document_title: Indonesian language

question_text: what became the unifying nationalist language of indonesia

question_tokens: what became the unifying nationalist language of indonesia

root

text: Indonesian language

text: History[edit]

text: Early kingdoms era[edit]

text: Indonesian is a standardized register of "Riau Malay",[8][9] which despite its common name is not the Malay dialect native to the Riau Islands, but rather the Classical Malay of the Malaccan royal courts.[10] Originally spoken in Northeast Sumatra,[11] Malay has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for half a millennium. It might be attributed to its ancestor, the Old Malay language (which can be traced back to the 7th century). The Kedukan Bukit Inscription is the oldest surviving specimen of Old Malay, the language used by Srivijayan empire. Since the 7th century, the Old Malay language has been used in Nusantara (Indonesian archipelago), evidenced by Srivijaya inscriptions and by other inscriptions from coastal areas of the archipelago, such as those discovered in Java.

tag: p

text: Old Malay as lingua franca[edit]

text: Trade contacts carried on by various ethnic peoples at the time were the main vehicle for spreading the Old Malay language, which was the main communications medium among the traders. Ultimately, the Old Malay language became a lingua franca and was spoken widely by most people in the archipelago.[12][13]

text: Indonesian (in its normative form) has essentially the same material basis as the standard Malaysian register of Malay, and is therefore considered to be a variety of the pluricentric Malay language. However, it does differ from Malaysian Malay in several respects, with differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. These differences are due mainly to the Dutch and Javanese influences on Indonesian. Indonesian was also influenced by the Melayu pasar (literally "market Malay"), which was the lingua franca of the archipelago in colonial times, and thus indirectly by other spoken languages of the islands.

text: Malaysian Malay claims to be closer to the classical Malay of earlier centuries, even though modern Malaysian has been heavily influenced, in lexicon as well as in syntax, by English. The question of whether High Malay (Court Malay) or Low Malay (Bazaar Malay) was the true parent of the Indonesian language is still in debate. High Malay was the official language used in the court of the Johor Sultanate and continued by the Dutch-administered territory of Riau-Lingga, while Low Malay was commonly used in marketplaces and ports of the archipelago. Some linguists have argued that it was the more common Low Malay that formed the base of the Indonesian language.[14]

text: Dutch colonial era[edit]

text: When the Dutch East India Company (VOC) first arrived in the archipelago, the Malay language was a significant trading and political language due to the influence of Malaccan Sultanate and later the Portuguese. However, the language had never been dominant among the population of the Indonesian archipelago as it was limited to mercantile activity. The VOC adopted the Malay language as the administrative language of their trading outpost in the east. Following the bankruptcy of the VOC, the Batavian Republic took control of the colony in 1799 and it was only then that education in and promotion of Dutch began in the colony. Even then, Dutch administrators were remarkably reluctant to promote the use of Dutch compared to other colonial regimes. Dutch thus remained the language of a small elite: in 1940, only 2% of the total population could speak Dutch. Nevertheless, it did have a significant influence on the development of Malay in the colony: during the era of colonization the language that would be standardized as Indonesian absorbed a large amount of Dutch vocabulary in the form of loanwords.

text: Birth of the Indonesian language[edit]

text: The nationalist movement that ultimately brought Indonesian to its national language status rejected Dutch from the outset. However, the rapid disappearance of Dutch was a very unusual case compared to other colonized countries, where the colonial language generally has continued to function as the language of politics, bureaucracy, education, technology, and other important areas for a significant time after independence.[15] Soenjono Dardjowidjojo even goes so far as to say that, "Indonesian is perhaps the only language that has achieved the status of a national language in its true sense" since it truly dominates in all spheres of Indonesian society. The ease with which Indonesia eliminated the language of its former colonial power can perhaps be explained as much by Dutch policy as by Indonesian nationalism, though. In marked contrast to the French, Spanish and Portuguese, who pursued an assimilation colonial policy, or even the British, the Dutch did not attempt to spread their language among the indigenous population. In fact, they consciously prevented the language from being spread by refusing to provide education, especially in Dutch, to the native Indonesians so they would not come to see themselves as equals.[15] Moreover, the Dutch wished to prevent the Indonesians from elevating their perceived social status by taking on elements of Dutch culture. Thus, until the 1930s, they maintained a minimalist regime and allowed Malay to spread quickly throughout the archipelago.

text: Dutch dominance at that time covered nearly all aspects, with official forums requiring the use of Dutch, although since the Youth Congress (1928) the use of Indonesian as the national language was agreed on as one of the tools in the pro-independence struggle. As of it, Mohammad Husni Thamrin inveighed actions underestimating Indonesian. After some criticism and protests, the use of Indonesian was allowed since the Volksraad sessions held in July 1938.[16] By the time they tried to counter the spread of Malay by teaching Dutch to the natives, it was too late, and in 1942, the Japanese conquered Indonesia and outlawed the use of the Dutch language. Three years later, the Indonesians themselves formally abolished the language and established Bahasa Indonesia as the national language of the new nation.[17]

text: Adoption as national language[edit]

text: The adoption of Indonesian as the country's national language was in contrast to most other post-colonial states, as neither the language with the most native speakers (in this case, Javanese) nor the language of the former European colonial power (in this case, Dutch) was to be adopted, but rather a local language with many fewer native speakers than the most widely spoken local language (nevertheless, Malay was the second most widely spoken language in the colony after Javanese, and had many L2 speakers using it for trade, administration, and education).

text:
In 1945 when Indonesia declared its independence, Indonesian was formally declared the national language,[18] although then it was the native language of only about 5 per cent of the population, whereas Javanese and Sundanese were the mother tongues of 42–48 percent and 15 percent respectively.[19] It was a combination of nationalistic, political, and practical concerns that ultimately led to the successful adoption of Indonesian as a national language.
In 1945, Javanese was easily the most prominent language in Indonesia. It was the native language of nearly half the population, the primary language of politics and economics, and the language of courtly, religious, and literary tradition.[15] What it lacked, however, was the ability to unite the diverse Indonesian population as a whole. With thousands of islands and hundreds of different languages, the newly independent country of Indonesia had to find a national language that could realistically be spoken by the majority of the population and that would not divide the nation by favoring one ethnic group, namely the Javanese, over the others. In 1945, Indonesian was already in widespread use;[19] in fact, it had been for roughly a thousand years. Over that long period of time, Malay, which would later become standardized as Indonesian, was the primary language of commerce and travel. In addition, it was the language used for the propagation of Islam in the 13th to 17th centuries, as well as the language of instruction used by Portuguese and Dutch missionaries attempting to convert the indigenous people to Christianity.[15] The combination of all of these factors meant that the language was already known to some degree by most of the population, and it could be more easily adopted as the national language than perhaps any other. Moreover, it was the language of the sultanate of Brunei and of the future Malaysia, on which some Indonesian nationalists had claims (see Greater Indonesia).

text: Over the first 53 years of Indonesian independence, the country's first two presidents, Sukarno and Suharto constantly nurtured the sense of national unity embodied by Indonesian, and the language remains an important component of Indonesian identity today. Through a language planning program that made Indonesian the language of politics, education, and nation-building in general, Indonesia became one of the few success stories of an indigenous language effectively overtaking that of a country's colonizers to become the de jure and de facto official language.[17] It is a unique and somewhat unusual story, especially considering the historical dominance of Javanese; a diverse collection of peoples were able to compromise to hold the nation together. Today, Indonesian continues to function as the language of national identity as the Congress of Indonesian Youth envisioned, and it also serves as the language of education, literacy, modernization, and social mobility.[17] Despite still being a second language to most Indonesian citizens, it is unquestionably the language of the Indonesian nation as a whole, as it has had unrivaled success as a factor in nation-building and the strengthening of Indonesian identity.

text: Modern and colloquial Indonesian[edit]

text: While Indonesian is spoken as a mother tongue by only a small proportion of Indonesia's large population (i.e. mainly those who reside within the vicinity of Jakarta and other large predominantly Indonesian-speaking cities such as Medan and Balikpapan), over 200 million people regularly make use of the national language, with varying degrees of proficiency. In a nation that boasts more than 700 native languages and a vast array of ethnic groups, it plays an important unifying and cross-archipelagic role for the country. Use of the national language is abundant in the media, government bodies, schools, universities, workplaces, among members of the Indonesian upper-class or nobility and also in many other formal situations, although the 2010 Indonesian Census shows that only 19.94% of people over 5 years old speak mainly Indonesian at home.[20]

text: Standard and formal Indonesian is used in books and newspapers and on television/ radio news broadcasts; however, few native Indonesian speakers use the formal language in their daily conversations. While this is a phenomenon common to most languages in the world (for example, spoken English does not always correspond to written standards), the degree of "correctness" of spoken Indonesian (in terms of grammar and vocabulary) by comparison to its written form is noticeably low. This is mostly due to Indonesians combining aspects of their own local languages (e.g., Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, and Chinese) with Indonesian. This results in various "regional" Indonesian dialects, the very types that a foreigner is most likely to hear upon arriving in any Indonesian city or town. This phenomenon is amplified by the use of Indonesian slang, particularly in the cities.

text: The most common and widely used colloquial Indonesian is heavily influenced by Betawi language, a Malay-based creole of Jakarta, amplified by its popularity in Indonesian popular culture in mass media and Jakarta's status as the national capital. In informal spoken Indonesian, various words are replaced with those of a less formal nature. For example, tidak (no) is often replaced with the Betawi form nggak or the even simpler gak, while seperti (like, similar to) is often replaced with kayak (pronounced kai-yah). Sangat or amat (very), the term to express intensity, is often being replaced with Javanese-influenced banget.

text: As for pronunciation, the diphthongs ai and au on the end of base words are typically pronounced as /e/ and /o/. In informal writing the spelling of words is modified to reflect the actual pronunciation in a way that can be produced with less effort. For example, capai becomes cape or capek, pakai becomes pake, kalau becomes kalo.

text: In verbs, the prefix me- is often dropped, although an initial nasal consonant is often retained, as when mengangkat becomes ngangkat (the basic word is angkat). The suffixes -kan and -i are often replaced by -in. For example, mencarikan becomes nyariin, menuruti becomes nurutin. The latter grammatical aspect is one often closely related to the Indonesian spoken in Jakarta and its surrounding areas.

text: Classification and related languages[edit]

text: Indonesian has its roots in Malay. Malay historical linguists agree on the likelihood of the Malay homeland being in western Borneo stretching to the Bruneian coast.[21] A form known as Proto-Malay language was spoken in Borneo at least by 1000 BCE and was, it has been argued, the ancestral language of all subsequent Malayan languages. Its ancestor, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, a descendant of the Proto-Austronesian language, began to break up by at least 2000 BCE, possibly as a result of the southward expansion of Austronesian peoples into Maritime Southeast Asia from the island of Taiwan.[22] Indonesian, which originated from Malay, is a member of the Austronesian family of languages, which includes languages from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia. Malagasy, a geographic outlier spoken in Madagascar in the Indian Ocean; the Philippines national language, Filipino; and the native language of New Zealanders, Māori language are also members of this language family. Although each language of the family is mutually unintelligible, their similarities are rather striking. Many roots have come virtually unchanged from their common ancestor, Proto-Austronesian language. There are many cognates found in the languages' words for kinship, health, body parts and common animals. Numbers, especially, show remarkable similarities.

text:
Numbers in Austronesian languages

Language

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

PAN, c. 4000 BCE

*isa

*DuSa

*telu

*Sepat

*lima

*enem

*pitu

*walu

*Siwa

*puluq

Amis

cecay

tusa

tulu

sepat

lima

enem

pitu

falu

siwa

pulu'

Rukai

itha

drusa

tulru

supate

lrima

eneme

pitu

valru

bangate

pulruku

Tsou

coni

yuso

tuyu

sʉptʉ

eimo

nomʉ

pitu

voyu

sio

maskʉ

Tagalog

isá

dalawá

tatló

ápat

limá

ánim

pitó

waló

siyám

sampu

Ilocano

maysá

dua

talló

uppát

limá

inném

pitó

waló

siam

sangapúlo

Cebuano

usá

duhá

tuló

upat

limá

unom

pitó

waló

siyám

napulu

Chamorro

maisa/håcha

hugua

tulu

fatfat

lima

gunum

fiti

guålu

sigua

månot/fulu

Malagasy

iray

roa

telo

efatra

dimy

enina

fito

valo

sivy

folo

Malay/Indonesian

satu

dua

tiga

empat

lima

enam

tujuh

lapan/delapan

sembilan

sepuluh

Minangkabau

ciek

duo

tigo

ampek

limo

anam

tujuah

salapan

sambilan

sapuluah

Javanese

siji

loro

telu

papat

limo

nem

pitu

wolu

songo

sepuluh

Tetun

ida

rua

tolu

hat

lima

nen

hitu

ualu

sia

sanulu

Fijian

dua

rua

tolu

vā

lima

ono

vitu

walu

ciwa

tini

Kiribati

teuana

uoua

teniua

aua

nimaua

onoua

itiua

waniua

ruaiua

tebuina

Tongan

taha

ua

tolu

fā

nima

ono

fitu

valu

hiva

-fulu

Sāmoan

tasi

lua

tolu

fā

lima

ono

fitu

valu

iva

sefulu

Māori

tahi

rua

toru

whā

rima

ono

whitu

waru

iwa

tekau (archaic: ngahuru)

Tahitian

hō'ē

piti

toru

maha

pae

ōno

hitu

va'u

iva

'ahuru

Marquesan

tahi

'ua

to'u

hā

'ima

ono

hitu

va'u

iva

'ahu'u

Leeward Islands (Society Islands) language

tahi

rua

toru

fā

rima

ono

fitu

varu

iva

'ahuru

Hawaiian

kahi

lua

kolu

hā

lima

ono

hiku

walu

iwa

-'umi

tag: table

text:
However, Indonesian as it is known today was heavily influenced by several languages due to historical ties with other nations. Dutch made the highest contribution to the language, especially in vocabulary due to the Dutch's colonization for over three centuries, from the 16th century until the mid-20th century.[23][24] Asian languages also influenced the language, with Chinese influencing Indonesian during the 15th and 16th centuries due to the spice trade; Sanskrit, Tamil, Prakrit
and Hindi contributing during the flourishing of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms from the 2nd to the 14th century; followed by Arabic after the spread of Islam in the archipelago in the 13th century.[25] Loanwords from Portuguese were mainly connected with articles that the early European traders and explorers brought to Southeast Asia. Indonesian also receives many of English words as results of globalization and modernization, especially since the 1990s, as far as the Internet's emergence and development until now.[26] Some Indonesian words have also been borrowed into English, among them the common words orangutan, gong, bamboo, rattan, sarong, and the less common words such as paddy, sago and kapok. The phrase "to run amok" comes from the Indonesian verb amuk (to run out of control, to rage).[27][28] Due to the complexity of historical background of the language, Indonesian has become more advanced, even when compared to its own ancestor, Malay.[29]

text: Indonesian is neither pidgin or creole since the feature characteristics do not meet any of the criteria for either. It is believed that the Indonesian language was one of the means to achieve independence, but it is opened to receive vocabulary from other foreign languages aside from Malay that it has made contact with since the colonialism era, such as Dutch, English and Arabic among others, as the loan words keep increasing each year.[30]

text: Geographical distribution[edit]

text: In 2010, Indonesian had 42.8 million native speakers, and 154.9 million second-language speakers,[1] who speak it alongside their local mother tongue, giving a total number of speakers in Indonesia of 197.7 million.[1] It is common as a first language in urban areas, and as a second language by those residing in more rural parts of Indonesia.

text: The VOA and BBC use Indonesian as their standard for broadcasting in Malay.[31][32] In Australia, Indonesian is one of three Asian target languages, together with Japanese and Mandarin, taught in some schools as part of the Languages Other Than English programme.[33] Indonesian has been taught in Australian schools and universities since the 1950s.[34]

text: In East Timor, which was occupied by Indonesia between 1975 and 1999, Indonesian is recognised by the constitution as one of the two working languages (the other being English), alongside the official languages of Tetum and Portuguese.[2] Its understood by among the Malay people of Australia's Cocos Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean, also in some parts of the Sulu area of the southern Philippines and traces of it are to be found among people of Malay descent in Sri Lanka, South Africa, Suriname, and other places.[7]

text: Official status[edit]

text: Indonesian is the official language of the Republic of Indonesia, thus its usage is encouraged throughout the Indonesian archipelago. It's regulated in Chapter XV, Constitution of Indonesia 1945 about the flag, official language, coat of arms, and national anthem of Indonesia.[35] Also in Chapter III, Section 25 to 45, Government regulation No. 24/ 2009 specifically mentions the status of the Indonesian language.[36]

text: The national language shall be Indonesian

text: Indonesian functions as a symbol of national identity and pride, and is a unifying language among the diverse Indonesian ethnic groups. It also serves as a vehicle of communication among the Indonesian provinces and different regional cultures in Indonesia.[36] The language is used as the national official language, the language of education, communication, transaction and trade documentation, the development of national culture, science, technology, and mass media in Indonesia.

text: According to Indonesian law, the Indonesian language was proclaimed as the unifying language during Sumpah Pemuda on 28 October 1928, developed further to accommodate the dynamics of Indonesian civilization.[36] As mentioned previously, the language was based on Riau Malay,[8][38] though linguists note that this is not the local dialect of Riau, but the Malaccan dialect that was used in the Riau court.[10] Since its conception in 1928 and its official recognition in 1945 Constitution, the Indonesian language has been loaded with a nationalist political agenda to unify Indonesia (former Dutch East Indies). This status has made the Indonesian language relatively open to accommodate influences from other Indonesian ethnic languages, most notably Javanese as the majority ethnic group in Indonesia, and Dutch as the previous colonizer. Compared to the indigenous dialects of Malay spoken in Sumatra and Malay peninsula or the normative Malaysian standard, the Indonesian language differs profoundly by a large amount of Javanese loanwords incorporated into its already rich vocabulary. As a result, Indonesian has wider sources of loanwords, compared to Malaysian Malay. It is sometimes said that the Indonesian language is an artificial language made official in 1928. By artificial, it means that Indonesian was designed by academics rather than evolving naturally as most common languages have,[39] in order to accommodate the political purpose of establishing an official unifying language of Indonesia. By borrowing heavily from numerous other languages it expresses a natural linguistic evolution; in fact, it is as natural as the next language, as demonstrated in its exceptional capacity for absorbing foreign vocabulary.[39]

text: The disparate evolution of Indonesian and Malaysian has led to a rift between the two standardized registers. This has been based more upon political nuance and the history of their standardization rather than cultural reasons, and as a result there are asymmetrical views regarding each other's variety among Malaysians and Indonesians. In Malaysia, the national language is called either Malay or Malaysian; in Indonesia, it is Indonesian. Malaysians tend to assert that Malaysian and Indonesian are merely different normative varieties of the same language, while Indonesians tend to treat them as separate, albeit closely related, languages. The result of this attitude is that Indonesians feel little need to harmonize their language with Malaysia and Brunei, whereas Malaysians are keener to coordinate the evolution of the language with Indonesians,[40] although the 1972 Indonesian alphabet reform was largely seen as a concession of Dutch-based Indonesian to the English-based spelling of Malaysian.

text: Phonology[edit]

text: Vowels[edit]

text: It is usually said that there are six vowels in Indonesian.[41] These six vowels are shown in the table below. However, other analyses set up a system with other vowels, particularly the open-mid vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/.[42]

text:
Table of vowel phonemes of Indonesian

Front

Central

Back

Close

i

u

Close-mid

e

ə

o

Open-mid

(ɛ)

(ɔ)

Open

a

text: In standard Indonesian orthography, the Latin alphabet is used, and five vowels are distinguished: a, i, u, e, o. In materials for learners, the mid-front vowel /e/ is sometimes represented with a diacritic as é to distinguish it from the mid-central vowel /ə/.

text: Diphthongs[edit]

text: Some analyses claim that Indonesian has three native diphthong phonemes only in open syllables, they are:

text:
/ai̯/: kedai ('shop'), pandai ('clever')
/au̯/: kerbau ('buffalo'), limau ('orange')
/oi̯/ (or /ʊi̯/ in Indonesian): dodoi, amboi

tag: ul

text: Others assume that these "diphthongs" are actually a monophthong followed by an approximant, so ⟨ai⟩ represents /aj/, ⟨au⟩ represents /aw/, and ⟨oi⟩ represents /oj/. On this basis, there are no phonological diphthongs in Indonesian.[43]

text: Diphthongs are differentiated from two vowels in two syllables, such as:

text:
/a.i/: e.g. lain ('other') [la.in], air ('water')  [a.ir]
/a.u/: bau ('smell') [ba.u], laut ('sea') [la.ut]

text: Consonants[edit]

text: The consonants of Indonesian are shown below.[41][44] Non-native consonants that only occur in borrowed words, principally from Arabic and English, are shown in parentheses. Some analyses list 19 "primary consonants" for Indonesian as the 18 symbols that are not in parentheses in the table as well as the glottal stop [ʔ].[45][46]

text:
Consonant phonemes of Standard Indonesian

Labial

Alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

Nasal

m

n

ɲ

ŋ

Plosive

voiceless

p

t

t͡ʃ

k

(ʔ)

voiced

b

d

d͡ʒ

ɡ

Fricative

voiceless

(f)

s

(ʃ)

(x)

h

voiced

(z)

Approximant

w

l

j

Trill

r

text:
Orthographic note:
The sounds are represented orthographically by their symbols as above, except:

text:
/ɲ/ is written ⟨ny⟩ before a vowel, ⟨n⟩ before ⟨c⟩ and ⟨j⟩
/ŋ/ is written ⟨ng⟩
the glottal stop [ʔ] is written as a final ⟨k⟩ or an apostrophe ⟨'⟩ (the use ⟨k⟩ from its being an allophone of /k/ or /ɡ/ in the syllable coda)
/tʃ/ is written ⟨c⟩
/dʒ/ is written ⟨j⟩
/ʃ/ is written ⟨sy⟩
/x/ is written ⟨kh⟩
/j/ is written ⟨y⟩

text: Stress[edit]

text: Indonesian has light stress that falls on either the final or penultimate syllable, depending on regional variations as well as the presence of the schwa (/ə/) in a word. It is generally the penultimate syllable that is stressed, unless its vowel is a schwa /ə/. If the penult has a schwa, then stress moves to the ante-penultimate syllable if there is one, even if that syllable has a schwa as well; if the word is disyllabic, the stress is final. In disyllabic stress with a closed penultimate syllable, such as tinggal ('stay') and rantai ('chain'), stress falls on the penult.

text: However, there is some disagreement among linguists over whether stress is phonemic (unpredictable), with some analyses suggesting that there is no underlying stress in Indonesian.[44][47][48]

text: Rhythm[edit]

text: The classification of languages based on rhythm can be problematic.[49] Nevertheless, acoustic measurements suggest that Indonesian has more syllable-based rhythm than British English,[50] even though doubts remain about whether the syllable is the appropriate unit for the study of Malay prosody.[47] However, many linguists suggest that rhythm in Indonesian is not payed[clarification needed], because Indonesian is not a kind of tonal language like Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese.[7]

text: Grammar[edit]

text: Word order in Indonesian is generally subject-verb-object (SVO), similar to that of most modern European languages, such as English. However considerable flexibility in word ordering exists, in contrast with languages such as Japanese or Korean, for instance, which always end clauses with verbs. Indonesian, while allowing for relatively flexible word orderings, does not mark for grammatical case nor does it make use of grammatical gender.

text: Affixes[edit]

text: In Indonesian, affixes take on an important role because slightly different affixes may have very different meanings. There are four types of affixes: prefixes (awalan), suffixes (akhiran), circumfixes (apitan) and infixes (sisipan). Affixes are categorized into noun, verb, and adjective affixes. Root words are either nouns or verbs, which can take on affixes to generate new words, for example, masak (to cook) may become memasak (cooks), memasakkan (cooks for), dimasak (cooked), pemasak (a cook), masakan (a meal, cookery). Many initial consonants alternate in the presence of prefixes: sapu (to sweep) becomes menyapu (sweeps/sweeping); panggil (to call) becomes memanggil (calls/calling), tapis (to sieve) becomes menapis (sieves).

text: Other examples of the use of affixes to change the meaning of a word can be seen with the word ajar (teach):

text:
ajar = teach
 ajaran = teachings
 belajar = to learn
 mengajar = to teach (intransitive)
 mengajarkan = to teach (transitive)
 diajar = being taught (intransitive)
 diajarkan = being taught (transitive)
 mempelajari = to study
 dipelajari = being studied
 pelajar = student
 pengajar = teacher
 pelajaran = subject, education
 pengajaran = lesson
 pembelajaran = learning
 terajar = taught (accidentally)
 terpelajar = well-educated, literally "been taught"
 berpelajaran = is educated, literally "has education"

text: Noun affixes[edit]

text: Noun affixes are affixes that form nouns upon addition to root words. The following are examples of noun affixes:

text:
Type of noun affixes

Affix

Example of root word

Example of derived word

Prefix

pə(r)- ~ pəng-

duduk (sit)

penduduk (population)

kə-

hendak (want)

kehendak (desire)

Infix

⟨əl⟩

tunjuk (point)

telunjuk (index finger, command)

⟨əm⟩

kelut (dishevelled)

kemelut (chaos, crisis)

⟨ər⟩

gigi (teeth)

gerigi (toothed blade)

Suffix

-an

bangun (wake up, raise)

bangunan (building)

Circumfix

kə-...-an

raja (king)

kerajaan (kingdom)

pə(r)-...-anpəng-...-an

kerja (work)

pekerjaan (occupation)

text: The prefix per- drops its r before r, l and frequently before p, t, k. In some words it is peng-; though formally distinct, these are treated as variants of the same prefix in Indonesian grammar books.

text: Verb affixes[edit]

text: Similarly, verb affixes in Indonesian are attached to root words to form verbs. In Indonesian, there are:

text:
Type of verb affixes

Affix

Example of root word

Example of derived word

Prefix

bər-

ajar (teach)

belajar (to study)[51]

məng-

tolong (help)

menolong (to help)

di-

ambil (take)

diambil (be taken)

məmpər-

panjang (length)

memperpanjang (to lengthen)

dipər-

dalam (deep)

diperdalam (be deepened)

tər-

makan (eat)

termakan (to have accidentally eaten)

Suffix

-kan

letak (place, keep)

letakkan (keep)

-i

jauh (far)

jauhi (avoid)

Circumfix

bər-...-an

pasang (pair)

berpasangan (in pairs)

bər-...-kan

dasar (base)

berdasarkan (based on)

məng-...-kan

pasti (sure)

memastikan (to make sure)

məng-...-i

teman (company)

menemani (to accompany)

məmpər-...-kan

guna (use)

mempergunakan (to utilise, to exploit)

məmpər-...-i

ajar (teach)

mempelajari (to study)

kə-...-an

hilang (disappear)

kehilangan (to lose)

di-...-i

sakit (pain)

disakiti (to be hurt by)

di-...-kan

benar (right)

dibenarkan (is allowed to)

dipər-...-kan

kenal (know, recognise)

diperkenalkan (is being introduced)

text: Adjective affixes[edit]

text: Adjective affixes are attached to root words to form adjectives:

text:
Type of adjective affixes

Affix

Example of root word

Example of derived word

Prefix

tər-

kenal (know)

terkenal (famous)

sə-

lari (run)

selari (parallel)

Infix

⟨əl⟩

serak (disperse)

selerak (messy)

⟨əm⟩

cerlang (radiant bright)

cemerlang (bright, excellent)

⟨ər⟩

sabut (husk)

serabut (dishevelled)

Circumfix

kə-...-an

barat (west)

kebaratan (westernized)

text: In addition to these affixes, Indonesian also has a lot of borrowed affixes from other languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic and English. For example, maha-, pasca-, eka-, bi-, anti-, pro- etc.

text: Nouns[edit]

text: Common derivational affixes for nouns are peng-/per-/juru- (actor, instrument, or someone characterized by the root), -an (collectivity, similarity, object, place, instrument), ke-...-an (abstractions and qualities, collectivities), per-/peng-...-an (abstraction, place, goal or result).

text: Gender[edit]

text: Indonesian does not make use of grammatical gender, and there are only selected words that use natural gender. For instance, the same word is used for he/him and she/her (dia or ia) or for his and her (dia, ia or -nya). No real distinction is made between "girlfriend" and "boyfriend", both pacar (although more colloquial terms as cewek girl/girlfriend and cowok boy/boyfriend can also be found). A majority of Indonesian words that refer to people generally have a form that does not distinguish between the sexes. However, unlike English, distinction is made between older or younger.

text:
There are some words that have gender, for instance putri means "daughter", and putra means "son" and also pramugara means "male flight attendant" and pramugari meaning "female flight attendant". Another example would be olahragawan, which equates to "sportsman", and olahragawati, meaning sportswoman. Often, words like these (or certain suffixes such as "-a" and "-i" or "-wan" and "wati") are absorbed from other languages (in these cases, from Sanskrit through the Old Javanese language).
In some regions of Indonesia such as Sumatera and Jakarta, abang (a gender-specific term meaning "older brother") is commonly used as a form of address for older siblings/males, while kakak (a non-gender specific term meaning "older sibling") is often used to mean "older sister". Similarly, more direct influences from other languages, such as Javanese and Chinese, have also seen further use of other gendered words in Indonesian. For example: Mas ("older brother"), M'bak ("older sister"), Koko ("older brother") and Cici ("older sister").

text: Number[edit]

text: Indonesian grammar does not regularly mark plurals. In Indonesian, to change a singular into a plural one either repeats the word or adds para before it (the latter for living things only); for example, "students" can be either murid-murid or para murid. Plurals are rarely used in Indonesian, especially in informal parlance. Reduplication is often mentioned as the formal way to express the plural form of nouns in Indonesian; however, in informal daily discourse, speakers of Indonesian usually use other methods to indicate the concept of something being "more than one". Reduplication may also indicate the conditions of variety and diversity as well, and not simply plurality.

text: Reduplication is commonly used to emphasize plurality; however, reduplication has many other functions. For example, orang-orang means "(all the) people", but orang-orangan means "scarecrow". Similarly, while hati means "heart" or "liver", hati-hati is a verb meaning "to be careful". Also, not all reduplicated words are inherently plural, such as orang-orangan "scarecrow/scarecrows", biri-biri "a/some sheep" and kupu-kupu "butterfly/butterflies". Some reduplication is rhyming rather than exact, as in sayur-mayur "(all sorts of) vegetables".

text: Distributive affixes derive mass nouns that are effectively plural: pohon "tree", pepohonan "flora, trees"; rumah "house", perumahan "housing, houses"; gunung "mountain", pegunungan "mountain range, mountains".

text: Quantity words come before the noun: seribu orang "a thousand people", beberapa pegunungan "a series of mountain ranges", beberapa kupu-kupu "some butterflies".

text: Plural in Indonesian serves just to explicitly mention the number of objects in sentence. For example, Ani membeli satu kilo mangga (Ani buys one kilogram of mangoes). In this case, "mangoes", which is plural, is not said as mangga-mangga because the plurality is implicit: the amount a kilogram means more than one mango. So, as it is logically, one does not change the singular into the plural form, because it is not necessary and considered a pleonasm (in Indonesian often called pemborosan kata).

text: Pronouns[edit]

text: Personal pronouns are not a separate part of speech, but a subset of nouns. They are frequently omitted, and there are numerous ways to say "you". Commonly the person's name, title, title with name, or occupation is used ("does Johnny want to go?", "would Madam like to go?"); kin terms, including fictive kinship, are extremely common. However, there are also dedicated personal pronouns, as well as the demonstrative pronouns ini "this, the" and itu "that, the".

text: Personal pronouns[edit]

text: From the perspective of a European language, Indonesian boasts a wide range of different pronouns, especially to refer to the addressee (the so-called second person pronouns). These are used to differentiate several parameters of the person they are referred to, such as the social rank and the relationship between the addressee and the speaker.

text: This table shows an overview over the most commonly and widely used pronouns of the Indonesian language:

text:
Common pronouns

person

respect

singular

plural

1st person

exclusive

informal, familiar

aku

kami(we: they and me, she/he and me)

standard, polite

saya

inclusive

kita(we: you and me, you and us)

2nd person

familiar

kamu

kalian

polite

Anda(you)

Anda sekalian(you, you all)

3rd person

dia or ia(she/he)

mereka (itu)(they)

text: First person pronouns

text: Notable among the personal-pronoun system is a distinction between two forms of "we": kita (you and me, you and us) and kami (us, but not you). The distinction is increasingly confused in colloquial Indonesian.

text: Saya and aku are the two major forms of "I". Saya is the more formal form, whereas aku is used with family, friends, and between lovers. Sahaya is an old or literary form of saya. Sa(ha)ya may also be used for "we", but in such cases it is usually used with sekalian or semua "all"; this form is ambiguous as to whether it corresponds with inclusive kami or exclusive kita. Less common are hamba "slave", hamba tuan, hamba datuk (all extremely humble), beta (a royal addressing oneselves), patik (a commoner addressing a royal), kami (royal or editorial "we"), kita, təman, and kawan.

text: Second person pronouns

text: There are three common forms of "you", Anda (polite), kamu (familiar), and kalian "all" (commonly used as a plural form of you, slightly informal). Anda is used with strangers, recent acquaintances, in advertisements, in business, and when you wish to show respect (though terms like tuan "sir" and other titles also show respect), while kamu is used in situations where the speaker would use aku for "I". Anda sekalian is polite plural.

text: Engkau (əngkau), commonly shortened to kau, and hang are used to social inferiors, awak to equals, and əncik (cek before a name) is polite, traditionally used for people without title. The compounds makcik and pakcik are used with village elders one is well acquainted with or the guest of.

text: Third person pronouns

text: The common word for "s/he" and "they" is ia, which has the object and emphatic/focused form dia. Bəliau "his/her Honour" is respectful. As with "you", names and kin terms are extremely common. Mereka "someone", mereka itu, or orang itu "those people" are used for "they".

text: Regional varieties

text: There are a large number of other words for "I" and "you", many regional, dialectical, or borrowed from local languages. Saudara "you" (male) and saudari (female) (plural saudara-saudara or saudari-saudari) show utmost respect. Daku "I" and dikau "you" are poetic or romantic. Indonesian gua "I" (from Hokkien Chinese: 我; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: góa) and lu "you" (Chinese: 汝; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lú)  are slang and extremely informal.

text: The pronouns aku, kamu, engkau, ia, kami, and kita are indigenous to Indonesian.

text: Possessive pronouns[edit]

text: Aku, kamu, engkau, and ia have short possessive enclitic forms. All others retain their full forms like other nouns, as does emphatic dia: meja saya, meja kita, meja anda, meja dia "my table, our table, your table, his/her table".

text:
Possessed forms of meja "table"

Pronoun

Enclitic

Possessed form

aku

-ku

mejaku (my table)

kamu

-mu

mejamu (your table)

ia

-nya

mejanya (his, her, their table)

text: There are also proclitic forms of aku, ku- and kau-. These are used when there is no emphasis on the pronoun:

text: Here ku-verb is used for a general report, aku verb is used for a factual statement, and emphatic aku-lah meng-verb (≈ "I am the one who...") for focus on the pronoun.[52]

text: Demonstrative pronouns[edit]

text: There are two demonstrative pronouns in Indonesian. Ini "this, these" is used for a noun which is generally near to the speaker. Itu "that, those" is used for a noun which is generally far from the speaker. Either may sometimes be equivalent to English "the". There is no difference between singular and plural. However, plural can be indicated through duplication of a noun followed by a ini or itu. The word yang "which" is often placed before demonstrative pronouns to give emphasis and a sense of certainty, particularly when making references or enquiries about something/ someone, like English "this one" or "that one".

text:
Pronoun

Indonesian

English

ini

buku ini

This book, these books, the book(s)

buku-buku ini

These books, (all) the books

itu

kucing itu

That cat, those cats, the cat(s)

kucing-kucing itu

Those cats, the (various) cats

text:
Pronoun + yang

Example sentence

English meaning

Yang ini

Q: Anda mau membeli buku yang mana?
A: Saya mau yang ini.

Q: Which book do you wish to purchase?
A: I would like this one.

Yang itu

Q: Kucing mana yang memakan tikusmu?
A: Yang itu!

Q: Which cat ate your mouse?
A: That one!

text: Verbs[edit]

text: Verbs are not inflected for person or number, and they are not marked for tense; tense is instead denoted by time adverbs (such as "yesterday") or by other tense indicators, such as sudah "already" and belum "not yet". On the other hand, there is a complex system of verb affixes to render nuances of meaning and to denote voice or intentional and accidental moods. Some of these affixes are ignored in colloquial speech.

text: Examples of these are the prefixes di- (patient focus, frequently but erroneously called "passive voice", for OVA word order in the third person, and OAV in the first or second persons), meng- (agent focus, frequently but erroneously called "active voice", for AVO word order), memper- and diper- (causative, agent and patient focus), ber- (stative or habitual; intransitive VS order), and ter- (agentless actions, such as those which are involuntary, sudden, stative or accidental, for VA = VO order); the suffixes -kan (causative or benefactive) and -i (locative, repetitive, or exhaustive); and the circumfixes ber-...-an (plural subject, diffuse action) and ke-...-an (unintentional or potential action or state).

text:
duduk to sit down
mendudukkan to sit someone down, give someone a seat, to appoint
menduduki to sit on, to occupy
didudukkan to be given a seat, to be appointed
diduduki to be sat on, to be occupied
terduduk to sink down, to come to sit
kedudukan to be situated

text: Forms in ter- and ke-...-an are often equivalent to adjectives in English.

text: Negation[edit]

text: Four words are used for negation in Indonesian, namely tidak, bukan, jangan, and belum.

text:
Tidak (not), often shortened to tak, is used for the negation of verbs and "adjectives".
Bukan (be-not) is used in the negation of a noun.

text: For example:

text:
Indonesian

Gloss

English

Saya tidak tahu

I not know

I do not know

Ibu saya tidak senang

mother I not be-happy

My mother is not happy

Itu bukan anjing saya

that be-not dog I

That is not my dog

text: Prohibition[edit]

text: For negating imperatives or advising against certain actions in Indonesian, the word jangan (do not) is used before the verb. For example,

text: Jangan tinggalkan saya di sini!

text: Jangan lakukan itu!

text: Jangan! Itu tidak bagus untukmu.

text: Adjectives[edit]

text: There are grammatical adjectives in Indonesian. Stative verbs are often used for this purpose as well. Adjectives are always placed after the noun which they modify. Hence, "rumah saya" means "my house", while "saya rumah" means "I am a house".

text:
Indonesian

Gloss

English

Hutan hijau

forest green

(The) green forest.

Hutan itu hijau

forest that green

That/the forest is green.

Kəreta yang merah

carriage which (is) red.

(The) carriage which is red = the red carriage.

Kəreta merah

carriage red.

Red carriage.

Dia orang yang terkenal sekali

he/she person which be-famous very

He/she is a very famous person

Orang terkenal

person famous.

Famous person.

Orang ini terkenal sekali

person this be-famous very

This person is very famous

text: To say that something "is" an adjective, the determiners "itu" and "ini" ("that" and "this") are often used. For example, in the sentence "anjing itu galak", the use of "itu" gives a meaning of "the/that dog is ferocious", while "anjing ini galak", gives a meaning of "this dog is ferocious". However, if "itu" or "ini" were not to be used, then "anjing galak" would meaning only "ferocious dog", a plain adjective without any stative implications. The all-purpose determiner, "yang", is also often used before adjectives, hence "anjing yang galak" also means "ferocious dog" or more literally "dog which is ferocious"; "yang" will often be used for clarity. Hence, in a sentence such as "saya didekati oleh anjing galak" which means "I was approached by a ferocious dog", the use of the adjective "galak" is not stative at all.

text: Often the "ber-" intransitive verb prefix, or the "ter-" stative prefix is used to express the meaning of "to be...". For example, "beda" means "different", hence "berbeda" means "to be different"; "awan" means "cloud", hence "berawan" means "cloudy". Using the "ter-" prefix, implies a state of being. For example, "buka" means "open", hence "terbuka" means "is opened"; "tutup" means "closed/shut", hence "tertutup" means "is closed/shut".

text: Word order[edit]

text: Adjectives, demonstrative determiners, and possessive determiners follow the noun they modify.

text: Indonesian does not have a grammatical subject in the sense that English does. In intransitive clauses, the noun comes before the verb. When there is both an agent and an object, these are separated by the verb (OVA or AVO), with the difference encoded in the voice of the verb. OVA, commonly but inaccurately called "passive", is the basic and most common word order.

text: Either the agent or object or both may be omitted. This is commonly done to accomplish one of two things:

text: For example, a polite shop assistant in a store may avoid the use of pronouns altogether and ask:

text:
Ellipses of pronoun (agent & object)

Literal English

Idiomatic English

Bisa dibantu?

Can + to be helped?

Can (I) help (you)?

text: For example, a friend may enquire as to when you bought your property, to which you may respond:

text:
Ellipses of pronoun (understood agent)

Literal English

Idiomatic English

Rumah ini dibeli lima tahun yang lalu

House this + be purchased five year(s) ago

The house 'was purchased' five years ago

text: Ultimately, the choice of voice and therefore word order is a choice between actor and patient and depends quite heavily on the language style and context.

text: Emphasis[edit]

text: Word order is frequently modified for focus or emphasis, with the focused word usually placed at the beginning of the clause and followed by a slight pause (a break in intonation):

text:
Saya pergi ke pasar kemarin "I went to the market yesterday" – neutral, or with focus on the subject.
Kemarin saya pergi ke pasar "Yesterday I went to the market" – emphasis on yesterday.
Ke pasar saya pergi, kemarin "To the market I went yesterday" – emphasis on where I went yesterday.
Pergi ke pasar, saya, kemarin "To the market went I yesterday" – emphasis on the process of going to the market.

text: The last two are more likely to be encountered in speech than in writing.

text: Measure words[edit]

text: Another distinguishing feature of Indonesian is its use of measure words, also called classifiers (kata penggolong). In this way, it is similar to many other languages of Asia, including Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, and Bengali.

text: Measure words are also found in English such as two head of cattle, a loaf of bread, or this sheet of paper, where *two cattle, a bread, and this paper (in the sense of this piece of paper) would be ungrammatical. The word satu reduces to se- /sə/, as it does in other compounds:

text:
Measure word

Used for measuring

Literal translation

Example

buah

things (in general), large things, abstract nounshouses, cars, ships, mountains; books, rivers, chairs, some fruits, thoughts, etc.

'fruit'

dua buah meja (two tables), lima buah rumah (five houses)

ekor

animals

'tail'

seekor ayam (a chicken), tiga ekor kambing (three goats)

orang

human beings

'person'

seorang laki-laki (a man), enam orang petani (six farmers), seratus orang murid (a hundred students)

biji

smaller rounded objectsmost fruits, cups, nuts

'grain'

sebiji/ sebutir telur (an egg), sebutir/ butiran-butiran beras (rice or rices)

batang

long stiff thingstrees, walking sticks, pencils

'trunk, rod'

sebatang tongkat (a stick)

həlai

things in thin layers or sheetspaper, cloth, feathers, hair

'leaf'

sepuluh helai pakaian (ten cloths)

kəping keping

flat fragments slabs of stone, pieces of wood, pieces of bread, land, coins, paper

'chip'

sekeping uang logam (a coin)

pucuk

letters, firearms, needles

'sprout'

sepucuk senjata (a weapon)

bilah

things which cut lengthwise and thicker

'blade'

sebilah kayu (a piece of wood)

bidanɡ

things which can be measured with number

'field'

sebidang tanah/lahan (an area)

potong

bread

'cut'

sepotong roti (slices of bread)

utas

nets, cords, ribbons

'thread'

seutas tali (a rope)

carik

things easily torn, like paper

'shred'

secarik kertas (a piece of paper)

text:
Example:
Measure words are not necessary just to say "a": burung "a bird, birds". Using se- plus a measure word is closer to English "one" or "a certain":

text: Writing system[edit]

text: Indonesian is written with the Latin script. It was originally based on the Dutch spelling and still bears some similarities to it. Consonants are represented in a way similar to Italian, although ⟨c⟩ is always /tʃ/ (like English ⟨ch⟩), ⟨g⟩ is always /ɡ/ ("hard") and ⟨j⟩ represents /dʒ/ as it does in English. In addition, ⟨ny⟩ represents the palatal nasal /ɲ/, ⟨ng⟩ is used for the velar nasal /ŋ/ (which can occur word-initially), ⟨sy⟩ for /ʃ/ (English ⟨sh⟩) and ⟨kh⟩ for the voiceless velar fricative /x/. Both /e/ and /ə/ are represented with ⟨e⟩.

text: Spelling changes in the language that have occurred since Indonesian independence include:

text:
Phoneme
Obsoletespelling
Modernspelling

/u/
oe
u

/tʃ/
tj
c

/dʒ/
dj
j

/j/
j
y

/ɲ/
nj
ny

/ʃ/
sj
sy

/x/
ch
kh

text: Introduced in 1901, the van Ophuijsen system, (named from the advisor of the system, Charles Adriaan van Ophuijsen) was the first standardization of romanized spelling. It was most influenced by the then current Dutch spelling system. In 1947, the spelling was changed into Republican Spelling or Soewandi Spelling (named by at the time Minister of Education, Soewandi). This spelling changed formerly spelled oe into u (however, the spelling influenced other aspects in orthography, for example writing reduplicated words). All of the other changes were a part of the Perfected Spelling System, an officially mandated spelling reform in 1972. Some of the old spellings (which were derived from Dutch orthography) do survive in proper names; for example, the name of a former president of Indonesia is still sometimes written Soeharto, and the central Java city of Yogyakarta is sometimes written Jogjakarta.

text: Letter names and pronunciations[edit]

text: The Indonesian alphabet is exactly the same as in English and ISO basic Latin alphabet.

text:
Majuscule Forms

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Minuscule Forms

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z

text: Indonesian follows the letter names of the Dutch alphabet. Indonesian alphabet has a phonemic orthography; words are spelled the way they are pronounced, with few exceptions. The letters Q, V and X are rarely encountered, being chiefly used for writing loanwords.

text:
Letter

Name (in IPA)

Sound (in IPA)

English equivalent

Aa

a (/a/)

/a/

a as in father

Bb

bé (/be/)

/b/

b as in bed

Cc

cé (/t͡ʃe/ or /se/)

/t͡ʃ/

ch as in check

Dd

dé (/de/)

/d/

d as in day

Ee

é (/e/)

/e/

e as in red

Ff

éf (/ef/)

/f/

f as in effort

Gg

gé (/ge/)

/ɡ/

g as in gain

Hh

ha (/ha/)

/h/

h as in harm

Ii

i (/i/)

/i/

i as in pin

Jj

jé (/d͡ʒe/)

/d͡ʒ/

j as in jam

Kk

ka (/ka/)

/k/

k as in skate

Ll

él (/el/)

/l/

l as in let

Mm

ém (/em/)

/m/

m as in mall

Nn

én (/en/)

/n/

n as in net

Oo

 o (/o/)

 /o/

o as in owe

Pp

 pé (/pe/)

 /p/

p as in speak

Qq

 ki (/ki/)

 /q/

q as in queen

Rr

ér (/er/)

 /r/

Spanish rr as in puerro

Ss

 és (/es/)

 /s/

s as in sun

Tt

 te (/te/)

 /t/

unaspirated t as in still

Uu

 u (/u/)

 /u/

u as in pull

Vv

ve (/ve/ or /fe/)

 /v/

v as in van

Ww

 we (/we/)

 /w/

w as in wet

Xx

 ex (/ex/)

 /ks/

x as in xylophone

Yy

 yé (/je/)

 /j/

y as in yarn

Zz

 zet (/zet/)

 /z/

z as in zebra

text: In addition, there are digraphs that are not considered separate letters of the alphabet:[53]

text:
Digraph

Sound

English equivalent

ai

/ai̯/

uy as in buy

au

/au̯/

ou as in ouch

oi

/oi̯/

oy as in boy

gh

/ɣ/ or /x/

similar to Dutch and German ch, but voiced

kh

/x/

ch as in loch

ng

/ŋ/

ng as in sing

ny

/ɲ/

Spanish ñ; similar to ny as in canyon with a nasal sound

sy

/ʃ/

sh as in shoe

text: Vocabulary[edit]

text: A pie chart showing percentage of other languages contribute on loan words of Indonesian language.

text: As a modern variety of Malay, Indonesian has been influenced by other languages, including Dutch, English, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, and Persian. It is estimated that there are some 750 Sanskrit loanwords in modern Indonesian, 1,000 Arabic loans, some of Persian and Hebrew origin, some 125 words of Portuguese, some of Spanish and Italian origin, and 10,000 loanwords from Dutch.[54][full citation needed] The vast majority of Indonesian words, however, come from the root lexical stock of Austronesian (including Old Malay).[17]

text: The study of Indonesian etymology and loan words reveals both its historical and social contexts. Examples are the early Sanskrit borrowings from the 7th century during the trading era, the borrowings from Arabic and Persian during the time of the establishment of Islam in particular, and those from Dutch during the colonial period. Linguistic history and cultural history are clearly linked.[55]

text: List of loan words of Indonesian language published by the Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa (The Language Center) under Ministry of Education and Culture:[56]

text:
Language origin

Number of words

Dutch

3280

English

1610

Arabic

1495

Sanskrit

677

Chinese

290

Portuguese

131

Tamil

131

Persian

63

Hindi

7

text: Loan words of Sanskrit origin[edit]

text: The Sanskrit influence came from contacts with India since ancient times. The words were either borrowed directly from India or with the intermediary of the Old Javanese language. Although Hinduism and Buddhism are no longer the major religions of Indonesia, Sanskrit, which was the language vehicle for these religions, is still held in high esteem and is comparable with the status of Latin in English and other Western European languages. Sanskrit is also the main source for neologisms, these are usually formed from Sanskrit roots. The loanwords from Sanskrit cover many aspects of religion, art and everyday life. Sanskrit loanwords, unlike those from other languages, have entered the basic vocabulary of Indonesian to such an extent that, for many, they are no longer perceived as foreign.

text: From Sanskrit came such words as स्वर्ग surga (heaven), भाषा bahasa (language), काच kaca (glass, mirror), राज- raja (king), मनुष्य manusia (mankind), चिन्ता cinta (love), भूमि bumi (earth), भुवन buana (world), आगम agama (religion), स्त्री Istri (wife/woman), जय Jaya (victory/victorious), पुर Pura (city/temple/place), रक्षस Raksasa (giant/monster), धर्म Dharma (rule/regulations), मन्त्र Mantra (words/poet/spiritual prayers), क्षत्रिय Satria (warrior/brave/soldier), विजय Wijaya (greatly victorious/great victory), etc. Sanskrit words and sentences are also used in names, titles, and mottos of the Indonesian National Police and Indonesian Armed Forces such as: Bhayangkara, Laksamana, Jatayu, Garuda, Dharmakerta Marga Reksyaka, Jalesveva Jayamahe, Kartika Eka Paksi, Swa Bhuwana Paksa, Rastra Sewakottama, Yudha Siaga, etc. The Sanskrit words also still makes the Indonesian language more powerful in meaning[according to whom?] from the usage of the National Armed Forces titles such as (above) and more meanings[clarification needed] that also contributes to official and formal languages of Indonesia.[citation needed]

text: Because Sanskrit has been very long known in the Indonesian archipelago, the Sanskrit loanwords, unlike those from other languages, have entered the basic vocabulary of Indonesian to such an extent that, for many, they are no longer perceived to be foreign. Therefore, one could write a short story using only Sanskrit words. The short story below consists of approximately 80 words in Indonesian that are written using Sanskrit words alone, except for a few particles.

text: Loan words of Chinese origin[edit]

text: The relationship with China has been going since the 7th century when Chinese merchants traded in some areas of the archipelago such as Riau, West Borneo, East Kalimantan, and North Maluku. At the kingdom of Srivijaya appeared and flourished, China opened diplomatic relations with the kingdom in order to secure trade and seafaring. In 922, Chinese travelers visited Kahuripan in East Java. Since the 11th century, hundreds of thousands of Chinese migrants left Mainland China and settled in many parts of Nusantara (now called as Indonesia).

text: The Chinese loanwords are usually concerned with cuisine, trade or often just things exclusively Chinese. Words of Chinese origin (presented here with accompanying Hokkien/ Mandarin pronunciation derivatives as well as traditional and simplified characters) include pisau (匕首 bǐshǒu  – knife), loteng, (樓/層 = lóu/céng – [upper] floor/ level), mie (麵 > 面 Hokkien mī – noodles), lumpia (潤餅 (Hokkien = lūn-piáⁿ) – springroll), cawan (茶碗 cháwǎn – teacup), teko (茶壺 > 茶壶 = cháhú [Mandarin], teh-ko [Hokkien] = teapot), 苦力 kuli = 苦 khu (bitter) and 力 li (energy) and even the widely used slang terms gua and lu (from the Hokkien 'goa' 我 and 'lu/li' 你 – meaning 'I/ me' and 'you').

text: Loan words of Arabic origin[edit]

text: Many Arabic words were brought and spread by merchants from Arab Peninsula like Arabian, Persian, and from the western part of India, Gujarat where many Muslims lived.[57] As a result, many Indonesian words come from the Arabic language. Especially since the late 12th century, Old Malay was heavily influenced by the language and produced many great literary works such as Syair, Babad, Hikayat, and Suluk. This century is known as The Golden Age of Indonesian Literature.[57]

text: Many loanwords from Arabic are mainly concerned with religion, in particular with Islam, and by extension, with greetings such as the word, "selamat" (from Arabic: سلامة salāma = health, soundness)[58] means "safe" or "lucky". Words of Arabic origin include dunia (from Arabic: دنيا dunyā = the present world), names of days (except Minggu), such as Sabtu (from Arabic: سبت sabt-u = Saturday), iklan (آعلان iʻlan = advertisement), kabar (خبر khabar = news), Kursi (كرسي kursī = a chair), jumat (جمعة jumʻa = Friday), ijazah (إجازة ijāza = 'permission', certificate of authority, e.g. a school diploma certificate), kitab (كتاب kitāb = book), tertib (ترتيب tartīb = order/arrangement) and kamus (قاموس qāmūs = dictionary). Allah (Arabic: الله), as it is mostly the case for Arabic speakers, is the word for God even in Christian Bible translations. Many early Bible translators, when they came across some unusual Hebrew words or proper names, used the Arabic cognates. In the newer translations this practice is discontinued. They now turn to Greek names or use the original Hebrew Word. For example, the name Jesus was initially translated as 'Isa (Arabic: عيسى), but is now spelt as Yesus. Several ecclesiastical terms derived from Arabic still exist in Indonesian language. Indonesian word for bishop is uskup (from Arabic: أسقف usquf = bishop). This in turn makes the Indonesian term for archbishop uskup agung (literally great bishop), which is combining the Arabic word with an Old Javanese word. The term imam (from Arabic: إمام imām = leader, prayer leader) is used to translate a Catholic priest, beside its more common association with an Islamic prayer leader. Some Protestant denominations refer to their congregation jemaat (from Arabic: جماعة jamāʻa = group, a community). Even the name of the Bible in Indonesian translation is Alkitab (from Arabic: الكتاب al-kitāb = the book), which literally means "the Book".

text: Loan words of Portuguese origin[edit]

text: Alongside Malay, Portuguese was the lingua franca for trade throughout the archipelago from the sixteenth century through to the early nineteenth century. The Portuguese were among the first westerners to sail eastwards to the "Spice Islands". Loanwords from Portuguese were mainly connected with articles that the early European traders and explorers brought to Southeast Asia. Indonesian words derived from Portuguese include meja (from mesa = table), bangku (from banco = chair), lemari/almari (from armário = closet), boneka (from boneca = doll), jendela (from janela = window), Gereja (from Igreja = Church), Misa (from Missa = Mass), Natal (from Natal = Christmas), Paskah (from Páscoa = Easter), pesta (from festa = party), dansa (from dança = dance), pesiar (from passear = cruise), bendera (from bandeira = flag), sepatu (from sapato = shoes), garpu (from garfo = fork), kemeja (from camisa = shirt), kereta (from carreta = chariot), pompa (from bomba hidráulica = pump), pigura (from figura = picture), roda (from roda = wheel), nona (from dona = young woman), sekolah (from escola = school), lentera (from lanterna = lantern), paderi (from padre = priest), Santo, Santa (from Santo, Santa = Saint), puisi (from poesia = poetry), tukar (from trocar = exchange), keju (from queijo = cheese), mentega (from manteiga = butter), serdadu (from soldado = soldier), meski (from mas que = although), kamar (from câmara = room), laguna (from laguna = lagoon), lelang (from leilão = auction), persero (from parceiro = company), markisa (from maracujá = passion fruit), limau (from limão = lemon), kartu (from cartão = card), ombak (from onda = waves), Inggris (from inglês = English), Sabtu (from sábado = Saturday), Minggu (from domingo = Sunday), etc.[59]

text: Loan words of Dutch origin[edit]

text: The former colonial power, the Netherlands, left a sizable amount of vocabulary that can be seen in words such as polisi (from politie = police), kualitas (from kwaliteit = quality), aktual (from actueel = current), rokok (from roken = smoking cigarettes), korupsi (from corruptie = corruption), kantor (from kantoor = office), resleting (from ritssluiting = zipper), pelopor (from voorloper = frontrunner) persneling (from versnelling = transmission gear), setrum (from stroom = electricity current), maskapai (from maatschappij = company), apotek (from apotheek = pharmacy), handuk (from handdoek = towel), setrika (from strijkijzer = clothes iron), bioskop (from bioscoop = cinema), spanduk (from spandoeken = banner), korsleting (from kortsluiting = short circuit), om (from oom = uncle), tante (from tante = aunt), traktir (from trakteer = treat) and gratis (from gratis = free). These Dutch loanwords, and many other non-Italo-Iberian, European language loanwords that came via Dutch, cover all aspects of life. Some Dutch loanwords, having clusters of several consonants, pose difficulties to speakers of Indonesian. This problem is usually solved by insertion of the schwa. For example, Dutch schroef [ˈsxruf] > sekrup [səˈkrup] (screw (n.)). One scholar argues that 20% of Indonesian words are inspired by the Dutch language.[60]

text: Before the standardization of the language, many Indonesian words follow standard Dutch alphabet and pronunciation such as "oe" for vowel "u" or "dj" for consonant "j" [dʒ]. As a result, Malay words are written with that orthography such as: passer for the word Pasar or djalan for the word jalan, older Indonesian generation tend to have their name written in such order as well.

text: Loan words of English origin[edit]

text: Many English words were incorporated into Indonesian through globalization. Many Indonesians, however, mistake words already adopted from Dutch as words borrowed from English. This is due to the Germanic traces that exist in the two languages. Indonesian adopts English words with standardization. For example: imajinasi from imagination, universitas from university, aksesori from accessory, geografi from geography, konservatif from conservative, rutin from routine, and so other.[61] However, there are several words that directly borrowed without standardization which have same meanings in English such as: bus, data, domain, detail, internet, film, golf, lift, monitor, radio, radar, unit, safari, sonar, and video, riil as real.[61]

text: Other loan words[edit]

text: Modern Indonesian draws many of its words from foreign sources, there are many synonyms. For example, Indonesian has three words for "book", i.e. pustaka (from Sanskrit), kitab (from Arabic) and buku (from Dutch boek); however, each has a slightly different meaning. A pustaka is often connected with ancient wisdom or sometimes with esoteric knowledge. A derived form, perpustakaan means a library. A kitab is usually a religious scripture or a book containing moral guidance. The Indonesian words for the Bible and Gospel are Alkitab and Injil, both directly derived from Arabic. The book containing the penal code is also called the kitab. Buku is the most common word for books.

text: There are direct borrowings from various other languages of the world, such as karaoke (from カラオケ) from Japanese, and ebi (from えび) which means dried shrimp. Many words that originally are adopted through the Dutch language today however often are mistaken as English due to the similarity in the Germanic nature of both languages. In some cases the words are replaced by English language through globalization: although the word arbei (Dutch: aardbei) still literally means strawberry in Indonesian, today the usage of the word stroberi is more common. Greek words such as demokrasi (from δημοκρατία dēmokratía), filosofi (from φιλοσοφία philasophia), mitos (from μῦθος mythos) came through Dutch, Arabic and Portuguese respectively.

text: It is notable that some of the loanwords that exist in both Indonesian and Malaysian languages are different in spelling and pronunciation mainly due to how they derived their origins: Malaysian utilizes words that reflect the English usage (as used by its former colonial power, the British), while Indonesian uses a Latinate form reflected in the Dutch usage (e.g. aktiviti (Malaysian) vs. aktivitas (Indonesian), universiti (Malaysian) vs. universitas (Indonesian)).

text: Literature[edit]

text: Indonesia hosts a sparkling variety of traditional verbal arts such as poetry, historical narratives, romances, and drama; which are expressed in local languages, but modern genres are expressed mainly through Indonesian.[7] Some of Indonesian great classic stories including Sitti Nurbaya by Marah Rusli, Azab dan Sengsara by Merari Siregar, and Sengsara Membawa Nikmat by Tulis Sutan Sati.[62][63] Modern literature like novels, short stories, stage plays, and free-form poetry has developed since the late years of the 19th century and has produced such internationally recognised figures as novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer, dramatist W.S. Rendra, poet Chairil Anwar, and cinematographer Garin Nugroho.[64] Indonesia's classic novels itself, have their own charm, offering insight into local culture and traditions and the historical background prior to and immediately after the country gained independence. One of the great is Shackles which was written by Armijn Pane in 1940. Originally titled Belenggu and translated into many languages including English and German.[65]

text: As speakers of other languages[edit]

text:
Over the past few years, interest in learning Indonesian has grown among non-Indonesians.[66] Various universities have started to offer courses that emphasise the teaching of the language to non-Indonesians. In addition to National Universities, private institutions have also started to offer courses, like the Indonesia Australia Language Foundation and the Lembaga Indonesia Amerika.
As early as 1988, teachers of the language have expressed the importance of a standardised Bahasa Indonesia bagi Penutur Asing (also called BIPA, literally Indonesian Language for Foreign Speaker) materials (mostly books), and this need became more evident during the 4th International Congress on the Teaching of Indonesian to Speakers of Other Languages held in 2001.[67]

text:
Since 2013, the Indonesian Embassy in the Philippines has given basic Indonesian language courses to 16 batches of Filipino students, as well as training to members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Due to increasing demand among students, the Embassy will open an intermediate Indonesian language course later in the year.
In an interview, Department of Education Secretary Armin Luistro[68] said that the country's government should promote Indonesian or Malay, which are related to Filipino. Thus, the possibility of offering it as an optional subject in public schools is being studied.

text: The Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C., USA also began offering free Indonesian language courses at the beginner and intermediate level.[69]

text: Words[edit]

text: Numbers[edit]

text: Cardinal[edit]

text:
Number

English

Indonesian

0

zero

nol

1

one

satu

2

two

dua

3

three

tiga

4

four

empat

5

five

lima

6

six

enam

7

seven

tujuh

8

eight

delapan

9

nine

sembilan

10

ten

sepuluh

11

eleven

sebelas

12

twelve

dua belas

20

twenty

dua puluh

21

twenty one

dua puluh satu

30

thirty

tiga puluh

100

one hundred

seratus

200

two hundred

dua ratus

210

two hundred ten

dua ratus sepuluh

1000

one thousand

seribu

10000

ten thousand

sepuluh ribu

100000

one hundred thousand

seratus ribu

1000000

one million

sejuta, satu juta

1000000000

one billion

satu miliar

1000000000000

one trillion

satu triliun

text: Ordinal[edit]

text:
Number

English

Indonesian

1st

first

pertama/kesatu

2nd

second

kedua

3rd

third

ketiga

4th

fourth

keempat

5th

fifth

kelima

6th

sixth

keenam

7th

seventh

ketujuh

8th

eighth

kedelapan

9th

ninth

kesembilan

10th

tenth

kesepuluh

text: Days and months[edit]

text: Days[edit]

text:
English

Indonesian

Monday

Senin

Tuesday

Selasa

Wednesday

Rabu

Thursday

Kamis

Friday

Jumat

Saturday

Sabtu

Sunday

Minggu

text: Months[edit]

text:
English

Indonesian

January

Januari

February

Februari

March

Maret

April

April

May

Mei

June

Juni

July

Juli

August

Agustus

September

September

October

Oktober

November

November

December

Desember

text: Common phrases[edit]

text:
English

Indonesian

Spelling (in IPA)

Hello!

Halo!

[halo]

Good morning!

Selamat pagi!

[sə'la:mat pa'gi]

Good afternoon!

Selamat siang!

[sə'la:mat siaŋ]

Good evening! or Good night!

Selamat malam!

[sə'la:mat ma'lam]

Goodbye!

Selamat tinggal!

[sə'la:mat tiŋ'gal]

See you later!

Sampai jumpa lagi!

[sam'pai dʒum'pa lagi]

Thank you

Terima kasih (standard, formal)

[təri'ma kasih]

Thanks

Makasih (colloquial)

[maka'sih]

You are welcome

Sama-sama or terima kasih kembali

[sa'ma sa'ma] or [təri'ma kasih kəm'bali]

Yes

Ya or iya

[ja] or [i'ja]

No

Tidak

[ti'daʔ]

And

Dan

[dan]

Or

Atau

[a'taʊ]

Because

Karena

[karə'na]

Therefore

Karena itu

[karə'na itu]

Nothing

Tidak ada

[ti'daʔ ada]

Maybe

Mungkin

[muŋ'kin]

How are you?

Apa kabar?

[apa ka'bar]

I am fine

Baik or Baik-baik saja

[baik] or [baik baik sa'dʒa]

Have a nice day!

Semoga hari Anda menyenangkan!

[sə'moga hari an'da mə'ɲənaŋ'kan]

Bon appétit!

Selamat makan! or Selamat menikmati!

[sə'la:mat ma'kan] or [sə'lamat mə'niʔmati]

I am sorry

Maafkan saya

[ma'afkan sa'ja]

Excuse me

Permisi

[pər'misi]

What?

Apa?

[apa]

Who?

Siapa?

[sia'pa]

When?

Kapan?

[ka'pan]

Where?

Di mana?

[di'mana]

Why?

Mengapa?

[mə'ŋapa]

How?

Bagaimana?

[ba'gai'mana]

How much?

Berapa?

[bə'rapa]

What is your name?

Nama Anda siapa?

[nama an'da si'apa]

My name is...

Nama saya...

[nama sa'ja...]

Do you know?

Apakah Anda tahu?

[apa'kah an'da ta'u]

Yes, I know / No, I do not know

Ya, saya tahu / Tidak, saya tidak tahu

[ja, sa'ja ta'hu] / [ti'daʔ, sa'ja ti'daʔ ta'u]

Can you speak Indonesian?

Bisakah Anda berbicara bahasa Indonesia?

[bisa'kah an'da bərbi'cara baha'sa indone'sia]

Yes, I can speak Indonesian / No, I can not speak Indonesian

Ya, saya bisa berbicara bahasa Indonesia / Tidak, saya tidak bisa berbicara bahasa indonesia

[ja, sa'ja bisa bərbi'cara baha'sa Indone'sia] / [ti'daʔ, sa'ja ti'daʔ bisa bərbi'cara baha'sa indone'sia]

What time is it now?

Pukul berapa sekarang?

[pukul bə'rapa səka'raŋ]

It is 5.00 o'clock

Sekarang pukul 5.00

[səka'raŋ pukul lima]

When will you go to the party?

Kapan Anda akan pergi ke pesta itu?

[kapan an'da akan pər'gi ke pesta itu]

Soon

Nanti

[nanti]

Today

Hari ini

[hari ini]

Tomorrow

Besok

[be'sok]

Day after tomorrow

Lusa

[lusa]

Yesterday

Kemarin

[kə'marin]

Congratulations!

Selamat!

[sə'la:mat]

Happy New Year!

Selamat Tahun Baru!

[sə'la:mat ta'hun baru]

Merry Christmas!

Selamat Natal!

[sə'la:mat na'tal]

Please

Mohon or tolong

[mo'hon] or [to'loŋ]

Stop!

Berhenti!

[bər'henti]

I am happy

Saya senang

[sa'ja sə'naŋ]

I understand

Saya mengerti

[sa'ja mə'ŋərti]

Help!

Tolong!

[to'loŋ]

I need help

Saya memerlukan bantuan

[sa'ja mə'mərlukan ban'tuan]

Can you help me?

Bisakah Anda menolong saya?

[bisa'kah an'da mə'noloŋ sa'ja]

Can I help you? / Do you need help?

Dapatkah saya membantu Anda? / Apakah Anda membutuhkan bantuan?

[da'patkah an'da məm'bantu sa'ja] / [apa'kah an'da məm'butuh'kan bantu'an]

May I borrow your eraser?

Bolehkah saya meminjam penghapus Anda?

[boleh'kah sa'ja mə'minjam peŋ'hapus an'da]

With my pleasure

Dengan senang hati

[deŋan sə'naŋ hati]

Welcome

Selamat datang

[sə'la:mat da'taŋ]

Welcome to Indonesia

Selamat datang di Indonesia

[sə'la:mat da'taŋ di indone'sia]

I agree / I disagree

Saya setuju / Saya tidak setuju

[sa'ja sə'tuju] / [sa'ja ti'daʔ sə'tudʒu]

I understand / I do not understand

Saya mengerti / Saya tidak mengerti

[sa'ja mə'ŋərti] / [sa'ja ti'daʔ mə'ŋərti]

I am hungry

Saya lapar

[sa'ja la'par]

I am thirsty

Saya haus

[sa'ja haʊs]

I am sick

Saya sakit

[sa'ja sakit]

Get well soon

Semoga cepat sembuh

[sə'moga cə'pat səmbuh]

text: Example[edit]

text: The following texts are excerpts from the official translations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Indonesian and Malay, along with the original declaration in English.

text:
English[70]
Indonesian[71]
Malay[72]

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Pernyataan Umum tentang Hak Asasi Manusia
Perisytiharan Hak Asasi Manusia sejagat

Article 1
Pasal 1
Perkara 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
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.
Semua manusia dilahirkan bebas dan sama rata dari segi maruah dan hak-hak. Mereka mempunyai pemikiran dan perasaan hati dan hendaklah bergaul dengan semangat persaudaraan.


document_title: Signed, Sealed, Delivered (TV series)

question_text: signed sealed delivered home again cast rita's parents

question_tokens: signed sealed delivered home again cast rita 's parents

text: Signed, Sealed, Delivered (TV series)

text: Cast[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Eric Mabius as Oliver O'Toole
Kristin Booth as Shane McInerney
Crystal Lowe as Rita Haywith
Geoff Gustafson as Norman Dorman

text: Guest stars[edit]

text:
Valerie Bertinelli as Rebecca Starkwell
Carol Burnett as Ardis Paine, Norman's grandmother
Valerie Harper as Theresa Capodiamonte
Marilu Henner as Glynis Rucker
Della Reese as Cora Brandt

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Signed, Sealed, Delivered scored 58 out of 100 on Metacritic based on five "mixed or average" reviews.[7]

text: Variety's Brian Lowry commented that it was "so old fashioned and hokey that it just might work."[8]

text: David Hinckley of New York Daily News gave it 3 stars out of 5 in 2014 and said that while all the characters were terribly likable, they spoke as if they were reading from Hallmark greeting cards.[9]

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
No.
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Production
code
U.S. viewers
(million)

—
"Second Chances (Pilot)"
Scott Smith
Martha Williamson
October 12, 2013 (2013-10-12)
#100-120
1.72[5]

Oliver still believes stamped and mailed letters are important to human communication. The humdrum jobs of his dead letter mail experts Rita and Norman change when a technophile named Shane gets mistakenly transferred into their office. Shane inspires them to partake in a risky and unorthodox manner, starting with a chance to clear the name of a wrongfully accused man and reconnect him with the love of his life.

1
"Time To Start Livin'"
Scott Smith
Martha Williamson
April 20, 2014 (2014-04-20)
#1001
1.70[10]

Oliver wants to investigate a letter from ten-year-old boy alerting his grandmother he is running away after being inexplicably separated from her. Meanwhile, Shane, Rita and Norman prepare for new supervisor, Theresa Capodiamonte (Valerie Harper), a winner of the prestigious Dark of Night award, who challenges them to take greater risks with their deliveries. They discover that the boy's life is in danger, and they become determined to find the intended recipient of his letter. Theresa also realizes she has an unfulfilled lifelong dream.

2
"To Whom It May Concern"
Scott Smith
Martha Williamson
April 27, 2014 (2014-04-27)
#1002
1.44[11]

A mangled letter describes a young woman's search for a soldier who saved her life and helped her escape Afghanistan during the Battle of Kamdesh. The Army officer is untraceable by normal means and the team must find him, even if he does not want to be found. Their search reveals a number of war heroes who not only return to less than a hero's welcome, but they are also homeless. Attempts to deliver an orphan's letter to a war hero changes his life while Theresa's pursuit of her dreams inspires the team.

3
"Soulmates"
Kevin Fair
Dawn DeKeyser
May 4, 2014 (2014-05-04)
#1003
1.69[12]

The team discovers an undeliverable love letter, and their investigation initially exposes more questions than answers. Their new supervisor Cora Brandt (Della Reese) also arrives with stricter policies and procedures. The letter contains a passionate plea from ranch owner Sam to his childhood sweetheart. However, a domino effect could occur for its recipient and the people in her life. After an unexpected twist, clues among the team's co-workers bring a resolution to the case.

4
"The Masterpiece"
Kevin Fair
Jeff Eckerle and Marilyn Osborn
May 11, 2014 (2014-05-11)
#1004
1.30[13]

Norman retrieves a package jamming the office mail chute. A letter attached to it is written by a man named Danny to his father. Both were sent to Henry Barrett three years ago. The team learns Henry lost his home and business after a bout with cancer, and he now spends his time living and working at a bar. There, they hear from Henry that he has not spoken to Danny since he left for college ten years ago to be an artist rather than take over the family's auto repair business. To learn more about Danny, the team opens the package to find a piece of art. At a gallery, they learn the piece was part of a triptych detailing Danny's life, which has been cut short when he died in a fire. The mailed piece reveals a baby painted on it. Henry is a grandfather and is asked to bring the piece with him when he meets Danny's wife and daughter.

5
"The Edge of Forever"
Lynne Stopkewich
Katherine Collins
May 18, 2014 (2014-05-18)
#1005
1.44[14]

A large box with an urn and a large envelope arrive in the office. The envelope has the name "Maggie" written on it and contains two separately addressed envelopes inside it. One is for Caitlyn Atkinson, the other is for Vanessa Doherty. The urn contains their mother's remains. Since the large envelope was addressed to someone else, the team searches for her. The women recall visiting a cabin with their mother in their younger days. The cabin belonged to their mother's friend, Maggie, who, when found, sends them on an adventure with their mother's ashes. The family was supposed to take a hike on September 11, 2001, when they learned the father died on one of the hijacked planes. The event caused the whole family to become bitter, even with each other. The daughters scatter their mother's remains when the hike was finally completed.

6
"The Future Me"
Lynne Stopkewich
Kerry Lenhart and John J. Sakmar
May 25, 2014 (2014-05-25)
#1006
1.26[15]

A letter, postmarked with a future date, sets off a chain reaction that leads the team on a surprising, emotional journey. As Rita prepares for the Miss Special Delivery pageant while being threatened by Glynis Rucker (Marilu Henner), an intimidating supervisor whose daughter is also competing, Oliver, Shane, and Norman find themselves in the middle of a couple's struggle for acceptance.

7
"Something Good"
Scott Smith
Dean Batali
June 1, 2014 (2014-06-01)
#1007
1.27[16]

A CD is found in the small bin of items that fell out of unsealed packages. The team listens to it and hears a single studio recording of someone's love song. Norman's cousin, Serge, who has a mental music memory recognizes the woman singing as Linda Hawkins from a local rock band. The male singer is not known. Linda tells the team the singer was very talented, and she hoped he would mail the song to her agent. She gives them the studio's address. Studio manager Jennifer Becker remembers the singer, Billy, with a last name that was difficult to pronounce. She adds he worked there in exchange for time recording. He also owned a vintage motorcycle. Billy Antonopoulos was involved in a motorcycle accident that impaired his memory. Shane believes Jennifer was for whom the song was written. She takes her to see Billy, whom she thought had moved on. She returns his guitar, and, as he slowly plays it, the song returns to him and he sings it for her. Meanwhile, Shane meets her old friend, Rebecca Starkwell (Valerie Bertinelli), the head of Special Projects from the Washington, D.C. post office who is in Denver to help with "awareness, goodwill and an increased reliance on the work of the post office."

8
"Dark of Night"
Scott Smith
Martha Williamson
June 8, 2014 (2014-06-08)
#1008
1.61[17]

A letter found in a stolen Bible makes its way to the Dead Letter Office ten years after it was written. It contains a dark secret that was written the same night the sender died. The letter reveals that Melissa, wife of D.A. Michael Wheeler, was raped the night before their wedding and Abby, their daughter, is the product of said rape. After the letter is delivered without complication, Wheeler, distraught, plans to kill the rapist, Carl Brackner, at a court hearing. Upon learning of his plans, Shane and Oliver take the information to Rebecca Starkwell who decides to reorganize the Dead Letter Office into a special task force reporting directly to her at Special Projects, giving the entire D.L.O. a promotion and Rita creates a nickname for their group - The Postables. To stop Wheeler from killing Brackner, Oliver, Shane, Norman and Rita confront Wheeler at the court hearing and reveal that his daughter needs a kidney from Brackner to survive her injuries from the original accident that killed her mother. Brackner, upon learning of Abby and her plight, donates the kidney and the Dead Letter Office receives not only the Distinguished Service Award from their branch, but the highest postal honor, The Dark of Night Award.

9
"The Treasure Box"
Mike Rohl
Martha Williamson
June 15, 2014 (2014-06-15)
#1009
1.47[18]

While Norman helps Rita prepare for the Miss Special Delivery pageant, Oliver and Shane head to a bank vault with a safe deposit key found in a puzzle box. They are told by vault manager Jason that the box's contents are about to be auctioned off. An alarm sounds while the three check out the box, the vault seals, and the bank clears out. With only hours of air left, Jason finds the key needed to help open the box. Inside are letters from "January '08", wrapped in a ribbon. They document a long-distance love affair between Jonathan and Katherine, which ultimately reveal she has a rare case of pneumonia. Once free from the vault, Oliver and Shane locate "Jonathan", only to discover that he is the writer's great-grandson, Jonathan Walker IV. The letters were passed down through generations and contain the secret to true love. Back at the pageant, when Rita can't recall all the ways mail can be delivered, Oliver, at Shane's request, prays, and Rita remembers a comment Norman made the night before about mail delivery to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and wins.

10
"A Hope and a Future"
Mike Rohl
Brandi Harkonen
June 22, 2014 (2014-06-22)
#1010
1.52[19]

While the team attempts to reunite a mother with her twin sons that never knew each other, Norman learns about a grandmother (Carol Burnett) he never knew he had. Also, Shane helps Oliver make a decision about contacting his estranged wife.

text: Expansion films[edit]

text:
No.
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Production
code
U.S. viewers
(million)

1
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas"
Kevin Fair
Story : Brandi Harkonen, Kerry Lenhart and John J. Sakmar
Teleplay : Martha Williamson
November 23, 2014 (2014-11-23)
#111-120
0.755[21]

An emotional holiday story in which the Postables work overtime to help a struggling family find hope on Christmas Eve. Guest stars include Marion Ross and Rob Estes.[20]

2
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered: From Paris with Love"
Kevin Fair
Story : Martha Williamson and Brandi Harkonen
Teleplay : Martha Williamson
June 6, 2015 (2015-06-06)
#112-120
0.830[22]

The Postables deliver divorce papers to a happy couple, as well as Oliver's estranged wife, Holly (Poppy Montgomery), returning from Paris.[6]

3
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Truth Be Told"
Kevin Fair
Story : Martha Williamson and Brandi Harkonen
Teleplay : Martha Williamson
September 13, 2015 (2015-09-13)
#113-120
0.806[23]

The Postables deliver a soldier's letter from Afghanistan to her daughter, while Oliver's estranged father, Joe (Gregory Harrison), brings him surprising news.

4
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Impossible Dream"
Kevin Fair
Story : Martha Williamson and Brandi Harkonen
Teleplay : Martha Williamson
October 4, 2015 (2015-10-04)
#114-120
0.798[24]

The Postables travel to Washington, D.C., to bring a letter from an American prisoner of war before a Senate Hearing Committee. Also, Rita competes in the Miss Special Delivery Contest.

5
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered: From the Heart"
Lynne Stopkewich
Story : Martha Williamson and Brandi Harkonen
Teleplay : Martha Williamson
February 21, 2016 (2016-02-21)
#115-120
0.807[25]

The discovery of a 200-year-old valentine could change history, while the investigation of a damaged letter leads to a politician who could be brought down by its contents. In the aftermath of Valentine's Day, Oliver, Shane, Norman and Rita each deal with heartbreaking circumstances.

6
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered: One in a Million"
Kevin Fair
Story : Martha Williamson and Brandi Harkonen
Teleplay : Martha Williamson
July 24, 2016 (2016-07-24)
#116-120
1.021[26]

Oliver and Shane finally have their first date, where she sees the contrast of their relationship next to the extraordinary dance performances of a couple who express the longing of her heart. As Norman and Rita work alongside each other, their personal relationship hits a bump in the road. Together the Postables are asked to find a letter containing a one-in-a-million lottery ticket. Oliver's father and police officer friend Dale assist the investigation, which ultimately changes one couple's lives forever.

7
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Lost Without You"
Kevin Fair
Story : Martha Williamson and Brandi Harkonen
Teleplay : Martha Williamson
September 25, 2016 (2016-09-25)
#117-120
0.996[27]

A battered package turns up in a prop mailbox on the set of a Denver-based commercial, prompting Oliver to open an investigation to track down its intended recipient. The Postables learn that the package contains a bucket list, apparently meant to reach someone nearing life's end. Before Oliver can immerse himself in the investigation, Shane convinces him to take an uncharacteristic break from his work and join Joe on a rustic camping excursion. Meanwhile, Norman and Rita embark on an out-of-state road trip, attempting to deliver the lost package to its rightful destination.

8
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Higher Ground"
Kevin Fair
Story : Martha Williamson and Brandi Harkonen
Teleplay : Martha Williamson
February 19, 2017 (2017-02-19)
#118-120
1.114[28]

The effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans cause handyman and blues singer-songwriter Gabe Recolte (Keb' Mo') to be homeless and broken hearted. The storm arrived before he could express his love for Hattie, a club owner. Forced to evacuate and relocate, Gabe writes a heartfelt letter to her. Years later, the Postables face unusual challenges in solving the mystery. Oliver also grapples with his unexpressed feelings for Shane; while Norman and Rita's relationship continues to get stronger.

9
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Home Again"
Kevin Fair
Martha Williamson
September 24, 2017 (2017-09-24)
#119-120
1.245[29]

When The Postables discover an antique vase with a letter inside, they trace the package to three little girls who attempted to sell the vase 18 years ago in order to save their family farm. While the vase was an heirloom from many generations ago, the origin is suspicious. With the farm again facing financial hardship, The Postables must choose between doing what’s legal and what’s moral. Norman also meets Rita's parents, Bill (Barry Bostwick) and Sunny (Colleen Camp), while Oliver and Shane go steady.

10
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Road Less Travelled"
Kevin Fair
Brandi Harkonen
February 11, 2018 (2018-02-11)
#119-120
N/A

The Postables take a road trip in an old Winnebago in order to track down a small boy who they fear may have been kidnapped. The discovery of a 1980's era instant camera and the unusual photographs it contains, send our team on a wild ride across Colorado using the pictures as a guide. Meanwhile, both couples face troubles trying to communicate with their respective partners.