuz Zakiyah (2021-06-07). "Perkembangan Bahasa Arab di Indonesia" [Development of Arabic in Indonesia]. Muhadasah: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Arab. 3 (1): 60–69. doi:10.51339/muhad.v3i1.302. ISSN 2721-9488.
- ^ Maulana, Arif (29 December 2020). "Bahasa Arab Berperan Besar dalam Pengembangan Bahasa Indonesia" [Arabic Plays a Significant Role in the Development of Indonesian] (in Indonesian). Padjadjaran University. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ^ Indraswara, Mohammad Sahid; Hardiman, Gagoek; Rukayah, Siti; Firmandhani, Satriya W. (2022-04-13). "Karakteristik Kampung Arab di pesisir dan pedalaman (Kasus : Kampung Arab Pekojan, Pasar Kliwon Surakarta dan Sugihwaras Pekalongan)". Jurnal Planologi. 19 (1): 1–18. doi:10.30659/jpsa.v19i1.19767. ISSN 2615-5257.
- ^ Rahman, Lina Aulia (2021-01-01). "Kebudayaan Masyarakat Keturunan Arab Di Jakarta, Studi Kasus di Kampung Arab Condet". Rahman Lina (in Indonesian).
- ^ a b Iqbal, M. "Pengaruh Bahasa Arab dan Penggunaanya di Indonesia". Ma'had Ali bin Abi Thalib (in Indonesian). Bantul: Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta. Retrieved 10 July 2024.