ABSTRACT
Malay-Indonesian is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family. Two main forms of the Malayan stock are spoken and written in South-East Asia and the islands of the archipelago: (a) Bahasa Indonesia, the official language of Indonesia, spoken by around 170 million, though mostly as a second language; (b) Bahasa Malaysia, the official language of Malaysia, Singapore and the Sultanate of Brunei, spoken by around 20 million. Phonologically and morphologically, the two forms are virtually identical. Nor is there much variation in vocabulary, though local differences are frequent. The description that follows is specifically of Bahasa Indonesia.
