Language change in Indonesian
Language is a systematic tool for every sophisticated living being to consciously communicate with their interlocutors. Language, not only comprised in written or spoken forms, but can also be recognized in muscle movements, facial expressions, or even silence. During the progression of mankind, language undergoes ages of adaptations, alterations, modernizations, and so forth, creating an unending series of changes.
Indonesian Language Changes
Indonesia is one of the most diverse countries in terms of language. Consisting of 279.390.258 inhabitants by survey in 2024, with 715 different traditional languages. Many Indonesian words were adapted from both foreign and traditional words. It occurs also due to differences in Indonesia's regional dialects, along the fact, that colonialism had brought significant influence in the language, resulting in numerous types of changes. Deriving from Malay language as lingua franca, Indonesian language started its first development in the 28 October 1928. Since then, Intergenerational communication has created continuing development in many aspects of the language.
Examples
Spelling Change
There are numerous variety of Indonesian language spelling guidelines that set the standard for correct spelling. The most popular that are still in use today would be "PUEBI" (Pedoman Umum Ejaan Bahasa Indonesia). PUEBI was made official in 2015, replacing the former "EYD" (Ejaan yang Disempurnakan) that was made official in 1972-2015. The list goes on until the first spelling guideline from prof. Charles van Ophuijsen in 1901.
Ali (1998), shows us list of spelling change sample:
| Ophuysen 1901 | Soewandi 1947 |
|---|---|
| Pende' | Pendek |
| Tida' | Tidak |
| Boekoe | Buku |
| 'Adil | Adil |
Other Instances are:
| Ophuysen 1901 | LBK |
|---|---|
| sj | sy |
| j | y |
| tj | c |
| e, é | e |
| dj | j |
Semantic Change
Throughout Generations, the Indonesian language undergoes processes of cultural assimilation. This resulted changes in word meaning from both formal and informal form of speeches and written texts. Chaer (2003) asserted, that changes of meaning may also happen due to the development of science and technology, social interactions, differences of fields and perspectives, grammatical factors, and so forth. Examples of meaning changes will be shown in this following tables:
| Word | Old Meaning (KUBI 1984) | New Meaning (KBBI 2008) |
|---|---|---|
| Nona | a term for a young girl or an unmarried woman (usually for foreigners) | a term for married woman ; a wife |
| Putri | the daughter of a king or the wife of a king | a biological daughter |
| Pembantu | a helper - a person who helped the writing of a newspaper | a housemaid (female) |
| Kacung | a little boy - a newspaper boy | a servant - an errand boy |
| Pembela | a person who defends | law expert appointed in defense of the defendant in a court hearing - a lawyer |
Examples of meaning change in the informal form:
| Word | Original Meaning (KBBI) | New Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Garing | hard and dry (like a biscuit); dry | Certain acts or jokes that are not funny |
| Pecah | scattered to pieces; cracked; broken | Expression which happens when a party and/or event goes fun and wild |
| Cabai/cabe | A Chili | Young girls with an unusually open lifestyle |
| Receh | Small valued money, usually refers to coins or pennies | A Person, who easily laugh at cheap kind of jokes |
| Setan | Unholy spirits (spirit of temptation for humans to do evil things) | Name calling as a result of expression of hate towards someone |
Slang
Slang words also encounter alterations. There are a lot of factors to these changes, one of which is the influence of social media in daily life. Although not much information can validate the root of these changes, as slang words are constantly changing without official guidelines with opinions from experts, there are, however, an overwhelming variety of evolution in the slang words.
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