The Indonesian Alphabet

Q: What is the Indonesian language?

Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is the official national language of Indonesia [1] , spoken by approximately 200 million people . It is the mother tongue of about 43 million but is used by the vast majority of Indonesia 's 270+ million citizens as a second language. Indonesia has over 700 indigenous languages . Indonesian was chosen as the national language because it was already used as a trade lingua franca and was politically neutral — not the mother tongue of the dominant Javanese ethnic group.

Q: What alphabet does Indonesian use?

Indonesian uses the full 26-letter Latin alphabet [1] plus 4 digraphs (Ng, Ny, Kh, Sy). A key feature: C is always pronounced /tʃ/ (like "ch" in "church") — so "cinta" (love) is pronounced "chinta." The orthography is phonemic and consistent. Spelling was standardized in 1972 with the EYD system (Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan), which aligned Indonesian and Malaysian spelling. Letters Q, V, X, and Z appear mainly in loanwords.

Q: How is Indonesian related to Malay?

Indonesian and Malay are very closely related and largely mutually intelligible [2] , both based on standardized Malay. They share the same core grammar, most basic vocabulary, and the same Latin script since the 1972 spelling alignment. The key difference is loanword sources: Indonesian absorbed more Dutch loanwords ( 350 years of colonial rule ) while Malay absorbed more English. Some everyday vocabulary also differs — "mobil" (Indonesian) vs. "kereta" (Malay) for "car."

Q: What are the digraphs of Indonesian?

Indonesian has four digraphs [1] . Ng represents the velar nasal /ŋ/ ( can appear word-initially : "ngomel"). Ny represents the palatal nasal /ɲ/ (word-initially: "nyata" — real). Both are common Austronesian sounds. Kh represents the velar fricative /x/ (from Arabic: "khusus" — special). Sy represents the palatal fricative /ʃ/ (from Arabic: "syarat" — condition). These Arabic-derived digraphs reflect Indonesia's profound Islamic cultural influence .

Q: Why was Indonesian chosen as the national language?

Indonesian was chosen as the national language in 1945 because Malay was already widely used as a trade lingua franca [2] across the archipelago before Dutch rule, making it a natural foundation for national unity . Choosing Indonesian was also politically neutral — using Javanese (the largest ethnic group's language) would have privileged them. The 1928 Youth Pledge ("one nation, one homeland, one language") had already enshrined Indonesian as the language of the national movement.

Q: What are the main loanwords in Indonesian?

The oldest loanwords come from Sanskrit and Arabic [1] . Sanskrit gave "bahasa" (language), "raja" (king), and "budaya" (culture). Arabic gave "waktu" (time), "kitab" (book), and "selamat" (safe/congratulations), reflecting Islamic influence . Dutch contributed "polisi" (police), "kantor" (office), and "gratis" (free). English is the fastest-growing source for technology and business terms. Portuguese gave "meja" (table) and "garpu" (fork) from early colonial contact.

Q: What is Indonesian grammar like?

Indonesian grammar is relatively simple for European learners — no grammatical gender, no verb conjugation for person or tense , and no case system. Basic word order is Subject-Verb-Object, similar to English. The main challenge is mastering a rich system of prefixes and suffixes : the root "tulis" (write) yields "menulis" (to write), "ditulis" (passive), "penulis" (writer). Indonesian also uses reduplication — "buku-buku" means books (plural of "buku").

Q: What regional varieties of Indonesian exist?

Across Indonesia's 17,000 islands , Indonesian is spoken with considerable variation influenced by hundreds of regional mother tongues [1] . Major regional varieties include Betawi Indonesian ( Jakarta ), Javanese-influenced Indonesian, and Sundanese-influenced Indonesian. There is also a major gap between formal Indonesian (used in education and government) and colloquial "bahasa gaul" (youth slang), which drops formal prefixes and incorporates English and regional loanwords. Social media has greatly accelerated the growth of colloquial Indonesian.

Q: How many people speak Indonesian and what is its global significance?

Indonesian is spoken by approximately 200 million people [1] , making it roughly the 10th most spoken language in the world . As the national language of the world's fourth most populous country, it is essential for education and civic life across the archipelago. Globally, Indonesian is significant for commerce and diplomacy in Southeast Asia . Combined with closely related Malay (official in Malaysia , Brunei , and Singapore ), the Malay-Indonesian community totals approximately 300 million speakers , making it one of the world's largest language communities.

Indonesian at a Glance

Indonesian uses 30 letters: 5 vowels, 21 consonants, and 4 digraphs (Ng, Ny, Kh, Sy) — all in the Latin script
Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia, ISO 639-1: id) is spoken by approximately 200 million people ^[1] and is the official national language of Indonesia
Indonesian belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian ^[2], closely related to Malay — the two are largely mutually intelligible
Indonesian was proclaimed the official national language of Indonesia at independence in 1945, chosen to unite the nation's hundreds of ethnic groups
Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country with over 270 million people, and Indonesian serves as the binding language of this immensely diverse nation
The Indonesian alphabet uses all 26 Latin letters, with the consonant C pronounced as "ch" (as in "church") and special digraphs Ng, Ny, Kh, Sy for additional sounds

Indonesian Vowels

The 5 vowel letters of the Indonesian Latin alphabet — A, E, I, O, U. These vowels are pronounced consistently and clearly in Indonesian.

The vowel E in Indonesian has two pronunciations: /e/ (mid front vowel) and /ə/ (schwa). In formal writing, the two sounds are both represented by E, with context determining pronunciation. In some educational materials, the schwa E is sometimes written with a special mark, but standard Indonesian uses E for both. This dual pronunciation of E is one of the most important aspects of Indonesian phonology for learners to master.

[a]

[e/ə]

[i]

[o]

[u]

Indonesian Consonants

The 21 consonant letters of the Indonesian Latin alphabet — B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z.

An important feature of Indonesian consonants: C is pronounced /tʃ/ (like "ch" in "church"), not like the English C. The consonants F, Q, V, X, Z appear mainly in loanwords. K in word-final position is pronounced as a glottal stop (the sound between syllables in "uh-oh"). The R in Indonesian is a tap or trill, similar to Spanish.

[b]

[ch]

[d]

[f]

[g]

[h]

[j]

[k]

[l]

[m]

[n]

[p]

[k]

[r]

[s]

[t]

[v]

[w]

[ks]

[y]

[z]

[b]

Consonant B — as in buku (book). A voiced bilabial stop in Indonesian.

[ch]

Consonant C — as in cinta (love). Represents the palatal affricate /tʃ/ in Indonesian.

[d]

Consonant D — as in dua (two). A voiced alveolar stop in Indonesian.

[f]

Consonant F — as in foto (photo). Used in loanwords in Indonesian.

[g]

Consonant G — as in guru (teacher). A voiced velar stop in Indonesian.

[h]

Consonant H — as in hari (day). A glottal fricative in Indonesian.

[j]

Consonant J — as in jalan (road). A voiced palatal affricate in Indonesian.

[k]

Consonant K — as in kota (city). A voiceless velar stop very frequent in Indonesian.

[l]

Consonant L — as in laut (sea). A lateral approximant common in Indonesian.

[m]

Consonant M — as in makan (to eat). A bilabial nasal very frequent in Indonesian.

[n]

Consonant N — as in nama (name). An alveolar nasal common in Indonesian.

[p]

Consonant P — as in pergi (to go). A voiceless bilabial stop in Indonesian.

[k]

Consonant Q — used mainly in Arabic loanwords and proper nouns in Indonesian.

[r]

Consonant R — as in rumah (house). A tap or trill rhotic in Indonesian.

[s]

Consonant S — as in satu (one). A voiceless alveolar fricative very common in Indonesian.

[t]

Consonant T — as in tanah (land). A voiceless alveolar stop in Indonesian.

[v]

Consonant V — used in loanwords in Indonesian. A voiced labiodental fricative.

[w]

Consonant W — as in waktu (time). A labial-velar approximant in Indonesian.

[ks]

Consonant X — used in loanwords and scientific terms in Indonesian, pronounced /ks/.

[y]

Consonant Y — as in yang (who/which). A palatal approximant in Indonesian.

[z]

Consonant Z — used in loanwords in Indonesian. A voiced alveolar fricative.

Indonesian Digraphs

The 4 digraphs of the Indonesian Latin alphabet — Ng, Ny, Kh, Sy. Each represents a distinct single phoneme in Indonesian.

Ng represents the velar nasal; Ny represents the palatal nasal /ɲ/; Kh (from Arabic) represents the velar fricative /x/; Sy (from Arabic) represents the palatal fricative /ʃ/ (like "sh" in English). The Ng and Ny digraphs can appear word-initially in Indonesian, which is unusual for learners from European language backgrounds.

[ng]

[ny]

[kh]

[sy]

Expand All Collapse All

What is the Indonesian language?

What alphabet does Indonesian use?

How is Indonesian related to Malay?

What are the digraphs of Indonesian?

Why was Indonesian chosen as the national language?

What are the main loanwords in Indonesian?

What is Indonesian grammar like?

What regional varieties of Indonesian exist?

How many people speak Indonesian and what is its global significance?

References:

[1] SIL International. "Indonesian [id]". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Retrieved from Ethnologue: Indonesian
[2] Glottolog 5.x. "Indonesian [indo1316]". Retrieved from Glottolog: Indonesian