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Indonesian Dutch
Bahasa Belanda Indonesia Bahasa Belanda Hindia Timur
Indonesisch-Nederlands
Tea packaging that still retains the old design and Dutch spelling.
Native to	Indonesia Netherlands
Region	Java Bandung Depok Jakarta Malang Semarang Surabaya East Indonesia Ambon Jayapura Manado Manokwari
Ethnicity	Used as L1: Dutch Indo (Depok Indo) Used as L2: Ambonese Borgo Chinese Javanese Minahasa
Native speakers	500,000 (1984)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Weser–Rhine Germanic Low Franconian Dutch Indonesian Dutch
Early forms	Frankish Old Dutch Middle Dutch Modern Dutch
Writing system	Latin (Dutch and Indonesian alphabets)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None
Countries where Dutch is spoken (Indonesian Dutch in light blue color).
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Indonesian Dutch (Dutch: Indonesisch-Nederlands) is a regional variety of Dutch spoken in Indonesia. Over time, Dutch became the language used by colonizers for centuries in the Indonesian Archipelago, both when it was still colonized or partially colonized by the Netherlands. This language was the official language in the Dutch East Indies, as well as in Dutch New Guinea, before the transfer of Western New Guinea to Indonesia in 1963.

History

VOC era

The use of Dutch generally began only at the end of the colonial period in Indonesia. During the Dutch East India Company (VOC) era, Dutch had little significance, and many regions primarily used Low Malay as a language of communication and trade.

Those who could speak Dutch had more rights. Only indigenous people who could speak Dutch were allowed to wear hats, and indigenous women were only allowed to marry Europeans if they could speak Dutch.

Dutch schools were established in Ambon and Batavia. However, not everyone was allowed to attend these schools, as they were very few in number and typically accessible only to the elite and nobility. In these schools, people spoke Dutch, but at home, they often spoke Malay or Javanese.

In 1641, the Dutch colonial fleet took control of Malacca from the Portuguese, which then became an important port in the East India trade network. Until 1795, Malacca was occupied by the VOC. As a result, Dutch also influenced the Portuguese-based Creole language that developed there, called Kristang, which later evolved into the Mardijker Creole in Batavia.

The people of Ambon and Minahasa were known for their loyalty to the Dutch colonizers, with most of the men joining the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) and also adopting Dutch lifestyles and language. This legacy continued, and by the time of Indonesia's independence, these two ethnic groups were the most fluent—or at least somewhat able to speak Dutch—compared to other indigenous ethnic groups. Many of their communities now form a large Moluccan diaspora in the Netherlands, particularly from the Ambonese and other Maluku tribes.

20th century

Malay, like Dutch, became increasingly important. However, in addition to being a regional language, Malay was also used in British colonies such as Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei, where Malay was also used as a lingua franca. Since the 20th century, Dutch has gained official status in Indonesia. Many Indonesians now also use Dutch among family and friends with Dutch ancestry. In 1942, when Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies, they banned the use of Dutch, and only native Asian languages, such as Malay and Japanese, were allowed to be used.

After 1949

After Indonesia gained independence in 1945, but was only officially recognized by the Netherlands in 1949, many people continued to speak Dutch for a long time, especially those with historical ties to the Netherlands. In some areas, proficiency in Dutch was still considered a measure of a good education. Although Indonesians were highly hostile toward the Netherlands after the police actions (including the 1st and 2nd military aggressions), many still considered Dutch as a prestige language and language of education, even after the outbreak of the Bersiap period. Sukarno, the first president and proclaimer of the Republic of Indonesia, also continued to speak Dutch and read many Dutch books each year. Following the Dutch's recognition of Indonesia, the usage of Dutch did not die out directly in the region because the Netherlands still retained the Dutch New Guinea after 1949. However, Sukarno claimed that the region belonged to Indonesia and had long been in negotiations with the Netherlands. Through colonial schools in Dutch New Guinea, many Papuans also learned the language.

Indonesians or people of mixed descent oriented toward the Netherlands, or who had romantic ties to the Netherlands in the past, were referred to by the discriminatory and degrading term 'Londo Ireng', derived from the Javanese term "londo" meaning 'Dutch' or 'blonde,' and "ireng" meaning 'black.' This referred to the Belanda Hitam 'Black Dutch', a term used in Indonesia for Indonesians whose parents or grandparents supported the Dutch colonial government in the past.

Current usage

After Indonesia's independence, this did not mean that Dutch was no longer used. Dutch remained a source language in Indonesia, and some documents in this language retained official status as government documents. Dutch also functioned as a language of trade in the past, although English is far more important in this regard today.

In fact, full mastery of Dutch today is only held by elderly people and some of their younger relatives, particularly in major cities on Java, Minahasa, Maluku, and Western New Guinea (due to the Netherlands' presence in New Guinea until 1963), who learned the language in school and still use it with each other, at reunions, or with foreigners.

Since 1971, the University of Indonesia in Jakarta has been the only university in Indonesia with a "Dutch Language Department." Interest in studying Dutch is driven by the fact that Indonesian law is partially based on Dutch law, and many colonial-era writings remain relevant today. Historical, linguistic, philological, and medical sources are also often written in Dutch. Another reason for this is the existence of vocational education institutions in Semarang, Bandung, Surabaya, and Yogyakarta. These institutions are often intended for a wider audience. The younger generation learns Dutch to understand their grandparents' language, to study Indonesia's history, or for tourism purposes (e.g., wanting to become a guide). Besides English, Arabic, Japanese, and Mandarin, Dutch is a popular language of study, with over 10,000 Indonesians studying it each year in schools and private courses.

Overall, Dutch has not completely disappeared from Indonesia. It is still used in fields such as history, linguistics, agriculture, forestry, anthropology, and jurisprudence. Lawyers are often required to read Dutch, as many laws and administrative documents have not been translated into Indonesian or updated legally. Dutch remains an important language in some areas, such as Depok (the old city), Ambon, and Manado. In large cities in Indonesia, Dutch is mainly spoken by the Indo-European population and a small minority of Western-oriented Chinese in Bandung, Malang, Semarang, Surabaya, and parts of Jakarta, where it is still occasionally used.

Population

The number of speakers was around 500,000 in 1984. Most of the speakers were elderly people who still had memories of the Dutch language. This number is speculative, and it is difficult to estimate—these speakers were a minority that could be ignored in a population of over 130 million people at that time. However, looking back further, especially at the early years of World War II in the 1940s, the number of speakers was not much different. Out of 400,000 people fluent in Dutch, most of them were of mixed descent or of Dutch origin, with another 200,000 possibly having at least some knowledge or being able to speak a little Dutch.

Census statistics

• 1900 census: 5,000 speakers (0.012%) out of 29 million residents of the Dutch East Indies (75,000 Europeans).
• 1920 census: 60,000 speakers (0.12%) out of 48 million residents of the Dutch East Indies (170,000 Europeans).
• 1940 census: 773,000 speakers (1.1%) out of 70 million residents of the Dutch East Indies (290,000 Europeans).

Relationship with Indonesian and Malay

Influence from Dutch

The Dutch language has had a significant influence and contribution to the vocabulary of Indonesian, Javanese, and other languages in Indonesia. Around 10,000 Dutch words have been absorbed into Indonesian, such as:

• knalpot, bekleding, vermaak, achteruit, absurd, afdruk, belasting, bestek, bom, bretel, debat, degen, doktorandus, drama, elan, fabel, flop, fotomodel, fraude, giro, gratis, handel, harem, hutspot, inklaring, jas, kabinet, kanker, kansel, krat, kop, lading, loket, marmer, masker, matras, mondeling, nota, notaris, oma, onderneming, oom, opa, pan, pater, punt, rekening, rimpel, salaris, seks, sigaret, skelet, tank, tante, testikel, tol, urine, vla, wastafel, wortel.

However, some of these words are no longer in common use. For example, hutspot is no longer commonly used, and sigaret has largely been replaced by rokok. The latter word essentially comes from the Dutch roken, meaning smoking.

There are also words that are written differently but are often pronounced the same:

• adopsi, apel, asprak, bagasi, bandit, baterai, bioskop, debil, demisioner, duane, ekonomi, energi, ereksi, finansiil, frustrasi, garansi, generasi, granat, handuk, higiene, ideologi, imbesil, impoten, inflasi, jenewer, kampiun, kantor, kardiolog, kastrasi, kondom, kran, kristen, kuitansi, langsam, losion, makelar, marsepen, menstruasi, monarki, opas, operasi, overproduksi, panekuk, parlemen, pesimis, polisi, posbus, poskantor, resesi, revolusi, segregasi, sigar, skorsing, spanduk, tabu, taksi, tanpasta, toleran, vegetarir, verplehster, wanprestasi.

After Indonesia gained independence, some of these borrowed words were intentionally changed to align with Indonesian pronunciation. For example, universitet and kwalitet were replaced with universitas and kualitas, which slightly reduced the Dutch influence.

Other words appear to originate from Dutch. For instance, here are their counterparts in Dutch:

• abésé (ABC, alfabet), air ledeng (leidingwater), amplop (enveloppe), arbei (aardbei), ateret (achteruit), besenegeng (bezuiniging), buku (boek), dasi (stropdas), dopercis (doperwten), dus (douche), efisen (efficiënt), ember (emmer), fakultas kedokteran (medische faculteit), gaji (gage), gemente (gemeente), hasyis (hasjies), hopagen (hoofdagent), insinyur (ingenieur), interviu ('interview', also from English), kakus (kakhuis, wc), kantor pos (postkantoor), keker (verrekijker), keroket (kroket), klep knalpot (uitlaatklep), komunis (communist), kopor (koffer), koterek (kurketrekker), lengseng (lezing), masase (massage), meisyes (muisjes, hagelslag), netral (neutraal), om (oom), ongkos (onkosten), otobus (autobus), pakansi/vakansi (vakantie), persnelling (versnelling), pipa (pijp), pofercis (poffertjes), puisi (poëzie), rebewes (rijbewijs), reboisasi (herbebossing), sakelek (zakelijk), stasiun (station), teh (thee), wese (wc), zeni (genie).

However, many of the words listed above are also borrowed from other languages into Dutch, such as French.

Influence from Indonesian and Malay

On the other hand, both Dutch and Afrikaans have borrowed words from Indonesian/Malay. Some of these relate to food:

• nasi, bami, babi pangang, ketjap, atjar, gadogado, kroepoek, emping, saté, mango, sambal, loempia, boemboe, trassi, klapper, sereh, peteh (beans), laos, lombok, kemiri (beans), pi(e)sang.

Other vocabulary includes, for example:

• kaki (voet), batik, pasar, kris, gamelan, baboe, wajang, piekeren (pikir, denken), pienter (pintar, slim), amok, klamboe, karbouw, rimboe, orangutan, soesa, senang, bakeleien, banjeren, amper, pakkie-an, gladjakker, branie, goeroe, soebatten, tabee, plopper, sarong, koelie, tang ('evil woman'), toko, patjakker, tempo doeloe, bazar, oorlam, kongsi, goenagoena, bersiap, beo, desa, gonje, guttapercha, kali, kassian, mandiën, negorij, krontjong, rotan, sawah, totok, toean, njai, nonna, liplap, kraton, klewang.

Some words in Afrikaans also come from Malay:

• baar ('inexperienced, beginner'; from baru), piesang, baie ('very'; from banyak).

Dutch-based creole languages

There are several Dutch-based creole languages, most of which are currently spoken by migrants to the Netherlands, and are slowly but surely dying out as the first generation of Indo-Dutch people disappears, such as the Petjo and Javindo languages that were originally spoken in Java.

See also

• Standard Dutch

• Surinamese Dutch

References

Notes

1. According to M.C. van den Toorn (1985), referring to de Vries (1983), there were around half a million (500,000) people left who could speak Dutch in 1984. However, this number remains speculative, as it is difficult to estimate—only a small fraction of the population, which exceeded 130 million people that year.

Citations

1. Villerius, Sophie (2016-09-07). "Spreek je Javaans? Taal kan je leren (of niet)". nemokennislink.nl (in Dutch). Nemo Kennislink. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
2. ^ van den Toorn, M.C. (1985). De Nieuwe Taalgids. Jaargang 78 (in Dutch). De Nieuwe Taalgids.
3. Kuipers, Joel Corneal (1998). Language, Identity, and Marginality in Indonesia: The Changing Nature of Ritual Speech on the Island of Sumba. Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9780521624954. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
4. Oemar, Priyantono; Yahya, Daan. "Pakaian dan Kontrol Pemerintah di Zaman Kolonial | Republika ID". republika.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2025-01-16.
5. van Immerzeel, Mirjam (27 September 2022). "Malacca: Werelderfgoed in Maleisië". europeana.eu (in Dutch). Europeana. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
6. Avram, Andrei (2021). "Revisiting the Dutch lexical contribution to Malacca Portuguese creole". Bucharest Working Papers in Linguistics. 1 (23). Bucharest, Romania: University of Bucharest: 61–78. doi:10.31178/BWPL.23.1.3.
7. "Geschiedenis Molukken". indonesie.nl (in Dutch). Getaway Travel. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
8. Villerius, Sophie (2017-07-27). "Indonesië: een taal- en cultuurles in vogelvlucht". reislustigeloonslaaf.nl (in Dutch). Reislustige Loonslaaf. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
9. "Membaca Karakter 'Londo Ireng' Jongos Penjajah, Dulu dan Sekarang". ahmadsastra.com (in Indonesian). Ahmad Sastra. 2023-08-09. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
10. "Weet je dat er Nederlands wordt gesproken in Indonesië?". dutchtrans.co.uk (in Dutch). Dutch Trans. 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
11. Wibisono, Joss (2019-03-20). "Talen in Indonesië: geen vernederlandsing, wel verengelsing". gatholotjo.com (in Dutch). Gatholotjo. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
12. "Indonesia and South Africa - Taalunie". taalunie.org (in Dutch). Taal Unie. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
13. Salverda, Reinier (2020-06-26). "The Future of Dutch Language Studies in Indonesia is Secure". the-low-countries.com. The Low Countries. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
14. "eScholarship: A Hidden Language – Dutch in Indonesia". Archived from the original on 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
15. "Nederlandse leenwoorden in het Indonesisch". indearchipel.com (in Dutch). In De Archipel. 2019-09-10. Retrieved 2024-09-19.

External links

• Elektronisch tijdschrift voor de neerlandistiek at Neder-L
• Weg tot het Westen at Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren (DBNL)
• Waar ben je nou Nederlands leren in Indonesië at Taal Unieversum

• Languages of Indonesia
• Dutch language in Asia