As we all already know, Indonesian language are very similar with Malaysian language. Although the dialect and several of the words are different, Indonesian and Malaysian people can understand each other because of the similarity.
Indonesian and Malaysian languages are both a form of modern Malay language. This explains the similarity between the two languages. Several differences can occur because of the difference of culture, backgrounds, history, and so on. Indonesian language come from Malay that influenced by Dutch language, while Malaysian language came from Malay that influenced by English.
However, Malaysian language is not the only language that similar with Indonesian language. Several languages are also pretty close with Indonesian in several words. Below are the list of languages close to Indonesian language beside Malaysian language.
Malayan Language in Brunei Darussalam
Malay is a root language for several language spoken in South East Asian Countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Singapore. Malayan language spoken in Brunei is different with Malay in other country in term of the dialect and several words used.
The language is quite similar with Indonesian language in several words. Indonesian can sometimes understand someone speaking using Malayan Brunei, so it can be said that Malayan in Brunei is one of the closest language to Indonesian language.
Tagalog Language from Philippines
Tagalog is a national languages of Philippines. Surprisingly, several words in Tagalog are similar with in Indonesian. This is a surprise because the location of Indonesia and Philippines are quite far. There is a lot of examples of Indonesian words that similar with Tagalog.
Below are several of the examples:
|
English words |
Indonesian words | Tagalog words |
| Ball | Bola |
Bola |
|
Five |
Lima | Lima |
| I | Aku |
Ako |
|
Lip |
Bibir | Bibig |
| Sky | Langit |
Langit |
|
Get up |
Bangun | Bangon |
|
Drink |
Minum | Inom |
| Right | Kanan |
Kanan |
| Child | Anak |
Anak |
|
Fear |
Takut |
Takut |
|
Sea |
Laut | Laot |
|
Lung |
Paru-paru |
Paru-paro |
| Garlic | Bawang |
Bawang |
|
Return |
Balik |
Balik |
| Too | Pula |
Pula |
Here is the interesting facts about why Tagalog words can be similar with Indonesian words. Around 15th century Spanish still colonized Philippines. At that time, Malay is a widely used language in Philippines because there was a relation between kingdoms in Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Malay was a language used for trading between South East Asians. At that time, Malay was used in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia. Therefore, Malay language had influence Tagalog in several words.
Even though several Tagalog words are similar with Indonesian words, Tagalog is still quite different with Indonesian language. Indonesian people cannot really understand Tagalog, and Philippines people also cannot really understand Indonesian. Malaysian is still the closest language to Indonesian language.
Read more about Malaysian and Indonesian language:
- Can Malaysians understand Indonesian?
- Some similarities between Malay and Indonesian
- Similarities between Malaysia and Indonesia
- What is the different between Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Melayu
- How many people speak Indonesia and where it is spoken
That’s all about the answer for question “what languages are closest to Indonesian language beside Malaysian language”. Thank you for reading. I hope the information will be helpful for you.