Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LANGUAGE
You'll hear an exciting mix of languages in Bali and Lombok; the national language
of Indonesia, known locally as Bahasa Indonesia and in English as Indonesian, as well
as the indigenous languages of Balinese and Sasak (on Lombok), which are just two of
more than seven hundred native languages and dialects spoken throughout the Indone-
sian archipelago. In practical terms, Indonesian will help you to communicate effect-
ively, and everyone on the islands is at least bilingual, but a few words of Balinese or
Sasak used appropriately will get you an extra warm welcome.
Bahasa Indonesia
Until the 1920s, the lingua franca of government and commerce was Dutch, but the independ-
ence movement adopted a form of Bahasa Malay as a unifying language and by the 1950s
this had crystallized into
Bahasa Indonesia
, which is taught in every school and understood
throughout Bali and Lombok.
Bahasa Indonesia is written in Roman script, has no tones and uses a fairly straightforward
grammar, making it relatively easy to get to grips with. There are several pocket-sized
phrasebooks
, including one published by Rough Guides, and any number of apps. Among
many downloadable
teach yourself
courses, you could try Talk Now DL Indonesian (
eur-
sian language schools are in Denpasar and Ubud.
Grammar and pronunciation
For
grammar
, Bahasa Indonesia uses the same subject-verb-object word order as in English.
The easiest way to make a question is simply to add a question mark and use a rising intona-
tion.
Nouns
have no gender and don't require an article. To make a noun
plural
you usually
just say the noun twice; thus
anak
(child),
anak-anak
(children).
Adjectives
always follow
the noun.
Verbs
have no tenses: to indicate the past, prefix the verb with
sudah
(already) or
belum
(not yet); for the future, prefix the verb with
akan
(will).
Vowels and diphthongs
a
is a cross between f
a
ther and c
u
p
e
as in
a
long; or as in p
ay
; or as in g
e
t; or sometimes omitted (eg
selamat
is pronounced
“slamat”)
i
as in bout
i
que; or as in p
i
t
o
as in h
o
t; or as in c
o
ld
u
as in b
oo
t
ai
as in f
i
ne
