Indonesian vs Malaysian

Wong   Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:09 pm GMT
Another difference I noticed

time
M: masa
I: waktu
Wong   Sun Sep 06, 2009 9:24 pm GMT
after
M: lepas
I: setelah, sehabis, habis, abis, selepas, lepas
Wong   Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:59 pm GMT
fridge
I: kulkas, loanword from Dutch "koelkast"
M: ???
38   Tue Sep 08, 2009 12:35 am GMT
"Waktu" is also used in Malaysia.
A fridge is called "peti sejuk" in Malaysia.
Wong   Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:55 am GMT
And "masa" is also used in Indonesia. :-)
38   Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:24 am GMT
Some of the days of the week are different in both countries:

Monday = M: Isnin - I: Senin
Thursday = M: Khamis - I: Kamis
Friday = M: Jumaat - I: Jumat

and some of the months that are different:

February = M: Februari - I: Pebruari
March = M: Mac - I: Maret
June = M: Jun - I: Juni
July = M: Julai - I: Juli
August = M: Ogos - I: Agustus
November = M: November - I: Nopember
reggel   Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:57 am GMT
Monday = M: Isnin - I: Senin
Thursday = M: Khamis - I: Kamis
Friday = M: Jumaat - I: Jumat

and some of the months that are different:

February = M: Februari - I: Pebruari
March = M: Mac - I: Maret
June = M: Jun - I: Juni
July = M: Julai - I: Juli
August = M: Ogos - I: Agustus

Indonasian and Malay are much more different than Serbian and Croatian for instance
38   Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:38 am GMT
reggel Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:57 am GMT

Indonasian and Malay are much more different than Serbian and Croatian for instance

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Yes, and the difference between the two languages is definitely much greater than that between British English and American English.
Wong   Wed Sep 09, 2009 7:07 pm GMT
reggel Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:57 am GMT


Some of the days of the week are different in both countries:

Monday = M: Isnin - I: Senin
Thursday = M: Khamis - I: Kamis
Friday = M: Jumaat - I: Jumat

and some of the months that are different:

February = M: Februari - I: Pebruari
March = M: Mac - I: Maret
June = M: Jun - I: Juni
July = M: Julai - I: Juli
August = M: Ogos - I: Agustus
November = M: November - I: Nopember


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In Indonesian we also write Februari and November, and Jumat is often pronounced as Jumaat.
But seriously, these differences do not keep us from understanding each other.
Most of us (Malaysians and Indonesians) who came in contact with each other were surprised at how much we understood each other. The level of mutual intelligibility reaches 97%.
I used to think that Malaysian was much more different.
The difference between an accent or dialect from Sumatra and one from, say, Sulawesi, is sometimes larger than the difference between Malaysian and Indonesian.
38   Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:16 am GMT
It's a pity that the two countries don't seem to get along......
Wong   Fri Sep 11, 2009 12:03 am GMT
38 Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:16 am GMT

It's a pity that the two countries don't seem to get along......

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I don't know how well or bad they get along with each other, but I agree that more exchange or mutual exposure would be a benefit for both.
Wong   Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:49 pm GMT
I've just watched a Malaysian TV show. I needed some time to get used to, but then I could understand pretty much everything.
38   Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:58 am GMT
I hardly watch Malay TV programmes. They are pretty boring. :)
Wong   Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:09 pm GMT
Me neither. I just wanted to know how much I'd understand.
As we know, there's barely any mutual exposure between Malaysia and Indonesia.
I've just found out though that in Malaysia, Malay is very closely related with Islam and the Malay population. That is barely the case in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, Indonesian is simply the national language, in a pretty neutral way. It's actually one of the few things that manage to unify us in spite of the diversity.
38   Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:53 am GMT
<< I've just found out though that in Malaysia, Malay is very closely related with Islam and the Malay population. >>

That's true and that makes the language pretty boring for non-Muslims or other ethnic groups. If you visit big bookshops in Malaysia, most of the books displayed on the shelves are either in Mandarin or English.

Most Chinese Malaysians dislike the language. They are forced to learn it. It can be strange or even weird to see two Chinese Malaysians talking in Malay. Many Malays don't seem to respect their own language either. They like to switch to English from time to time or use a lot of English words even when they speak Malay.