Use of Bahasa Indonesia

A mistake frequently made by foreigners with rudimentary Indonesian is to refer to the Indonesian language as Bahasa. It is unfortunate to see a quality newspaper like The Jakarta Post make the same mistake (Bahasa must coexist with other languages, The Jakarta Post, June 24, 1995).

The word bahasa means language. Bahasa Indonesia means "the Indonesian language," just as bahasa Inggris is "the English language" and bahasa Arab is "Arabic." To refer to Indonesian as bahasa makes absolutely no sense, and Indonesia's foremost English-language newspaper, above all, should not make this mistake. The correct translation of bahasa Indonesia in English is "Indonesian" or "the Indonesian language." To say that people speak bahasa merely means that they speak "language," and a headline saying that Bahasa must coexist with other languages means a nonsensical "Language must coexist with other languages."

Even if one were to use the correct phrase, qualifying the word bahasa with "Indonesia," one does not, when writing or speaking English (or any language for that matter) ever refer to a foreign language using the foreign term. When speaking English and referring to French, one does not call it Francais, or German Deutsch. In English, bahasa Indonesia is "Indonesian."

JENNIFER LINDSAY

Jakarta

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