page_title: Indonesian language
section_title: Early kingdoms era
hierarchical_section_title: Indonesian language / History / Early kingdoms era
caption_attribution_description: Detail of a Kerinci Rencong manuscript (KITLV Or. 239), written in Malay with local language (Kerinci) influence, possibly pre-Islamic. The text reads (Voorhoeve's spelling): "haku manangis ma / njaru ka'u ka'u di / saru tijada da / tang [hitu hadik sa]", which is translated by Voorhoeve as: "I am weeping, calling you; though called, you do not come" (hitu adik sa- is the rest of 4th line).
context_page_description: Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. It is a standardised variety of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world—of which the majority speak Indonesian, which makes it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
  Most Indonesians, aside from speaking the national language, are fluent in at least one of the more than 700 indigenous local languages; examples include Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese, which are commonly used at home and within the local community. However, most formal education and nearly all national mass media, governance, administration, and judiciary and other forms of communication are conducted in Indonesian.
  The term "Indonesian" is primarily associated with the national standard dialect. However, in a more loose sense, it also encompasses the various local varieties spoken throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Standard Indonesian is confined mostly to formal situations, existing in a diglossic relationship with vernacular Malay varieties, which are commonly used for daily communication.
context_section_description: Standard Indonesian is a standard variety of "Riau Malay", 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. Originally spoken in Northeast Sumatra, 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.
caption: Rencong alphabet, native writing systems found in central and South Sumatra and Malay Peninsula. The text reads (Voorhoeve's spelling): "haku manangis ma / njaru ka'u ka'u di / saru tijada da / tang [hitu hadik sa]", which is translated by Voorhoeve as: "I am weeping, calling you; though called, you do not come" (in modern Malay "Aku menangis, menyerukan engkau, kaudiseru, tiada datang [itu adik satu]").
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