Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
semangkha air
watermelon
DRINKS
air jeruk
orange juice
air jeruk nipis
lemon juice
air minum
drinking water
arak
palm or rice spirit
bir
beer
brem
local rice wine
kopi
coffee
kopi bal
black coffee
kopi susu
white coffee
susu
milk
teh
tea
tuak
rice or palm beer
Bahasa Bali
The Balinese language,
Bahasa Bali
, has three main forms: High (
Ida
), Middle or Polite
(
Ipun
) and Low (
Ia
). The form the speaker uses depends on the
caste
of the person he or she
is addressing and on the context. If speaking to family or friends, or to a low-caste (Sudra)
Balinese, you use
Low Balinese
; if addressing a superior or a stranger, you use
Middle or
Polite Balinese
; if talking to someone from a high caste (Brahman, Satriya or Wesia) or dis-
cussing religious affairs, you use
High Balinese
. If the caste is not immediately apparent,
then the speaker traditionally opens the conversation with the euphemistic question “Where
do you sit?”, in order to elicit an indication of caste. However, in the last couple of decades
there's been a move to popularize the use of Polite or Middle Balinese and to disregard the
caste factor.
Despite its numerous forms, Bahasa Bali is essentially a
spoken language
, with few official
rules of grammar and hardly any textbooks or dictionaries. However, there is the
Tuttle Con-
cise Balinese Dictionary
, available internationally. All phrases and questions given below are
shown in the Middle or Polite form, unless otherwise stated.
USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES
What is your name?
Sira pesengan ragane?
Where are you going?
Lunga kija?
Where have you been?
Kija busan?
How are you?
Kenken kebara?
How are things?
Napa orti?
(I'm/everything's) fine
Becik
