As an archipelago country, Indonesia is famous by its rich cultures and histories. Those cultures and histories affect almost all components which have the correlation with people or individuals. One of the components which is affected by the rich of Indonesian cultures and histories is the language.
Indonesian language is assimilated by or from many countries and the people who came to Indonesia. There are some different countries and cultures who visited Indonesia long time ago and affect the cultures, histories and even the language.
One of the countries which affect Indonesian cultures and language is India and Indian language. People from India came to Indonesia and spreaded themselves into some regions and provinces in Indonesia. The most populated Indian people are in North Sumatra, East Java and Jakarta. They breed and spreaded themselves to other provinces and regions and open business or work in Indonesia. They also share their cultures through language, food or arts.
If people are talking about language effect, India and Indian languages affected the Indonesian cultures towards the stories such as Ramayana or Mahabarata, the religion is Hindi and the language which is called Indian languages. Both Indian and Indonesian language has some words which has the closest meaning or even they have the same meaning and/or pronunciation. Then, which Indian language is closest meaning to Indonesian?
The Example of the Words
The example of the words Indian language which has closest meaning to Indonesia are the words which is usually spoken in daily conversation. There are four different Indian languages which are divided based on the type of languages and where they are spoken. The languages also affected and become loan words in Indonesian language.
- Pali: The Indian language which is spoken and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is spoken along with Sanskrit.
- Sanskrit: The Indian language which the language vehicle for the Hinduism religion. The status is comparable with Latin and English. The language is spoken in talking about religion, art or in daily activities.
- Hindi: The Indian language which is from Indo-Germanic or Indo-European language. This is the standard language for Hindustani language.
- Tamil: The Tamil language is used for loan words in the topic of cuisine, like in Chinese or Sanskrit. However, Tamil is also spoken in daily life. Tamil language is often found when the Malay and Tamil speakers meet.
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Note: the meaning is in English.
| PALI | INDONESIAN | MEANING | SANSKRIT | INDONESIAN | MEANING |
| Dāna | Dana | Fund | Jaya | Jaya | Victory |
| Dukkha | Duka | Sadness/pain | Bumi | Bumi | Earth |
| Lobha | Loba | Greed (A Sin) | Pura | Pura | Temple |
| Satria | Satria | Warrior/Soldier | |||
| Manusia | Manusia | Human |
| TAMIL | INDONESIAN | MEANING | HINDI | INDONESIAN | MEANING |
| Vakai | Bagai | Sort of | āyā | Ayah | Father |
| Vāci | Basi | Discount | Achaar | Acar | Pickles |
| Vaṇṇāṉ | Benara | Washerman/
Laundryman |
Caṇḍū | Candu | Opium |
| Ceruṭṭu | Cerutu | Cigar | ćūrī | Curi | Steal |
| Cōṭi | Jodoh/Joli | Mate/Couple | Chuṭṭī | Cuti | Leave |
There are other words which have the same meaning in Indian and Indonesian language.
People of Indonesia who speak the words from Indonesian may use the loan words from Indian language because of the assimilation and the effect of the visitor or the comer from India. Both India and Indonesia have their rich cultures and languages to be learnt and may be applied.
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