Languages of Indonesia

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 Indonesia as the second most linguistically diverse nation globally, following Papua New Guinea. The majority of these languages belong to the Austronesian language family, prevalent in the western and central regions of Indonesia, including languages such as Acehnese, Sundanese, and Buginese. In contrast, the eastern regions, particularly Papua and the Maluku Islands, are home to over 270 Papuan languages, 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 of Indonesia
Sign in Yogyakarta encouraging people to prioritize the Indonesian language
Official	Indonesian
Regional	Acehnese Ambonese Malay Asmat Badui Balinese Bamayo Banjarese Batak Angkola Batak Dairi Batak Karo Batak Mandailing Batak Simalungun Batak Toba Betawi Biak Bima Buginese Central Maluku languages Butonese Gayo Galela Gorontalo Javanese Kendayan Kei Kerinci Komering Kutainese Lampung Ma'anyan Madurese Makassarese Manado Malay Manggarai Minangkabau Minahasan languages Muna Murutic languages Ngaju Nias North Moluccan Malay Osing Palembang Papuan languages Rejang Sasak Sangiric languages Sumbawa Sundanese Tae' Suluk Tidong Ternate Tetum Tidore Tobati Tobelo Tolaki Toraja Sa'dan Uab Meto
Foreign	English Arabic Chinese languages Dutch German French Japanese Korean
Signed	Indonesian Sign Language
Keyboard layout	QWERTY

Languages in Indonesia are classified into nine categories: national language, locally used indigenous languages, regional lingua francas, foreign and additional languages, heritage languages, languages in the religious domain, English as a lingua franca, and sign languages.

National language

The official language of Indonesia is Indonesian (locally known as bahasa Indonesia), a standardised form of Malay, which serves as the lingua franca of the archipelago. The vocabulary of Indonesian borrows heavily from regional languages of Indonesia, such as Javanese, Sundanese and Minangkabau, as well as from Dutch, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Arabic and more recently English. The Indonesian language is primarily used in commerce, administration, education and the media, and thus nearly every Indonesian speaks the language to varying degrees of proficiency. Most Indonesians speak other languages, such as Javanese, as their first language. This makes plurilingualism a norm in Indonesia.

Indigenous languages and regional lingua francas

The major ethno-linguistic groups within Indonesia

Indonesia recognizes only a single national language, and indigenous languages are recognized at the regional level, although policies vary from one region to another. For example, in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, the Javanese language is the region's official language along with Indonesian. Javanese is the most spoken indigenous language, with native speakers constituting 31.8% of the total population of Indonesia (as of 2010). Javanese speakers are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of Java, and there are also sizable numbers in most provinces. The next most widely spoken regional languages in the country are Sundanese, local Malay, Madurese and Minangkabau. A sense of Indonesian nationhood exists alongside strong regional identities.

There are hundreds of indigenous languages spoken in Indonesia. Most of them are locally used indigenous languages, a category of languages referring to those spoken at the local, regional level, spoken by a small number of people, ranging from a few to a few thousands of people. These include small languages such as Benggoi, Mombum and Towei. Other languages are spoken at the regional level to connect various ethnicities. For this reason, these languages are known as regional lingua francas (RLFs). According to Subhan Zein, there are at least 43 RLFs in Indonesia, categorized into two types: Malayic RLFs and Non-Malayic RLFs. The former refers to a group of regional lingua francas that are thought of as indigenised varieties of Malay or Indonesian. These include such languages as Ambon Malay, Banjarese and Papuan Malay. The latter refers to regional lingua francas that are not associated with Malay or Indonesian, including Biak, Iban and Onin.

Foreign languages

As early as the seventh century AD, the natives of the archipelago began an intense period of trade with people from China, India and other countries. This was followed by a long period of colonization by the Dutch and Portugal colonials. The outcome of these processes has been the development of a group of heritage languages spoken by Arab, Chinese, Eurasian and Dutch descendants, among others. Chinese linguistic varieties such as Hokkien, Hakka, and Mandarin are the most common heritage languages. Tamil is also spoken among majority of Indians in the country. A small number of heritage language speakers speak Arabic and Dutch.

Dutch

Further information: Dutch language § Asia

The use of Dutch, Javanese and Malay in Java, Dutch East Indies

Despite the Dutch presence in Indonesia for almost 350 years (parts of Indonesia were ruled by the Dutch East India Company and the whole of modern Indonesia was in the Dutch East Indies) the Dutch language has no official status in Indonesia. The small minority that can speak the language fluently are either educated members of the oldest generation, or employed in the legal profession, as certain law codes are still only available in Dutch.

English

English has historically been categorized as the first foreign language in Indonesia. However, increasing exposure to English, the decreasing influence of native-speaker norms in the country and the prevalent use of English as a lingua franca in the broader context such as ASEAN means that the categorization has been put into question. Scholars such as Lowenberg argue that English is best seen as an additional language. Meanwhile, Zein argues that English in Indonesia is best categorized as a lingua franca, an argument parallel with Kirkpatrick's contention on the use of English as a lingua franca in the broader ASEAN context.

Other languages

Other languages, such as Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Portuguese and Spanish, are non-native to Indonesia. These languages are included in the educational curriculum and may be categorized as either foreign or additional languages, depending on the instrumental function of the languages, length and types of exposure, as well as the wide-ranging motivations of the speakers or learners who use and or learn them.

Endangered languages

Main article: List of endangered languages in Indonesia

There are 726 languages spoken across the Indonesian archipelago in 2009 (dropped from 742 languages in 2007), the second largest multilingual population in the world after Papua New Guinea. Indonesian Papua, which is adjacent to Papua New Guinea, has the most languages in Indonesia. Based on the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale classification used by Ethnologue (formerly the Summer Institute of Linguistics), 63 languages are dying (shown in red on the bar chart, subdivided into Moribund and Nearly Extinct, or Dormant), which is defined as "The only fluent users (if any) are older than child-bearing age."

Language policy

In January 2013, Indonesia's then minister of education and culture, Muhammad Nuh, affirmed that the teaching of local languages as school subjects would be part of the national education curriculum. Muhammad stated that much of the public worry about the teaching of local languages being left out of the curriculum is misplaced, and that the new curriculum will be conveyed to them.

Languages by speakers

Main articles: List of languages by number of native speakers in Indonesia and List of languages by total number of speakers in Indonesia

The population numbers given below are of native speakers, excepting the figure for Indonesian, which counts its total speakers. The total population of the country was 237.6 million in 2010.

Largest languages in Indonesia

Language	Number (millions)	% of total population	Branch	Year surveyed	Main areas where spoken
Indonesian	210	80.42%	Malayic	2010	Throughout Indonesia
Javanese	84.3	32.28%	Javanese	2000 (census)	Throughout Java Island and several provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan islands.
Sundanese	42.0	16.08%	Sundanese	2016	West Java, Banten, Jakarta
Madurese	13.6	5.21%	Madurese	2000 (census)	Madura Island (East Java)
Minangkabau	5.5	2.11%	Malayic	2007	West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, Bengkulu, Jakarta
Buginese	5.0	1.91%	South Sulawesi	2000 (census)	South Sulawesi
Palembang Malay	3.9	1.49%	Malayic	2000 (census)	South Sumatra
Banjarese	3.5	1.34%	Malayic	2000 (census)	South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan
Acehnese	3.5	1.34%	Chamic	2000 (census)	Aceh
Balinese	3.3	1.26%	Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa	2000 (census)	Bali Island and Lombok Island
Betawi	2.7	1.03%	Malay-based creole	1993	Jakarta
Sasak	2.1	0.80%	Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa	1989	Lombok Island (West Nusa Tenggara)
Batak Toba	2.0	0.77%	Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands	1991	North Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, Jakarta
Ambonese Malay	1.9	0.73%	Malay-based creole	1987	Maluku
Makassarese	2.1	0.80%	South Sulawesi	2000 (census)	South Sulawesi
Chinese-Min Nan	1.3	0.50%	Sinitic (Min Nan)	2000	North Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, West Kalimantan
Batak Dairi	1.2	0.46%	Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands	1991	North Sumatra
Batak Simalungun	1.2	0.46%	Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands	2000 (census)	North Sumatra
Batak Mandailing	1.1	0.42%	Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands	2000 (census)	North Sumatra
Jambi Malay	1.0	0.38%	Malayic	2000 (census)	Jambi
Gorontalo	1.0	0.38%	Philippine	2000 (census)	Gorontalo (province)
Ngaju Dayak	0.9	0.34%	West Barito	2003	Central Kalimantan
Nias	0.8	0.31%	Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands	2000 (census)	Nias Island, North Sumatra
Batak Angkola	0.7	0.27%	Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands	1991	North Sumatra
Manado Malay	0.8	0.31%	Malay-based creole	2001	North Sulawesi
North Moluccan Malay	0.7	0.27%	Malay-based creole	2001	North Maluku
Chinese-Hakka	0.6	0.23%	Sinitic	1982	Bangka Belitung, Riau Islands and West Kalimantan
Batak Karo	0.6	0.23%	Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands	1991	North Sumatra
Uab Meto	0.6	0.23%	Timor-Babar	1997	West Timor (East Nusa Tenggara)
Bima	0.5	0.19%	Bima	1989	Sumbawa Island (West Nusa Tenggara)
Manggarai	0.5	0.19%	Sumba-Flores	1989	Flores Island (East Nusa Tenggara)
Toraja-Sa’dan	0.5	0.19%	South Sulawesi	1990	South Sulawesi, West Sulawesi
Komering	0.5	0.19%	Lampungic	2000 (census)	South Sumatra
Tetum	0.4	0.15%	Timor-Babar	2004	West Timor (East Nusa Tenggara)
Rejang	0.4	0.15%	Land Dayak	2000 (census)	Bengkulu
Muna	0.3	0.11%	Muna–Buton	1989	Southeast Sulawesi
Sumbawa	0.3	0.11%	Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa	1989	Sumbawa Island (West Nusa Tenggara)
Bangka Malay	0.3	0.11%	Malayic	2000 (census)	Bangka Island (Bangka Belitung)
Osing	0.3	0.11%	Javanese	2000 (census)	East Java
Gayo	0.3	0.11%	Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands	2000 (census)	Aceh
Chinese-Cantonese	0.3	0.11%	Sinitic (Yue)	2000	North Sumatera, Riau Islands, Jakarta
Tolaki	0.3	0.11%	Celebic	1991	Southeast Sulawesi
Tae’	0.3	0.11%	South Sulawesi	1992	South Sulawesi

Languages by family

Several prominent languages spoken in Indonesia sorted by language family are:

• Austronesian languages – (Malayo-Polynesian branch). Most languages spoken in Indonesia belong to this family, which in return are related to languages spoken in Madagascar, Malaysia, Philippines, New Zealand, Hawaii and various Oceanian countries.
  • Javanese language, spoken in Yogyakarta, Central Java and East Java. Speakers also found in Lampung since Javanese migrants consists more than half of province's population. Also found throughout Indonesia and by migrants in Suriname. Most populous Austronesian language by number of first language speakers.
  • Lampung language, two distinct but closely related languages spoken in Lampung, South Sumatra and Banten.
    • Komering, spoken in South Sumatera province.
  • Rejang language, spoken in Bengkulu province.
  • Malayo-Sumbawan languages:
    • Malay language, spoken throughout Indonesia. Also used as the national language (officially regulated and designated as Indonesian). Officially recognized in Malaysia (as Bahasa Melayu Malaysia), Singapore, and Brunei.
    • Acehnese language, spoken in Aceh, especially coastal part of Sumatra island.
    • Minangkabau language, spoken in West Sumatra.
    • Banjar language, spoken in South, East, and Central Kalimantan.
    • Sundanese language, spoken in West Java, Banten and Jakarta.
    • Balinese language, spoken in Bali.
    • Madurese language, spoken in Madura, Bawean and surrounding islands off the coast of Java.
    • Sasak language, spoken in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
  • Barito languages:
    • Ma'anyan language, closely related to the Malagasy language spoken in Madagascar.
  • Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands languages:
    • Batak languages, seven closely related languages spoken by the Batak people in the highlands of North Sumatra.
    • Nias language, in Nias island off the western coast of North Sumatra.
    • Simeulue language, in Simeulue island off the western coast of Aceh.
    • Gayo language, in Gayo highlands in central Aceh.
  • South Sulawesi languages:
    • Bugis language, spoken by Bugis in central South Sulawesi and neighbouring provinces.
    • Makassarese language, spoken by Makassarese in southern end of South Sulawesi.
    • Toraja language, spoken by Toraja people in northern highland of South Sulawesi.
    • Mandar language, spoken in West Sulawesi.
  • Philippine languages:
    • Gorontalo language, spoken in Gorontalo province.
    • Mongondow language, spoken in western part of North Sulawesi.
    • Minahasan languages, spoken in eastern part of North Sulawesi.
    • Suluk or Tausug language, spoken in northeastern part, of North Kalimantan.
    • Sangiric languages, spoken in northern islands part of North Sulawesi.
  • Oceanic languages
    • Sarmi-Jayapura languages, spoken in the northern part of Papua.
  • Enggano language of Sumatra, unclassified
• West Papuan languages, an indigenous language family found only in eastern Indonesia (northern Maluku and western Papua). No discernible relationship with other language families. Distinct from surrounding Austronesian languages.
  • Ternate language, spoken in Ternate and northern Halmahera.
  • Tidore language, spoken in Tidore and western Halmahera, closely related to the above Ternate language.
• Trans–New Guinea languages, an indigenous language family found in eastern Indonesia (New Guinea, Alor, Timor islands). Consisting of hundreds of languages, including the vernaculars of the Asmat and Dani people.
• Mairasi languages (4)
• East Cenderawasih (Geelvink Bay) languages (10)
• Lakes Plain languages (19; upper Mamberamo River)
• Tor–Kwerba languages (17)
• Nimboran languages (5)
• Skou languages (Skou)
• Border languages (15)
• Senagi languages (2)
• Pauwasi languages

There are many additional small families and isolates among the Papuan languages.

Below is a full list of Papuan language families spoken in Indonesia, following Palmer, et al. (2018):

1. Trans-New Guinea
   1. Ok-Oksapmin (also in Papua New Guinea)
   2. Dani
   3. Asmat-Kamoro
   4. Mek
   5. Paniai Lakes
   6. West Bomberai
   7. Somahai
   8. Anim (also in Papua New Guinea)
   9. Greater Awyu
   10. Kayagaric
   11. Kolopom
   12. Marori
2. Timor-Alor-Pantar
3. North Halmahera
4. Tambora†
5. Nuclear South Bird's Head
6. Inanwatan–Duriankere
7. Konda–Yahadian
8. Nuclear East Bird's Head
9. Hatam–Mansim
10. West Bird's Head
11. Abun
12. Mpur
13. Maybrat
14. Mor
15. Tanah Merah
16. Tor-Kwerba
17. Lakes Plain
18. Border (also in Papua New Guinea)
19. Sko (also in Papua New Guinea)
20. East Cenderawasih Bay
21. Yam (also in Papua New Guinea)
22. Komolom
23. Yelmek-Maklew
24. Eastern Pauwasi (also in Papua New Guinea)
25. Western Pauwasi
26. Nimboran
27. Sentani
28. Mairasi
29. Kaure
30. Lepki-Murkim
31. Senagi (Angor-Dera) (also in Papua New Guinea)
32. Tofanma-Namla
33. Yapen
34. Abinomn
35. Burmeso
36. Elseng
37. Kapauri
38. Kembra
39. Keuw
40. Kimki
41. Massep
42. Mawes
43. Molof
44. Usku
45. Yetfa
46. Bayono-Awbono
47. Dem
48. Uhunduni

Sign languages

There are at least 2.5 million sign language users across the country, although official report only shows less than 50,000. Sign language users are often ridiculed and stigmatized.

• Indonesian Sign Language
  • Yogyakarta Sign Language
  • Jakarta Sign Language
• Kata Kolok

Writing system

Indonesian languages are generally not rendered in native-invented systems, but in scripts devised by speakers of other languages, that is, Tamil, Arabic, and Latin. Malay, for example, has a long history as a written language and has been rendered in Brahmic, Arabic, and Latin scripts. Javanese has been written in the Pallava script of South India, as well as their derivative (known as Kawi and Javanese), in an Arabic alphabet called pegon that incorporates Javanese sounds, and in the Latin script.

Chinese characters have never been used to write Indonesian languages, although Indonesian place-names, personal names, and names of trade goods appear in reports and histories written for China's imperial courts.

List of writing systems

• Latin – The official writing system of Indonesian; most Indonesian vernacular languages now adopt Latin script.
• Kaganga – Historically used to write Rejang, an Austronesian language from Bengkulu.
• Rencong – A Brahmic-based script, formerly used by Malays before the arrival of Islam, which introduced the Jawi script.
• Sundanese – A Brahmic-based script, used by Sundanese to write the Sundanese language, although Sundanese also has a standard Latin orthography.
• Jawi and Pegon – An Arabic-based script, once widely used throughout Indonesia, now in decline but still used by Malays, Minangkabau, Banjarese, Acehnese, Javanese, Osing, Sundanese, and Madurese (which has its own form of Arabic writing known as Pegon.)
• Javanese – A Brahmic-based script used by the Javanese and related peoples. Today the script is in rapid decline and largely supplanted by Latin.
• Kawi script – The oldest known Brahmic writing system in Indonesia and the ancestor to all Brahmic based writing systems in Insular Southeast Asia.
• Balinese – A Brahmic-based script used by the Balinese people to write Balinese. It is closely related to Javanese script.
• Rejang – A Brahmic-based script used by the Rejang people of Bengkulu, Sumatra. It is closely related to Kerinci, Lampung and Rencong script.
• Kerinci (Kaganga) – A Brahmic-based script used by the Kerincis to write their language.
• Batak – A Brahmic-based script, used by the Batak people of North Sumatra.
• Lontara – A Brahmic-based script, used by the Buginese and Makassarese in Sulawesi.
• Lampung – A Brahmic-based script, still used by Lampung people to write Lampung language, although they are in rapid decline. Lampung script is closely related to Rencong, Kerinci and Rejang script.
• Hangeul Cia-Cia – The Hangeul script used to write the Cia-Cia language in Buton Island, Southeast Sulawesi.

Sample text

The following texts are translations of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the languages of Indonesia.

• Dutch (Nederlands)

Alle mensen worden vrij en gelijk in waardigheid en rechten geboren, ze zijn begiftigd met rede en geweten en behoren tegenover elkaar te handelen in een geest van broederschap.

• Chinese (中文)

人人生而自由,在尊严和权利上一律平等。他们赋有理性和良心,并应以兄弟关系的精神互相对待。

Rénrén shēng ér zìyóu, zài zūnyán hé quánlì shàng yīlù píngděng. Tāmen fùyǒu lǐxìng hé liángxīn, bìng yīng yǐ xiōngdì guānxì de jīngshén hùxiāng duìdài.

• English

All people are born free and have the same dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should associate with each other in a spirit of brotherhood.

• Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia)

Semua orang dilahirkan merdeka dan mempunyai martabat dan hak-hak yang sama. Mereka dikaruniai akal dan hati nurani dan hendaknya bergaul satu sama lain dalam semangat persaudaraan.

• Javanese (Basa Jawa)

Sabên manungsa kalairake mardika lan darbe martabat lan hak-hak kang padha. Kabeh pinaringan akal lan kalbu sarta kaajab anggone pasrawungan mêmitran siji lan liyane tansah ngugemi jiwa paseduluran.

• Malay (Bahasa Melayu)

Semua manusia dilahirkan bebas dan samarata dari segi kemuliaan dan hak-hak. Mereka mempunyai pemikiran dan perasaan hati dan hendaklah bertindak di antara satu sama lain dengan semangat persaudaraan.

• Minangkabau (Baso Minangkabau)

Sadonyo manusia dilahiakan mardeka dan punyo martabat sarato hak-hak nan samo. Mareka dikaruniai aka jo hati nurani, supayo satu samo lain bagaul sarupo urang badunsanak.

• Buginese (Basa Ugi)

Sininna rupa tau ri jajiangngi rilinoe nappunnai manengngi riasengnge alebbireng. Nappunai riasengnge akkaleng, nappunai riasengnge ati marennni na sibole bolena pada sipakatau pada massalasureng.

• Balinese (Basa Bali)

Sami manusane sane nyruwadi wantah merdeka tur maduwe kautamaan lan hak-hak sane pateh. Sami kalugrain papineh lan idep tur mangdane pada masawitra melarapan semangat pakulawargaan.

• Sundanese (Basa Sunda)

Sakumna jalma gubrag ka alam dunya téh sipatna merdika jeung boga martabat katut hak-hak anu sarua. Maranéhna dibéré akal jeung haté nurani, campur-gaul jeung sasamana aya dina sumanget duduluran.

• Madurese (Basa Madura)

Sadajana oreng lahir mardika e sarenge drajat klaban hak-hak se dha-padha. Sadajana eparenge akal sareng nurani ban kodu areng-sareng akanca kadi taretan.

• Musi (Baso Pelembang)

Galo-galo uwong dari lahirnyo bebas, samorato martabat jugo hak-haknyo. Wong dienjuk utak samo raso ati, kendaknyo tu begaul sesamo manusio pecak wong sedulur.

• Acehnese (Bahsa Acèh)

Bandum ureuëng lahé deungon meurdéhka, dan deungon martabat dan hak njang saban. Ngon akai geuseumiké, ngon haté geumeurasa, bandum geutanjoë lagèë sjèëdara.

• Tetum (Lia-Tetun)

Ema hotu hotu moris hanesan ho dignidade ho direitu. Sira hotu iha hanoin, konsiensia n'e duni tenki hare malu hanesan espiritu maun-alin.

• Dawan (Uab Metô)

Atoni ma bife ok-okê mahonis kamafutû ma nmuî upan ma hak namnés. Sin napein tenab ma nekmeü ma sin musti nabai es nok es onlê olif-tataf.

Kanan mansian mahonis merdeka ma nok upan ma hak papmesê. Sin naheun nok tenab ma nekmeû ma sin es nok es musti nfain onlê olif-tataf.

• Banjar (Bahasa Banjar)

Sabarataan manusia diranakakan bibas mardika wan ba'isi martabat lawan jua ba'isi hak-hak nang sama. Bubuhannya sabarataan dibari'i akal wan jua pangrasa hati nurani, supaya samunyaan urang antara sa'ikung lawan sa'ikung bapatutan nangkaya urang badangsanakan.

• Lampung (Bahasa Lampung)

Unyin Jelema dilaheʁko merdeka jama wat pi'il ʁik hak sai gokgoh. Tiyan dikaruniako akal jama hati nurani maʁai unggal tiyan dapok nengah nyampoʁ dilom semangat muaʁiyan.

• Komering (Basa Kumoring)

Kaunyin jolma tilahirko mardeka rik uwat pi'il rik hak-hak sai goh-goh. Tiyan tiunjuk akal pikiran rik hati nurani mari tiyan dapok nyampur rik sai barihna dilom semangat bukolpah.

• Rejang (Baso Jang)

Kutê tun laher mêrdeka, tmuan hok-hok gik srai. Kutê nagiak-ba akêa peker ngen atêi, kêrno o kêlok-nê bêkuat-ba do ngen luyên lêm asai sêpasuak.

• Bengkulu Malay (Bahaso Melayu Bengkulu)

Segalo orang dilahirkan merdeka kek punyo martabat kek hak-hak yang samo. Tobonyo dikasi akal kek hati nurani supayo bekawan dalam raso cak orang besanak.

Comparison chart

Below is a chart of several Indonesian languages. All of them except for Galela belong to the Austronesian language family. While there have been misunderstandings on which ones should be classified as languages and which ones should be classified as dialects, the chart confirms that many have similarities, yet are not mutually comprehensible. The languages are arranged geographically.

English	one	two	three	four	water	person	house	dog	cat	coconut	day	new	we, us	what	and
Dutch	een	twee	drie	vier	water	mensen	thuis	hond	kat	kokosnoot	dag	nieuw	ons	wat	en
Chinese	一 (yī)	二 (èr)	三 (sān)	四 (sì)	水 (shuǐ)	人 (rén)	房子 (fángzi)	狗 (gǒu)	猫 (māo)	椰子 (yēzi)	天 (tiān)	新的 (xīnde)	我们 (wǒmen)	什么 (shénme)	和 (hé)
Indonesian	satu	dua	tiga	empat	air	orang	rumah	anjing	kucing	kelapa	hari	baru	kita	apa	dan
Minangkabau	cie'	duo	tigo	ampe'	aie	urang	rumah	anjiang	kuciang	karambia	hari	baru	awak	apo	jo
Palembang Malay	sikok	duo	tigo	empat	banyu	wong	rumah	anjing	kucing	kelapo	ari	baru	kito	apo	dan
Betawi	atu'	dué	tigé	empat	aér	orang	ruméh	anjing	kucing	kelapé	ari	baru	kité	apé	amé
Banjarese	asa	dua	talu	ampat	banyu	urang	rumah	hadupan	batingas	nyiur	hari	hanyar	kita	apa	wan
Kutainese	satu	due	tige	empat	ranam	urang	rumah	koyok		nyiur	hari	beru	etam	apa	dengan
Manado Malay	satu	dua	tiga	ampa	aer	orang	ruma	anjing	kucing	kalapa	hari	baru	torang	apa	deng
Ambonese Malay	satu	dua	tiga	ampa	air	orang	ruma	anjing	kucing	kalapa	hari	baru	katong	apa	dan
Acehnese	sa	dua	lhèë	peuët	ië	ureuëng	rumoh	asèë	miong / miei	u	uroë	ban	geutanyoë	peuë	ngon
Nias	sara	dua	tölu	öfa	idanö	niha	omo	asu	mao	banio	luo	bohou	ya'ita	hadia	ba
Toba Batak	sada	dua	tolu	opat	aek	halak	jabu	biang	huting	harambiri	ari	ibbaru	hita	aha	dohot
Mandailing Batak	sada	dua	tolu	opat	aek	halak	bagas	asu		arambir	ari	baru	hita	aha	dohot
Lampung	say	ʁuwa	telu	ampat	way	jelema	nuwa	asu	kucing	nyiwi	ʁani	ampai	ʁam	api	jama
Komering	osai	rua	tolu	opak	uway	jolma	lombahan	asu	kucing	nyiwi	harani	ompai/anyar	ram/kita	apiya	rik
Rejang (of Lebong dialect)	do	duai	tlau	pat	bioa	tun manusio	umêak	kuyuk	kucing	nioa	bilai	blau	itê	jano, gen	ngen, magêa
Sundanese	hiji	dua	tilu	opat	cai/ci	jalma	imah	anjing	ucing	kalapa	poé	anyar	urang	naon	jeung
Javanese	siji	loro	têlu	papat	banyu	uwòng	omah	asu	kucing	kambìl	dinå	anyar/énggal	adhéwé	åpå/anu	lan
Madurese	settong	dhuwa'	tello'	empa'	âêng	oreng	roma	pate'	kochèng	nyior	are	anyar	sengko	apa	bèn
Balinese	besik	dadua	telu	papat	yéh	jadma	umah	cicing/kuluk	méong	nyuh	rahina	mara	iraga	apa	muah/lan
Sasak	sa/seke'	due	telu	mpat	aik	dengan	bale	acong/basong		kenyamen/nyioh	jelo	baru	ite	ape	dait
Bima	ica	dua	tolu	upa	oi	dou	uma	lako	ngao	ni'u	nai	bou	nami	au	labo
Ngaju Dayak	ije'	due'	telu'	epat	danum	uluh	huma'	asu	posa	enyuh	andau	taheta	itah	narai	tuntang
Kenyah Dayak	sé	dué	telew	pat	sungai	kelunan / klunan	lamin / uma'	asew	séang	nyo	dau	maring	mé' tew / teleu	inew	ngan
Buginese	seqdi	dua	tellu	eppa	je'ne'	tau	bola	asu	coki	kaluku	esso	ma-baru	idiq	aga	na
Makassarese	se're	rua	tallu	appa'	je'ne'	tau	balla'	kongkong	ngeong	kaluku	allo	beru	ikatte	apa	na
Mongondow	tobatú	doyowa	toḷu	opat	tubig	intau	baḷoi	ungkú	pinggó	bangó	singgai	mo-bagu	kita	onu	bo
Tolaki	o'aso	o'ruo	o'tolu	o'omba	iwoi	toono	laika	odahu		kaluku	oleo	wuohu	inggito	ohawo	ronga
Galela	moi	sinoto	sa'ange	iha	ake	nyawa	tahu	kaso		igo	wange	ḋamomuane	ngone	okia	de
Biak	oser/eser	suru	kyor	fyak	war	snon/kawasa	rum	naf/rofan	pus	sray	ras	babo	ko	sa	ma/kuker
Tetum	ida	rua	tolu	haat	bee	ema	uma	asu	busa	nuu	loron	foun	ami	ne'ebé	no

See also

• Languages of Sulawesi
• Languages of Kalimantan
• List of languages in Indonesia

References

Bibliography

• Baker, Colin; Jones, Sylvia Prys (1998). Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. Multilingual Matters. ISBN 9781853593628.
• Florey, Margaret (2010). Endangered Languages of Austronesia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Ricklefs, Merle Calvin (1991). A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1200. Basingstoke; Stanford, CA: Palgrave; Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4480-5.
• Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D. (2018). Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Twenty-first edition. SIL International. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
• Taylor, Jean Gelman (2003). Indonesia: Peoples and Histories. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10518-5.
• Zein, Subhan (2018). Teacher Education for English as a Lingua Franca: Perspectives from Indonesia. New York and London: Routledge. ISBN 9781138303966.
• Zein, Subhan (2020). Language Policy in Superdiverse Indonesia. New York and London: Routledge. ISBN 9780367029548.

External links

• Graph of Indonesian ethnolinguistics
• Linguistic maps of Indonesia at Muturzikin.com
• How many people speak Indonesian?