Malay in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore: Three Faces of a National Language
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 276 272 FL 016 238 AUTHOR Lowenberg, Peter TITLE Malay in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore: Three Faces of a National Language. PUB DATE 17 Jul 85 NOTE 48p.; In: What Are National Languages Good For? Florian Coulmas, Ed.; see FL 016 231. PUB TYPE Historical Materials (060) -- Speeches/Conference Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Colonialism; Comparative Analysis; Developing Nations; Diachronic Linguistics; Ethnicity; Foreign Countries; *Geographic Distribution; *Indonesian; *Language Role; *Malay; Nationalism; *Official Languages; Political Influences; Public Policy; Sociolinguistics; Uncommonly Taught Languages IDENTIFIERS Indonesia; Malaysia; Singapore ABSTRACT Malay's long use as the dominant linga franca throughout modern Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore is partly responsible for its current status as the national language of all three countries. However, political and economic developments during and since the colonial era have created sociolinguistic contexts, motives, and results of the language's status that are very different for each country. In Indonesia, the policies of the Indonesian nationalists, Dutch, and Japanese converged to promote Bahasa Indonesia successfully as an ethnically neutral symbol of identity and integration. In Malaysia, the selection and promotion of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language was motivated partly by ethnic communalism rather than national unity, but it was also enhanced by British and Japanese policy. In Singapore, Malay serves to express international integration and unity with her two closest neighbors and is a factor in the balance of ethnic sentiments. The status and domains of Malay in the three countries are constantly changing and evolving, reflecting the complexities of the national language question in this area. A five-page reference list concludes the document. (MSE) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Nalay in Indonesia. Malaysia.and Singapore: Three Faces of a NationalLanguage Peter Lowenberg short title: Nalav asa National Language "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION MATE AL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Office of Educational Research and improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) XThis document has been reproduced as acz received from the person or organfization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points ol view or opinionsstated in thisctocu- .9 INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." meet do not necessarily represent official 0 OERI position or policy. BEST COPY AVAILABLE MALAY IN INDCOESIA, MALAYSIA,AND SINGAPORE: THREE FACES OF A NATIONAL LANGUAMS Introduction Contemporary Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore provide excellent examples of the diverserationales for the adoptioel at a nationallanguage and for theconsequences and implications eC selecting a particular languagefor this role. For unlike after contexts in which national languagepolicies have been compared, these countries ifforda rareopportunity to analyze several sociolinguistic variables operating on a common national language, Malay, in acontiguous geographicarea that has been influenced since prehistory by similar linguistic and nonlinguistic developments. For the half millenium priortothecolonialera, this region shared Malayasa linguafranca for basically identical functions associated with maritimetrade. Howevere.significant differences inthecolonial and post-colonialexperiences of these countrieshave caused substantialdivergencein their respective motives for and the sociolinguisticimpact of their selection of Malay asa national language. In this survey of the national language questionin these countries, I willreview the historical role of the Malaylanguage in thearea, discuss the diversereasons why Malay wasselectedas the sole national language in these countries, and examinetheresultsof this solution to the national language question in all threenations. Pre-colonial Era The region comprising present-day Indonesia, Malaysia,and 3 2 Singapore has always been unifiedin terms of its indigenous languages, most of which sharephonological, morphosyntactic,and lexical features marking them as members of the Western Indonesian sub-branch ofthe Malayo-Polynesian languagefamily (Dyen 1971; Voegelin and Voegelin1964). These linguistic bondsare further consolidated by theuse of one of these languages,Malay, since prehistoryas the primary lingua franca of the region.As Alisjahbana observes(1976:32), because the extensivearea of Indonesia and Malaysia is fragmented into hundreds of geographical:cultural, and most important, linguistic units,there has been from time immemorial a needfor a single common language which could be understoodnot only by the natives of the archipelago but alsoby the constaht wavesof foreigners attracted by celebratedriches. Malay's assumption of thisrole has resulted from itslong use as a mother tongue on both theSumatran and Malay sides ofthe straits of Malacca, which havecontinually been the keystoneto maritime commerce in SoutheastAsia. The Malay inhabitantsof thisarea have always been activetraders and navigators, spreading their language withthem at all their ports ofcall (Gonda 1973). Concurrently,"traders, migrants, andeven pirates who plied up and down the Straitsof Malacca could notescape contact with Malay-speaking people"(hsmah 1982 :202-203), whose language they subsequentlylearnedand than used in their interethnic contacts withone another. The first institutionalized spreadof Malay occurred during the Srivijaya Empire (seventh throughfourteenth centuries A.D.), which adopted Malayas its official language. From its capitalat 4 3 contemporary Palembang in southernSumatra and a secondary base at Kedah on the Malay Peninsula,Srivijaya eventually conquered all of Sumatra, West and CentralJava, and the Malay Peninsula, establishing colonies along allseacoasts and major rivers within its domain. It maintained diplomatic relationswith both /ndia and China and effectivelycontrolled both the Straits ofMalacca and the Straits of Sunda (betweenSumatra and Java) for over five centuries (Cady 1964; Harrison1967; Williams 1976). The extensive area over whichMalay had official status duringthe Srivijaya era is reflectedby the widespread locationsof stone monuments with Malay inscriptionsin Devanagari scriptlater found on Sumatra, Java,and the Malay Peninsula (Alisjahbana 1976; Asmah 1982). In addition to itsuse within the actual political domains of Srivi4arl,Gonda (1973:87) surmises thatthe emplav "in all Probability,likewise furthered thespread of Malay over adjacent countrieswhich felt its influence." The decline frompower of Srivijaya by no means lessenedthe role of Malay. For with the subsequent expansionof the Islamic kingdom of Malacca duringthe fifteenth century, tha Malayspoken by sailors from the smallerislands in and around the Straitsof Malacca - -a variety slightly differentfrom that used in Srivijaya -- continued the traditionof Malay as a lingua franca in the Ardhipelago(ims 1978; Williams 1976). Furthermore, Malay became thelanguage of proselytization by MUslim missionaries who followedthe trade routes and broughtthe language into greater contact withpresent-day Indonesia (Gonda 1973). 5 5 By the timethe first Europeans arrived, Malaywas well-established as the only linguafranca in the Archipelago (Teeuw 1967). Pigafetta, whoaccompanied Magellanon his first circumnavigation of the world, compiled the first Portuguese-Malay glossary in 1521 whileharbored at Tidom one of the far eastern Indonesianislands, which is indicative of just how far Malay hadspread. Soon afterward, St. FrancisXavier is quoted as having referredto Malay as "the languagethat everyone understands! and in 1614, JanHuygen van Linschoten,a Dutch navigator, observedthat "Haley was not merelyknown but was also considered the most prestigiousof the languages of the Orient he who did not understand itwas in somewhat the same position as Dutchmen of the poriodwho did not understand French" (Alisjahbana 1976:33-34). ColonAal Indonesi, With the advent of the colonialera, differences between the objectives and policies of theBritish in Malaya and those ofthe Dutch in the Netherlands East Indiesbecame reflected in greatly divergent statuJ and functionsof Malay in theme col .es. The Dutch colonization of present-dayIndonesia (1600-1942) was extremely conducive to the expandeduse of Malay. Unlike the British, discussed below,the Dutch strove for monopolistic control inIndonesiaand carefully guardedagainstforeign intrusions on their largely plantationeconomy. In particular, 6 6 they severely restricted immigrationof other Asians, resulting in a population whichwas almost entirely indigenous tothe islands and which had longshared Malay as a link language. Although Dutch was initiallythe only official colonial language, the Dutch themselvesfound Malay extremely usefulas an auxiliary language for localadministration and for communication with the linguistically diverse peoples they sought togovern. Therefore, in 1865, Maleywas adopted as the second official language by the Dutch colonialgovernment, who used itas an auxiliarylanguage for local administration, commerce, and communication (Hoffman 1973). Alisjahbana (1974) posits thatease of communication vas not the only motivation