Indonesian Languages

Indonesian Languages, large branch of the Malayo-Polynesian sub-group of the Austronesian language family. Among the more than 500 Indonesian languages, also called Western Malayo-Polynesian languages, are most languages of Malaysia, including the official language, Malay; Indonesian or Bahasa Indonesia (a form of Malay that is official in Indonesia), Javanese (80 million speakers), Balinese, Sunda, and most other languages of Indonesia; the languages of the Philippines, including the official language, Pilipino (or Tagalog); Malagasy, spoken in the Republic of Malagasy (Madagascar); the Chamic languages of Vietnam and Cambodia; and, according to a small number of linguists, the aboriginal languages of Taiwan (although it is now widely accepted that these languages form a different branch (Formosan) of the Austronesian family).

The Indonesian languages are highly diverse, with rich vowel systems. In general they preserve the consonant sounds of the presumed Proto-Malayo-Polynesian language better than do other Malayo-Polynesian languages. Some languages of the branch, such as Javanese, were influenced by Sanskrit and later by Arabic. Important bodies of literature have been preserved in Javanese and several other languages.

Selected statistical data from Ethnologue: Languages of the World, SIL International.