Editing Sumatra (section)

===Languages===
[[File:WIKITONGUES- T.A., Iqbal, and Kalam speaking Acehnese.webm|thumb|Speakers of Acehnese.]]
[[File:KedukanBukit001.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Kedukan Bukit Inscription]], using [[Pallava alphabet]], is the oldest surviving specimen of the [[Old Malay]] language in [[South Sumatra]], Indonesia.]]
There are over 52 [[Languages of Indonesia|languages]] spoken, all of which (except Chinese and Tamil) belong to the [[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]] branch of the [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] language family. Within Malayo-Polynesian, they are divided into several sub-branches: [[Chamic languages|Chamic]] (which are represented by [[Acehnese language|Acehnese]] in which its closest relatives are languages spoken by [[Cham people|Ethnic Chams]] in Cambodia and Vietnam), [[Malayic languages|Malayic]] ([[Malay language|Malay]], [[Minangkabau language|Minangkabau]] and other closely related languages), [[Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands languages|Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands]] ([[Batak languages]], [[Gayo language|Gayo]] and others), [[Lampung language|Lampungic]] (includes Proper Lampung and [[Komering language|Komering]]) and [[Bornean languages|Bornean]] (represented by [[Rejangese language|Rejang]] in which its closest linguistic relatives are [[Bukar Sadong language|Bukar Sadong]] and [[Land Dayak languages|Land Dayak]] spoken in [[West Kalimantan]] and [[Sarawak]] ([[Malaysia]])). Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands and Lampungic branches are endemic to the island. Like all parts of Indonesia, [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] (which was based on Riau Malay) is the official language and the main lingua franca. Although Sumatra has its own local lingua franca, [[Malayan languages|variants of Malay]] like Medan Malay and [[Musi language|Palembang Malay]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFW1BwAAQBAJ&q=palembang+malay+lingua+franca&pg=PA675 |title=Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas: Vol. I: Maps. Vol II: Texts |date=1996 |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |editor-last=Wurm |editor-first=Stephen A. |location=Berlin and New York |isbn=9783110819724 |editor-last2=Mühlhäusler |editor-first2=Peter |editor-last3=Tryon |editor-first3=Darrell T. |via=Google Books}}</ref> are popular in North and South Sumatra, especially in urban areas. Minangkabau (Padang dialect)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Minangkabau Language |url=http://gcanthminangkabau.wikispaces.com/Minangkabau+Language |website=gcanthminangkabau.wikispaces.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404054907/https://gcanthminangkabau.wikispaces.com/Minangkabau+Language |archive-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> is popular in West Sumatra, some parts of North Sumatra, Bengkulu, Jambi and Riau (especially in [[Pekanbaru]] and areas bordered with [[West Sumatra]]) while Acehnese is also used as an inter-ethnic means of communication in some parts of Aceh province.