“Practice your Dutch” Forum

Dutch Loanwords in the Indonesian Language

Dutch Loanwords in the Indonesian Language

Nosūtīja Carmelito OLS Community Manager
Atbilžu skaits: 1

Source: Carmelito (OLS)

Source: Carmelito (OLS)

The vast archipelagic nation of Indonesia is a country of many languages, around 700 to be precise. Many of those languages still use quite a few Dutch loanwords from the colonial period. As a German speaker, many of these seem to be some of the funnier sounding loanwords (at least to my German ears!). For example "Knalpot" and "Wastafel". 

Source: Carmelito (OLS)

Source: Carmelito (OLS)

Interestingly both Malaysia and Indonesia use the same national language, though Indonesian uses Dutch loanwords why Malaysia, a former British colony, uses English ones. 

Source: Carmelito (OLS)

Today, one can still find some Dutch colonial heritage buildings in Indonesia, which come with quite a bit of interesting history. Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, has some fascinating ones, such as the former Oranje hotel which was built by the Sarkies brothers, who have quite a track record of luxury heritage hotels in the region.

Source: Carmelito (OLS)

Source: Carmelito (OLS)

There are also some dishes that survived, such as the bitterballen and the stroopwafel. The word "saus" is also encountered everywhere.



Atbildot uz Carmelito OLS Community Manager

Re: Dutch Loanwords in the Indonesian Language

Nosūtīja Lemba OLS community Manager
Hi Carmelito,
Thanks very much for posting this, especially with the pictures. I was in Bali and Lombok several years ago and was (also) pleasantly surprised by the occurrence of Dutch words in Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian). I will expand on this topic in a blog post. Thanks for the inspiration :-)