Editing Indonesian language (section)

== Official status ==

[[File:Indonesian magazines Jakarta.JPG|thumb|Indonesian is also the language of Indonesian mass media, such as magazines. Printed and broadcast mass media are encouraged to use standard Indonesian, although more relaxed popular slang often prevails.]]
Indonesian is the [[official language]] of [[Indonesia]], and its use is encouraged throughout the Indonesian archipelago. It is regulated in Chapter XV, [[Constitution of Indonesia|1945 Constitution of Indonesia]] about the flag, official language, coat of arms, and national anthem of Indonesia.<ref name="uud"/> Also, in Chapter III, Section 25 to 45, Government regulation No. 24/ 2009 mentions explicitly the status of the Indonesian language.<ref name="UU No 24/2009">{{cite act |type=Law |index=24 |date= 2009 |legislature=[[People's Representative Council]] |title=Undang-undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 24 Tahun 2009 2009 Tentang Bendera, Bahasa, dan Lambang Negara, serta Lagu Kebangsaan |url=https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Home/Details/38661/uu-no-24-tahun-2009 |language=id}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=The national language is Indonesian.
|source=Article 36, Chapter XV, [[Constitution of Indonesia]]<ref name="uud"/>}}

Indonesian functions as a symbol of national identity and pride, and is a ''lingua franca'' among the diverse [[ethnic groups in Indonesia]] and the speakers of vernacular Malay dialects and Malay creoles. The Indonesian language serves as the national and official language, the language of education, communication, transaction and trade documentation, the development of national culture, science, technology, and mass media. It also serves as a vehicle of communication among the provinces and different regional cultures in the country.<ref name="UU No 24/2009"/>

[[File:Ondel2diSMPN227.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Indonesian is used in [[Education in Indonesia|schools]].]]
According to Indonesian law, the Indonesian language was proclaimed as the unifying language during the [[Youth Pledge]] on 28 October 1928 and developed further to accommodate the dynamics of Indonesian civilization.<ref name="UU No 24/2009" /> As mentioned previously, the language was based on Riau Malay,<ref name="Indonesian Embassy: Astana" /><ref name="ethnologue:Indonesian">{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ind |title=Indonesian, A language of Indonesia |publisher=[[Ethnologue]] |access-date=10 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609115801/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ind |archive-date=9 June 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> though linguists note that this is not the local dialect of Riau, but the Malaccan dialect that was used in the [[Riau-Lingga Sultanate|Riau court]].<ref name="Sneddon"/> Since its conception in 1928 and its official recognition in the 1945 Constitution, the Indonesian language has been loaded with a nationalist political agenda to unify Indonesia (former [[Dutch East Indies]]). This status has made it relatively open to accommodate influences from other Indonesian ethnic languages, most notably Javanese as the majority ethnic group, and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] as the previous coloniser. Compared to the indigenous dialects of [[Malay language|Malay]] spoken in Sumatra and Malay peninsula or the normative Malaysian standard, the Indonesian language differs profoundly by a large number of [[Javanese language|Javanese]] loanwords incorporated into its already-rich vocabulary. As a result, Indonesian has more extensive sources of [[list of loan words in Indonesian|loanwords]], compared to Malaysian Malay.

The disparate evolution of Indonesian and Malaysian has led to a rift between the two standardized varieties. This has been based more upon political nuance and the history of their standardization than cultural reasons, and as a result, there are asymmetrical views regarding each other's variety among Malaysians and Indonesians. Malaysians tend to assert that Malaysian and Indonesian are merely different normative varieties of the same language, while Indonesians tend to treat them as separate, albeit closely related, languages. Consequently, Indonesians feel little need to harmonise their language with Malaysia and Brunei, whereas Malaysians are keener to coordinate the evolution of the language with Indonesians,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2005/yax-455.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060400/http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2005/yax-455.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016|title=Who is Malay?|date=July 2005}}</ref> although the 1972 [[Indonesian Spelling System|Indonesian alphabet reform]] was seen mainly as a concession of Dutch-based Indonesian to the English-based spelling of Malaysian.

In November 2023, the Indonesian language was recognised as one of the official languages of the [[UNESCO]] General Conference. Currently there are 10 official languages of the UNESCO General Conference, consisting of the six [[United Nations]] languages, namely [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[Arabic]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Russian language|Russian]], and [[Spanish language|Spanish]], as well as four other languages of UNESCO member countries, namely [[Hindi]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], and Indonesian.<ref name="Kompas.id-1">{{Cite web |last=Napitupulu |first=Ester Lince |date=2023-11-22 |title=Indonesian Becomes the Official Language of the UNESCO General Conference |url=https://www.kompas.id/baca/english/2023/11/21/en-bahasa-indonesia-jadi-bahasa-resmi-sidang-umum-unesco |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=kompas.id }}</ref><ref name="UNESCO">{{Cite journal|url= https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000387388.locale=en|title=Recognition of Bahasa Indonesia as an official language of the General Conference of UNESCO|access-date=2023-11-20|publisher=UNESCO|journal=UNESCO General Conference|issue=42|year=2023}}</ref>