Balinese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken on the Indonesian island of Bali, as well as Northern Nusa Penida, Western Lombok, Eastern Java,[3] Southern Sumatra, and Sulawesi.[4] Most Balinese speakers also use Indonesian. The 2000 national census recorded 3.3 million people speakers of Balinese, however the Bali Cultural Agency estimated in 2011 that the number of people still using the Balinese language in their daily lives is under 1 million. The language has been classified as "not endangered" by Glottolog.[2]
The higher registers of the language borrow extensively from Javanese: an old form of classical Javanese, Kawi, is used in Bali as a religious and ceremonial language. Apart from being spoken in Bali, Balinese is also widely spoken on the island of Lombok, especially western part of Lombok island, and to a small extent it is also spoken on the island of Java, especially Banyuwangi. and western part of Sumbawa island. The spread of the Balinese language on these islands cannot be separated from the history between the islands.
According to the 2000 census, the Balinese language is spoken by 3.3 million people in Indonesia, mainly concentrated on the island of Bali and the surrounding areas.
In 2011, the Bali Cultural Agency estimated that the number of people still using the Balinese language in their daily lives on Bali Island does not exceed 1 million, as in urban areas their parents only introduce the Indonesian language or even English as a foreign language, while daily conversations in the institutions and the mass media have disappeared. The written form of the Balinese language is increasingly unfamiliar and most Balinese people use the Balinese language only as a means of oral communication, often mixing it with Indonesian in their daily speech. However, in the transmigration areas outside Bali Island, the Balinese language is extensively used and believed to play an important role in the survival of the language.[6]
The official spelling denotes both /a/ and /ə/ by ⟨a⟩. However, ⟨a⟩ is usually pronounced [ə] when it ends a word, and [ə] occurs also in prefixes ma-, pa- and da-.[7]
Depending on dialect, the phoneme /t/ is realized as a voiceless alveolar or retroflex stop. This is in contrast with most other languages in western Indonesia (including Standard Indonesian), which have a dental /t/ patterning with an otherwise alveolar phoneme series.[4]
Even though most of the basic vocabulary in Balinese and Indonesian are of Austronesian and Sanskrit origin, many cognates in both languages sound quite different.[8] Balinese has different registers depending on the relationship and status of those speaking: low (basa ketah), middle (basa madia), and high (basa singgih). Basa singgih contains many loanwords from Sanskrit and Javanese (specifically Old Javanese) which reflect the fifteenth-century usage spoken by Old Javanese. The common mutations in inherited Balinese words are:
First, mutation r into h of initial r, intervocalic r, and final r
Second, h into ø, everywhere except the final consonant
However, these mutations are not expressed by the High Balinese, thus this infer high Balinese was loanwords from Sanskrit and (Old) Javanese. These loanwords are identical in sound with their Javanese cognates.[9]
Basic Vocabulary Comparison
English
Low Balinese
High Balinese
Indonesian
Old Javanese
Javanese
this
éné
niki
ini
iki
iki (ngoko), punika (krama)
that
énto
nika
itu
ika
here
dini
driki
di sini
there
ditu
drikä
di sana, di situ
what
apä
napi
apa
apa
human
manusä, jelemä
jadmä
manusia
jadma
manungsa
hair
bõk
rambut
rambut
rambut
rambut
fire
api
gni
api
gĕni
geni
child
pañak
pianak, okä
anak
to live
idup
urip
hidup
urip
urip
to drink
nginém
nginém
minum
manginum
big
gédé
agéng
besar, gede
gĕḍe
gedhé
new
baru
anyar
baru
(h)añar
anyar
day
wai
rahinä
hari
rahina
dina, dinten
sun
matan ai
suryä
matahari
surya
ari
lake
danu
tlagä
danau
ranu
tlaga
egg
taluh
taluh
telur
ĕṇḍog
endhog (ngoko), tigan (krama)
friend
timpal
suwiträ
teman
kañca, mitra, sakhā
kanca, kenalan, mitra
to sightsee
mélali-lali
malélancarañ
tamasya
name
adan
parab,Wastan
nama
(h)aran,parab
aran, jeneng (ngoko), wasta (krama), asma (krama inggil)
to be, to become
dadi
dados
menjadi
to stay
nongos
meneng
tinggal
from
uling
saking
dari
Numerals
Balinese has a decimal numeral system, but this is complicated by numerous words for intermediate quantities such as 45, 175, and 1600.
Grammar
The word order is similar to that of Indonesian, and verb and noun inflectionalmorphology is similarly minimal. However, derivational morphology is extensive, and suffixes are applied to indicate definite or indefinite articles, and optionally to indicate possession.[7]
The Balinese script (Aksara Bali, ᬅᬓ᭄ᬱᬭᬩᬮᬶ), which is arranged as Hanacaraka (ᬳᬦᬘᬭᬓ), is an abugida, ultimately derived from the Brāhmī script of India. The earliest known inscriptions date from the 9th century AD.[10]
Few people today are familiar with the Balinese script.[11] The Balinese script is almost the same as the Javanese script.
Latin alphabet
Schools in Bali today teach a Latin alphabet known as Tulisan Bali.[12]
Street sign in Singaraja, written in Latin and Balinese script
Klungkung Regent's Office sign
Lontar manuscript restoration
Note
^1 In Balinese script, Sanskrit and Kawi loanwords tend use conservative orthography as standard form in Balinese script. The word for language, basa, in Balinese is a loanword from Old Javanesebhāṣa which came from the Sanskrit word भाषाbhāṣā, hence it is written according to Sanskrit and Old Javanese spelling ᬪᬵᬱᬩᬮᬶ in Balinese script. The Bali form in Balinese script is used by beginner writers. Meanwhile, diacritics are not written in the current romanization of the Balinese language. Thus, both Bali and basa Bali are the standard forms.