Acehnese in Indonesia

2. Status

Status

Official country wide language
Official regional language
Official minority language
Recognised community language
Unrecognised community language

National language

No

Indigenous language

Yes

Comments

Acehnese is one of the local languages (bahasa daerah) in Aceh Province, Indonesia.
This language is potentially vulnerable.

3. State

Documentation: materials

Written

Extended corpora
Annotated corpora
Corpus/corpora
Materials/corpus
Some materials
No materials

Digital

No

divider

Video

Extended corpora
Annotated corpora
Corpus/corpora
Materials/corpus
Some materials
No materials

Digital

Yes

divider

Audio

Extended corpora
Annotated corpora
Corpus/corpora
Materials/corpus
Some materials
No materials

Digital

Yes

divider

Documentation: descriptions

Elaborated dictionaries, grammars, statistical language models, etc.
Dictionaries and grammars
Dictionary and grammar
Glossary and descriptions
Few descriptions
No descriptions

Digital

No

Comments

There are several dictionaries, grammars, and audio-visual documentation available for the Acehnese language.

Standardization

Modern standard language
Young standard language
Standardised language
Quasi-standard language
Semi-standardised language
Un-standardised language

Graphisation & script encoding

Standardised writing system with full script encoding
Conventionalised writing system with partial script encoding
Consistent writing system with no script encoding
Unsystematic writing system(s)
Limited written use
No written use

Comments

The Arabic-Malay and Latin writing systems are used to write Acehnese. The Latin script used in Acehnese includes diacritical signs such as /è/, /é/, /?/, /èe/, and/ô/.

4. Users

Geographical distribution

Users live and dominate in all regions of the country
Users live in one [state/...] of the country
Users live in a cross-border region [state/...] of the country
Users live in separated [states/...] of the country
Users live dispersed across one [state/...] of the country
Users live scattered all over the country

Settlements

Rural
Urban

Administrative units of the country

The municipalities of Langsa, Lhokseumawe, Banda Aceh, Sabang and in the regencies of North Aceh, Bireun, Pidie Jaya, Pidie, Aceh Besar; The subdistricts of Jaya, South Aceh, Aceh Jaya, Aceh Singkil, Southwest Aceh, and Nagan Raya in West Aceh Regency; and Simpang Ulim Subdistrict in East Aceh.

Size / Number of users

Number of users

2551151

Source

Indonesia Population: Result of Population Census 2010 (BPS-Statistics Indonesia)

Year

2010

Users within total population

1.07000

50

2,551,151

Reduced among young generations

Source

Indonesia Population: Result of Population Census 2010 (BPS-Statistics Indonesia)

Year

2020

Comments

According to a report on research of Acehnese vitality conducted by the Agency for Language Development and Cultivation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, Research and Technology (2021), Acehnese use is being reduced among the younger generation. The younger generation prefer to use Indonesian in their daily communication.

Educational attainment

Comments

There is no data on the exact number of Acehnese users based on their highest education level. The data has not been collected.

Occupational qualifications

Comments

There is no data on the exact number of the Acehnese users based on their occupational qualification. The data has not been collected.

Language competence

Understand well, speak/sign some

Comments

The younger generations of Acehnese understand and speak some of the language. This suggests that the intensity of intergenerational language transmission has decreased.

Year

2021

Source

The Acehnese vitality research report conducted by the Agency for Language Development and Cultivation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, Research and Technology (2021)

Understand all, speak/sign well

Comments

The middle generations of Acehnese people are competent in understanding and speaking the language.

Year

2021

Source

The Acehnese vitality research report conducted by the Agency for Language Development and Cultivation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, Research and Technology (2021)

Understand all, speak/sign fluently

Comments

The older generations of the Acehnese people understand Acehnese and speak it fluently.
All generations of the Acehnese community can understand the Acehnese language well in daily communication, but the younger generations speak some of the Acehnese language.

Year

2021

Source

The Acehnese vitality research report conducted by the Agency for Language Development and Cultivation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, Research and Technology (2021)

Literacy of users

Less than 10% of users with literacy in the language

Source

The Acehnese vitality research report conducted by the Agency for Language Development and Cultivation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, Research and Technology (2021)

Comments

Not all Acehnese users have the ability to read and write and use the language to understand, communicate, and gain useful knowledge.

Digital use

Less than 10% digital users of the language

Source

The Acehnese vitality research report conducted by the Agency for Language Development and Cultivation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, Research and Technology (2021)

Year

2021

5. Use

Socio-geographic dimension

Geographic scope

International
Supranational
Cross-border (states)
State-wide
Supra-regional cross-border
Supra-regional
Regional cross-border
Regional
Local

Source

The result of language mapping in Indonesia conducted by the Agency for Language Development and Cultivation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, Research and Technology (2019)

Comments

The Acehnese language is generally spoken in the municipalities of Langsa, Lhokseumawe, Banda Aceh, Sabang, and in the regencies of North Aceh, Bireun, Pidie Jaya, Pidie, and Aceh Besar. Some residents of East Aceh Regency, specifically in Simpang Ulim subdistrict, and West Aceh Regency, specifically in the subdistricts of Jaya, South Aceh, Aceh Jaya, Aceh Singkil, Southwest Aceh, and Nagan Raya, also use the Acehnese language.

Economic dimension

Economic scope

Quinary sector
Quaternary sector
Tertiary sector
Secondary sector
Primary sector
Language not used

Functional dimension

Functional scope

Public domains
Everyday domains
Private domains

Nature

exclusive

Stability

Decreasing

Comments

Acehnese is still used in the informal situations of private life with a partner, children, family etc.

Functional scope

Public domains
Everyday domains
Private domains

Nature

equal

Stability

Decreasing

Comments

Acehnese are becoming increasingly vulnerable. The primary cause of this phenomenon is the Indonesian language's dominance in various domains and functions.

Functional scope

Public domains
Everyday domains
Private domains

Functional use in administration

Language use in administration

International level
National level
Regional level
Local level
Auxiliary use
No use

Comments

The Acehnese community tend to use Indonesian in administrastion

Ethnoculture

No use
Informal learning
Skills and knowledge
Performing arts
Social practices
Customary law
Traditional medicine
Knowledge and practices
Traditions and expressions

Formal Education

Early childhood education

Type of language use in education

Medium of instruction
Immersion teaching
Teaching subject
Occasionally used
Symbolically used

Primary level

Type of language use in education

Medium of instruction
Immersion teaching
Teaching subject
Occasionally used
Symbolically used

Lower secondary level

Comments

The Acehnese community use Indonesia in formal education

Higher secondary level

Comments

The Acehnese community use Indonesia in formal education

Tertiary level

Comments

The Acehnese community use Indonesia in formal education

Public healthcare

Comments

The Acehnese community tend to use Indonesian in healthcare domain

Information, communication and cultural production

Information services
Broadcasting
Video, film
Sound/music recording
Publishing activities
Language not used

Comments

The Acehnese community generally uses Indonesian for information, communication, and cultural production, but in some spheres, such as radio and TV broadcasting and song and music recording, Acehnese is occasionally used.

Information services
Broadcasting
Video, film
Sound/music recording
Publishing activities
Language not used

Digital sphere

Language not used
Texting and messaging
Social media
Blogs, web pages, e-books
Edutainment products and services
Social media have a localized interface
Localized web search and e-commerce services
Localized operating systems
Machine translation
Top level domain name

Language not used
Texting and messaging
Social media
Blogs, web pages, e-books
Edutainment products and services
Social media have a localized interface
Localized web search and e-commerce services
Localized operating systems
Machine translation
Top level domain name

Legal system

Language use in the legal system

General use
Legal transactions
Court proceedings
Written submissions
Spoken/signed testimonies
Language not used

Geographical scope of legal language use

Local
Regional
National
International

The World Atlas of Languages is a beta version while data is being validated. Some inconsistencies may appear. The displayed data does not commit the Organization.