Comparative
Linguistics and
Language
JUSTIN A. SANCHEZ
Dr. Maria Martha Manette Madrid

the medium of
oral expression
a system of
communication
that is primarily
verbal, symbolic,
dually-patterned,
and arbitrary
Language

Language family
is a term coined by linguists so
that they can group languages
with similar history in the same
category.

Background
Indonesia and the
Philippines are both
archipelagic countries.
The historical links between
ancient Indonesia and
Philippines have commenced
since around the 9th century.

The writing system used is the
Kawi Script, while the
language is a variety of Old
Malay. The Philippines has
approximately 100+
languages, Indonesia’s
got about 700+
Bahasa Indonesia is the
official language of
Indonesia.
Of its large population, the majority
speak Indonesian, making it one of
the most widely spoken languages in
the world

According to Ethnologue, Indonesian is
classified in the following way:
Austronesian
Malayo-
Polynesian
Western Sundic Malaic Malayan Local Malay Indonesian

One can find a lot of
cognates between
Indonesian or
Bahasa Indonesia
and Filipino.
Linguistic evidence connects
Tagalog with Bahasa
Indonesia as having common
roots, so the main root of the
modern Filipino languages
probably came with these
people

According to the Ethnologue,
Indonesian is modeled after the
Riau Malay spoken in northeast
Sumatra.
Classification
Indonesian is the official
language of Indonesia.
Official language status

Sounds
Indonesian also has the diphthongs /ai/, /au/, and /oi/.

Sounds

Grammar (Affix)
 memakan means to eat something
 dimakan means being eaten
 termakan means accidentally being eaten
duduk means to sit down
 mendudukkan means to bring someone to sit
down, menduduki means to sit on something
 didudukkan means a person is being sat down
 diduduki means something being sat down,
1 affix
2 affixes

Grammar (Grammatical gender)
Adik can both refer
to a younger sibling
of either gender.
Adik laki-laki corresponds
to "brother" but really
means "male younger
sibling".

Grammar (Pluralization)
Person is orang
People is orang-orang
One thousand people is seribu orang
hati means "heart" or "liver“
hati-hati means "to be careful"

Grammar (Negation)
saya tidak tahu" means I do not know
"Itu bukan seekor anjing" means that is not a dog.
negation of a verb
negation of a NOUN

Grammar (Pronouns)
Kami
Kita
person(s) is not included
includes the opposite party

Grammar (Verbs)
Verbs are not inflected
for person or number,
and they are not marked
for tense.
Tense is instead denoted by time
adverbs or by other tense
indicators.

Grammar (Word order)
Subject Verb Object
•Saya akan makan nasi
•I will eat rice.
•Saya sedang makan nasi
•I am eating rice.
•Saya makan nasi kemarin
•I ate rice yesterday.
•Kemarin, saya makan nasi
•Yesterday, I ate rice.
•Saya makan nasi
•I eat rice.
•Saya telah makan nasi
•I ate or have eaten rice.
•Saya sudah makan nasi
•I ate or have eaten rice.

Vocabulary
Some 750 Sanskrit loanwords in modern Indonesian
1,000 Arabic loans
125 Portuguese
Some 10,000 loanwords from Dutch

Although there are more than
5000 Tagalog words of Spanish
origin, there are more than 3000
words of Malay or Indonesian origin.

Here are some words both found in Tagalog
and Malay that mean the same thing.
Word English
Anak Child
Balik to return
Gunting scissors
Kami we (excludes 2nd person)
kambing Goat
Kanan Right
Langit Sky
Lima Five
Mahal expensive
Mata Eye
Sakit Sick

If the Malay/Indonesian word has a ~u,
replace it with an ~o in Tagalog.
Tagalog Malay/Indonesian English
Ako Aku I (informal in Malay)
Abo Abu Ash
Bato Batu Stone
Payong Payung Umbrella
Pinto Pintu Door
Takot Takut Fear

If the Malay/Indonesian word ends with ~i,
replace it with ~oy or ~ay in Tagalog.
Tagalog Malay/Indonesian English
Apoy Api fire
baboy Babi pig
matay Mati to die

If the Malay/Indonesian word has a ~e,
replace it with a ~a in Tagalog.
Tagalog Malay/Indonesian English
Katok Ketuk to knock
(ma)lambot Lembut soft
Pandak Pendek small
Sarap Sedap delicious

If the Malay/Indonesian word has a ~r, replace
it with a ~l in Tagalog.
Tagalog Malay/Indonesian English
Balita Berita news
Kulang Kurang less
Libo Ribu thousand
Sulat Surat letter

Here are some false friends between Malay/
Indonesian and Tagalog.
Tagalog Meaning Malay/Indonesian Meaning
Bawang Garlic Bawang onion
Dapat to have to do Dapat to manage to do
Gulay Vegetables Gulai curry
Hari King Hari day
Ito This Itu that
Lagi Always Lagi again
Salamat thank you Selamat safe
sama-sama Together sama-sama you’re welcome
Sandok Ladle Senduk spoon
Saya happy, skirt Saya I (formal)
Suka Vinegar Suka to like
Suso Breast Susu milk

Here are other words in Tagalog that are similar to
Malay and/or Indonesian that mean the same thing.
Tagalog Malay/Indonesian English
Basa Baca to read
Bili Beli to buy
Buwaya Buaya crocodile
Hangin Angin wind
Itim Hitam black
Pasok Masuk to enter
Pulo Pulau island
Puti Putih white
Suka Cuka vinegar
Tanghali tengah (half) hari (day) noon
Taon Tahun year

Here are other words in Tagalog of Malay and/or Indonesian
origin that mean something different.
Tagalog Malay/Indonesian English
Dalamhati dalam (inside) hati (liver) grief
Luwalhati luar(outside) hati (liver) glory

Additionally, Filipino has the
highest amount of words that
sound and have almost the
same meaning between the two
languages.

Moreover, there is also a
language called Bahasa Suluk or
Tausug, a language born out of
continuum between the three
nations.

According to Simon Rafael
Pecho, as much as vocabulary is
concerned, he considers
Kapampangan, a language from
Central Luzon, to be the
language closest to Malay.

Some of the words listed below may be found only
in Kapampangan and not from other languages in
the Philippines.
Kapampangan Malay English
malambat lambat slow
matas atas tall
maparas pedas spicy
lande lantai floor
mandilu mandi to bathe
buldit burit posterior

With Ilocano, a language from
Northern Luzon, Ilocano word for
new (baro) and the Malay word for
new (baru) use the same r sound.
Both languages contain a schwa-
like sound, e.

Languages from Western Visayas like
Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a use some
Malay loanwords that other languages
don’t use.
Hiligaynon/Kinaray-a Malay English
nagalumpat - melompat to jump

These two languages may be similar and
different; however, these are considered
unique in many other ways. Unique in a
way that it tells the whole wide world the
identity of an Indonesian and a Filipino. An
identity that would distinguish an
individual to another individual.
Conclusion:

REFERENCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_language
http://ipll.manoa.hawaii.edu/indonesian/about/bahasa-indonesia-the-indonesian-language/
https://jonnyglot.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/the-linkage-of-malay-and-indonesian-with-tagalog/
https://ljubomirgatdula.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/similarities-between-bahasa-indonesia-and-
filipino-tagalog-come-in-handy-in-batam/
https://www.scribd.com/doc/118439198/List-of-similar-words-in-Indonesian-and-Tagalog
https://www.quora.com/Which-Filipino-language-is-closest-to-Malay-Bahasa-Malaysia-Bahasa-
Indonesia
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/historical-and-cultural-connections-between-indonesia-and-
the-philippines
https://omniglot.com/writing/indonesian.htm#:~:text=Indonesian%20pronunciation%20(Cara%20
Pengucapan)&text=The%20vowels%20e%20and%20o,and%20%5Ba.u%5D%2C%20elsewhere.
https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/i/Indonesian_language.htm?fbclid=IwAR0
7Ye7x83ny3OOxGg1cIVWsPwzXih6VfFigFdoi1UR0RlCGfgdB9CJ7d8s