39 Malay/Indonesian

Senandung jiwaku is a selection of poems by Mulyono Saleh published in various Indonesian newspapers and magazines between 1963 and 1976 that he entitled “The Song of My Soul.” The poems show the author’s concerns, love, and hope for his country (Indonesia) and his fellow countrymen, as well as religious reflections. He pays particular attention to marginalized segments of society such as women (mothers and national heroines) and ordinary people like grassroots farmers and fishermen.

Ethnologue lists 719 distinct languages, mostly indigenous, spoken in Indonesia, making it the most linguistically diverse country on the planet.¹ For at least a thousand years, however, Malay has held the position of lingua franca of the maritime region of the great Malay archipelago, which is now divided between Indonesia and Malaysia. The names bahasa Indonesia (“Indonesian language) and bahasa Malaysia (“Malaysian language”) — both standardized varieties of Malay — were introduced in the 20th century to differentiate the two national languages.² Indonesia is now the fourth most populous nation in the world. Of its large population, the majority speak Indonesian, making it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.³ 

The Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies (SSEAS) at UC Berkeley offers both undergraduate and graduate instruction and research in the languages and civilizations of South and Southeast Asia from the most ancient period to the present. Instruction includes intensive training in several of the major languages of the area including Bengali, Burmese, Hindi, Khmer, Indonesian (Malay), Pali, Prakrit, Punjabi, Sanskrit (including Buddhist Sanskrit), Filipino (Tagalog), Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Urdu, and Vietnamese, and specialized training in the areas of literature, philosophy and religion, and general cross-disciplinary studies of the civilizations of South and Southeast Asia.⁴ Outside of SSEAS where beginning through advanced level courses are offered in Indonesian, related courses are taught and dissertations produced across campus in Anthropology, Comparative Literature, Ethnic Studies, History,  Linguistics,  Music, and Political Science (re)examining the rich history and cultures of Indonesia.⁵ 

Yusmarni Djalius, PhD Student
Lecturer, Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies

     Sources consulted:

1. Ethnologue: Languages of the World (accessed 11/8/19)
2. Dalby, Andrew. Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
3. Sneddon, James Neil. The Indonesian Language: Its History and Role in Modern Society.  Sydney: UNSW Press, 2003.
4. Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley (accessed 11/8/19)
5. Indonesian (INDONES) – Berkeley Academic Guide (accessed 11/8/19)