Republic of the South Moluccas

chapter 2:

THE LANGUAGE OF THE MOLUCCAS

(a) Sou Ina Tuny.

During the MORIALE period there was just "SOU ESA" (One Language), called "SOU INA TUNY"r(the Right Mother Language). By the abovementioned process the SouIna Tuny was divided into a great many dialects. On Ceram there have been forand thirteen dialects besides the Alune  and Wemale languages. Outside Ceram there are the dialects of Bahasa Kay, Bahasa Tanimbar, Bahasa Dobo, Bahasa Buru, Bahasa Ternate, etc. All these dialects contain demonstrable elements of the Alune  and Wemale languages. Also on Ambon and Lease (the Isles of Haruku, Saparua and Nusalaut) they can be found right now, indeed in every Hena.

Although our people and our language have undergone a lot of differentiation within our world (the Moluccan Islands), SIWA'RIMA is for us a mark of identification by virtue of our tradition. SIWA'RIMA proves, that originally our people is one people. A people, whose traditional forms of government (the Adat) has a democratic aristocratic character, and whose basic religious principles have there origin in her own Moluccan culture, which differs significantly from the Hinduese culture from India or from Java.

(b) The Malayan Language.

Far back in the world of civilization traders from Malacca, China, Sumatra and Java traveled to West Melanesia (Maluku and Timor) to buy their spices, tjendawood and pearls, to sell them in Persia, Arabia and Egypt, from where they even reached Europe (1). This trade was carried out for centuries and caused the development of a "trading language", in which our Ancient Language (the Alif'Uru language) fused with the languages of those foreign peoples. This way originated the Melaju Pasar (the Trading Language) as an everyday speech.

When in the 15th century the Turkish occupied Constantinople (which was the ' ,,

trading center of the European East trade), the collapse of the political and~.

economical life in Europe was threatening. For that reason the Portuguese and

Spaniards traveled to the East. In 1511 they arrived at Malacca, in 1513 in

Maluku and Timor. From that moment on the way to Asia was open to the Euro­

peans.

((c) Colonial influence.

The arrival of the Europeans in Southeast Asia and West Melanesia enriched the Melaju Pasar even more and developed it into the official language, the melaju Tinggi (High Malayan). During the colonial rule in the whole of Southeast Asia and West Melanesia (the former Dutch colonies, the so called Dutch Indies) our Malayan Language was used as an official language. Consequently the Malayan Language has originated as a fusion of various language elements of the peoples of Asia and Europe with our Alif'Uru language. In this period the official writing of the Malayan Language was still in Arab characters. Until 1901 many people had not yet switched over to the Latin writing (2).

The amount in which our language (the Alif'Uru language) has contributed to the enrichment of the Malayan Language is considerable. This process has been accompanied by much bloodshed of our forefathers, who got entangled in the religious and economic wars, which were transferred from Europe to Asia.

(d) The Moluccan Right to the Malayan Language.

The Moluccan People has therefore a right to the Malayan Language. The Malayan Language has developed in the people's history, long before the so called Indonesia was created. The right to the Malayan Language is an historical right. The neo colonial R.I. calls the Malayan Language the Bahasa Indonesia, just as she calls the peoples of the former Dutch colonies the one Indonesian nation. The R.I. uses the Malayan Language for her neo colonial purposes.