Indonesian Literature & Language Essay Research Paper (Essay Sample)

Emergence of Indonesian Language
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Emergence of Indonesian Language
Besides being one of the most spoken languages in the world, the Indonesian language has a rich and interesting history. Based on the historical facts, one has to go back to the first century so as to be able to trace how this language came to being. Indonesian language that is currently being used in Indonesia as an official and national language was not initially referred to by the name ‘Indonesian’, but Malay. According to history, Malay is believed to have originated from the Riau Islands that are located in the straits of Malacca (Sneddon, 2003). It is believed to be a native language that was spoken by the natives in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. The Malay language is a member of other Austronesian languages found in regions, such as Cocos Islands, west Madagascar, Christmas Islands, and Northern Taiwan and in the east of the Easter Island. During the 5th century as the Malacca straits turned into a busy trade route and a thoroughfare for trading traffic in the region, the Malay language started to grow and gain prominence into a lingua franca that was being used by outsiders. Indonesia was later colonized by the Dutch in the 16th century. This became the turning point for the Malay language. The colonization acted as a catalyst that sped up the need for a unifying factor that resulted in Indonesians advocating for the Indonesian language which has been essential in the grown and development that country from its independence to date.