RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Indonesia has an extraordinary wealth of regional languages from various parts of the country. Among the thousands of dialects, there is a unique phenomenon in which several regional languages bear similarities to foreign languages.

This phenomenon is a trace of past history and cultural interaction. It turns out that there are similarities between the Sundanese, Cia-Cia, and Ma'anyan languages and languages from other countries.

One popular claim is the similarity between the Sundanese language and Japanese. This was discussed in a cultural course held by Padjadjaran University in 2025. Prof. Dr. Mikihiro Moriyama from Nanzan University in Japan shared a very interesting perspective on this matter. He mentioned that the Sundanese language has strong similarities with the language of his country.

According to him , both languages have a similar level of language, which creates a strong similarity. This similarity in language level is even considered more significant than the similarities between English and Indonesian. He also highlighted the expressive richness of the Sundanese language in conveying deep feelings and nuances of the heart. These things are sometimes difficult to fully express using only Indonesian.

The story of the Cia-Cia language in Southeast Sulawesi is also very unique because it adopted the Hangul script from Korea. This decision was made in 2009 to help preserve the native language of the local Baubau community. This adoption was carried out because the Cia-Cia language did not have an established traditional writing system. In addition, there is a perception of similarity in pronunciation between these two different languages.

Finally, there is a fascinating connection between the Ma'anyan language in Kalimantan and the Malagasy language in Madagascar. Both are known to originate from the same language family, namely the vast Austronesian language family.

Research shows that the Ma'anyan and Malagasy languages are 37 percent related. This figure proves that the two languages have very deep and tangible linguistic roots.

These results support the theory that Malagasy speakers migrated from the same area as Ma'anyan speakers. In fact, speakers of both languages can still easily recognize the similarities in their basic vocabulary.

The study of these linguistic similarities opens up new horizons on the complexity of the world's linguistic wealth. This understanding is very important for maintaining the cultural identity of the Indonesian nation in the eyes of the international community.