Script guide › Latin
Indonesian / Malay vs Tagalog (Filipino)
Indonesian / Malay and Tagalog (Filipino) sit in the same corner of the writing-system map — Grafle's Latin group — and players mix them up constantly. Here's the fastest way to tell them apart.
The tell
Tagalog's tiny words 'ng' and 'mga' are unique; Indonesian/Malay runs on prefixes (me-, ber-, di-) and hyphenated doubles (lama-lama).
Side by side
Indonesian / Malay
Semua orang dilahirkan merdeka dan mempunyai martabat yang sama.
Halo, apa kabar? Senang bertemu dengan kamu.
Sedikit demi sedikit, lama-lama menjadi bukit.
Indonesian / Malay's own tells
- Clean Latin with no accents at all; prefixes me-, ber-, di- everywhere, plus hyphenated doubled words (lama-lama).
- The endings -nya and -kan are also everywhere. On street signs, Jl. (Jalan = street) is the giveaway.
On signs in:
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- Brunei
- Singapore
Tagalog (Filipino)
Ang lahat ng tao ay isinilang na malaya at pantay-pantay.
Magandang umaga sa inyong lahat, mga kaibigan!
Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating.
Tagalog (Filipino)'s own tells
- The tiny words ng and mga are uniquely Filipino.
- 'ang' and 'ay' pepper every sentence.
On signs in:
- Philippines