Balinese language

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Balinese

Spoken in

Indonesia
speaker 3.8 million
Linguistic
classification

Balinese is the language of the Hindu population of the islands of Bali and Lombok , in Indonesia . It is spoken by around 3.8 million people, i.e. 2.1% of the Indonesian population. Stable linguistic islands in Sumatra and Borneo result from the Transmigrasi policy of the 1970s. She is closely related to Sasak and Sumbawa . The language belongs to the Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa subgroup of the West Malayo-Polynesian language branch within the Austronesian language family .

The Balinese speak their "Balinese" in three different language levels . There is High Balinese ( singgih ), Middle Balinese ( lumrah ) and Low Balinese ( sor ). The three language levels emerged as a result of the caste system in Bali. High Balinese is the language of the Triwangsa and is based on the old Javanese court language. A Sudra (Balinese of the lowest caste) is expected to address a member of the Triwangsa (member of the Brahmin caste , Ksatriyakaste and Wesyakaste ) politely and respectfully in the standard language. In contrast to a Sudra, the latter uses the lower language. Since many Sudra never get the opportunity to learn the high language, a "middle" language developed for formal intercourse - a mixture of the high and the low language and Javanese and Malay sprinkles. The middle language is also considered polite and is often used with strangers before the caste of the interlocutor is established. The Sudras speak to one another in the ordinary, lower language. In addition, Kawi is used as the sacred literary language.

Today, Balinese is written using the Latin alphabet; the earlier Balinese script is similar to the old Javanese script, which is derived from the Indian Devanagari .

Language example

Universal Declaration of Human Rights , Article 1:

Sami manusane sane nyruwadi wantah merdeka tur maduwe kautamaan lan hak-hak sane pateh. Sami kalugrain papineh lan idep tur mangdane pada masawitra melarapan semangat pakulawargaan.
All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should meet one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

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