| Also Known As: Balinese
Description:
Balinese or simply Bali is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by 3.9 million people (as of 2001) on the Indonesian island of Bali, as well as northern Nusa Penida, western Lombok and eastern Java. Most Balinese speakers also know Indonesian.
Kawi is a related priestly language.
Balinese is part of the Austronesian language family, and is closely related to the Sasak and Sumbawa languages.
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.
Balinese has been written in two different writing systems: the Balinese script, and in modern times the Latin alphabet.
The Balinese script (Carakan) is an abugida, ultimately derived from the Brāhmī script of India. The earliest known inscriptions date from the 11th century AD.
Few people today are familiar with the Balinese script. The Balinese Script is almost the same as Javanese script.
Schools in Bali today teach a form of the Latin alphabet for writing Balinese, known as Tulisan Bali...... full article at Wikipedia |
