Although similar and mutually intelligible, Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia do have some differences in the vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation and grammar.
There are some common similar accents and dialects of Malaysian and Indonesian. This so happened because of the common cultural heritage and strong bond between the two cultures and countries. But even as it may be, differences between Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia were caused by their history of colonialism. The Indonesians had a very long mutual coexisting history with the Dutch and the Malaysian had theirs more with the British. This interaction brought some differences between the two regions. Bahasa Indonesia words were more derived from Dutch and absorbed some words from the locals diverse ethnics like the; Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, and many more. This infiltrated the slight differences between Bahasa Indonesia and that of Bahasa Malaysia.
Some of the ways Bahasa Indonesia differs from Bahasa Malaysia
Having understood the origin of the two languages and what brought about some of the differences. Let us take a look at some of the ways Bahasa Indonesia differs from Bahasa Malaysia.
1. Same word but different meaning
Click on the Youtube video above to learn some words that exist in both Indonesian and Malay, but have completely different meaning, giving you more reason to not simply assuming by learning one, you’ll also master the other. It will certainly give you a headstart as both languages share some similarities but mind you, they are not that similar as many may falsely think!
| Bahasa Indonesia | Bahasa Malaysia | ||
| Shop | Toko | Kedai | |
| Tandas | Complete, finished | Toilet | |
| Pengajian | Learning Quran | Education | |
| Percuma | Useless | Free | |
| Kereta | Train | Car | |
| Cakap | Small chat
(not serious) |
Speak/talk
(serious) |
|
| Cocok | Perfect match, fit | Having sex | |
| Banci | Drag/man-woman | Census | |
| Bisa | Poison (snake), could | Could | |
| Bercinta | Having sex | Expressing love | |
| Budak | Slave | Kids, youth | |
| Butuh | Need | Penis | |
| Gampang | Easy | Bastard | |
| Pelan | Slow(ly) | Plan | |
| Pejabat | Person in important position | Office | |
| Cermin kecemasan | Mirror of anxiety | Emergency glass | |
| Sila berkaki ayam | Principle of having chicken legs | Please enter with bare foot | |
| Kesulitan | Discomfort, Inconvenience | Difficulty | |
| Dikesali | Annoyed | regretted | |
| Pembinaan | Human development | Construction | |
| Pintu kecemasan | Door of anxiety | Door of emergency | |
| Tandas orang kurang upaya | Finish is the person who doesn’t enough effort | Disable toilet | |
We can also look at some other additional words to extensively increase our knowledge on the two languages, Bahasa Indonesia and Malaysia.
Jeruk: ‘jeruk’ is actually refers to as ‘preserved fruits’ or ‘vegetables’ in brine and tinted in varying hues in Malaysia. In Indonesia, ‘jeruk’ is actually refers to an ‘Orange’; while to preserve fruits in Bahasa Indonesia is called ‘asinan.’
Perhentian Bas: ‘perhentian bas’ literally mean ‘bus stop’ in Bahasa Malaysia and ‘halte’ is ‘bus stop’ in Bahasa Indonesia.
2. Words with the same meaning but only similar spelling or not exactly the same spelling
These words have the same meaning in their English interpretation with closely similar pronunciation but their spellings are not exactly the same. Take a look at these words in the table below closely and you will see their slight differences.
| English | Bahasa Indonesia | Bahasa Malaysia |
| Apple | Apel | Epa |
| Broken | Rusak | Rosak |
| Bus | Bus | Bas |
| Business | Bisnis | Bisnes |
| Because | Karena | Kerana |
| Different | Beda | Beza, Lain |
| Taxi | Taksi | Teksi |
| Television | Televisi | Televisyen |
| University | Universitas | Universiti |
| Which is | Yaitu | Iaitu |
Looking at these words, Bahasa Indonesia words are following the Dutch alphabetic pronunciation. While on the other hand, Bahasa Malaysia words are derived from the English pronunciation. The ‘es’ in Indonesia is derived from the Dutch ‘ijs’ and the ‘ais’ in Bahasa Malaysia is derived from the English ‘ice.’
Take a look at the table below:
| English | Bahasa Malaysia | Dutch | Bahasa Indonesia |
| Ice Cream | Ais krim | Ijs je | Es krim |
| Ice Water | Air ais | Ijs water | Air es |
| Ice Sugar | Gula ais | Ijs suiker | Gula es |
| Ice Drop | Kejatuhan ais | Ijs drupel | Tetesan es |
| Ice Bag | Beg ais | Ijs zak | Kantong es |
| Bean ice | Ais kakam | Bonen ijs | Es kacang |
3. Words with the same meaning but completely different spelling
These are words that you may not find in either Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Malaysia but they refer to the same word in English. Take a look at this table below. So for instance you would never find the word ‘Ketua’ in Bahasa Malaysia dictionary, and similarly, you would never find the word ‘Pengerusi’ in Bahasa Indonesia dictionary.
| Words in English | Bahasa Indonesia | Bahasa Malaysia |
| Chairman | Ketua | Pengerusi |
| Clerk | Juru tulis | Kerani |
| Head Office | Kantor pusat | Ibu pejabat |
| Hospital | Rumah sakit | Hospital |
| How | Bagaimana | Macam mana |
| Teacher | Guru | Cikgu |
| Towel | Handuk | Tuala |
| Zoo | Kebun Binatang | Zoo |
Some of the Bahasa Malaysia words are the same with English words because of their relationship with the English people as discussed earlier.
Do you find these differences interesting? If you are learning either Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Malaysia, don’t stress so much about the differences between the two language for now.
Both languages belong to the same language group and are about 60-70% mutually intelligible for daily conversation. That means if you are learning one out of the two languages, it would certainly give you a head start to learn the other.
