Sundanese language

Sundanese (/sʌndəˈniːz/:[2] basa Sunda, Sundanese pronunciation: [basa sʊnda]; Sundanese script: ᮘᮞ ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Sundanese. It has approximately 40 million native speakers in the western third of Java; they represent about 15% of Indonesia's total population.

Sundanese
basa Sunda
ᮘᮞ ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ
Pronunciation[basa sʊnda]
Native toJava, Indonesia
RegionWest Java, Banten, Jakarta, parts of western Central Java, southern Lampung, also spoken by the Sundanese diaspora all over Indonesia and throughout the world.
Ethnicity
  • Sundanese
  • • Badui
  • • Bantenese
  • • Cirebonese
  • • Priangan
Native speakers
42 million (2016)[1]
Austronesian
  • Malayo-Polynesian
    • disputed:
      Malayo-Sumbawan or Greater North Borneo
      • Sundanese-Baduy
        • Sundanese
Early form
Old Sundanese
Standard forms
  • Priangan Sundanese
Dialects
  • Baduy (considered a separate language)
  • Banten
  • Banyumas (extinct)
  • Bogor
  • Brebes
  • Ciamis
  • Northeast
    • Cirebon
    • Indramayu
    • Majalengka
  • Priangan
Latin script (present)
Sundanese script (present; optional)
Old Sundanese script (14-18th centuries AD, present; optional)
Sundanese Cacarakan script (17-19th centuries AD, present; certain areas)
Sundanese Pégon script (17-20th centuries AD, present; religious use only)
Buda Script (13-15th centuries AD, present; optional)
Kawi script (historical)
Pallava (historical)
Pranagari (historical)
Vatteluttu (historical)
Official status
Regulated byLembaga Basa Jeung Sastra Sunda
Language codes
ISO 639-1su
ISO 639-2sun
ISO 639-3Variously:
sun – Sundanese
bac – Baduy Sundanese
osn – Old Sundanese
Glottologsund1251
Linguasphere31-MFN-a
  Areas where Sundanese is a majority native language
  Areas where Sundanese is a minority language with >100,000 speakers
  Areas where Sundanese is a minority language with <100,000 speakers
Location where Sundanese language spoken.

Classification

According to American linguist Robert Blust, Sundanese is closely related to the Malayic languages, as well as to language groups spoken in Borneo such as the Land Dayak languages or the Kayan–Murik languages, based on high lexical similarities between these languages.[3][4]

History and distribution

Sundanese is mainly spoken on the west side of the island of Java, in an area known as Tatar Sunda (Pasundan). However, Sundanese is also spoken in the western part of Central Java, especially in Brebes and Cilacap Regency, because these areas were previously under the control of the Galuh Kingdom. Many place names in Cilacap are still Sundanese names such as Dayeuhluhur, Cimanggu, Cipari and so on.

Until 1600 AD, Sundanese was the state language in the kingdoms of Salakanagara, Tarumanagara, Sunda, Galuh, and Pajajaran. During this period, Sundanese was heavily influenced by the Sanskrit language as seen in the Batu Tapak Kaki Kiri Nyoreang inscription at the time of King Purnawarman, using the Pallava script. Sundanese at that time was used in the fields of state, art, and daily life, many religious books were written in Sundanese and used Old Sundanese script such as the Sanghyang Siksa Kandang Karesian Manuscript, Carita Parahyangan, Amanat Galunggung, and Guru Talapakan.

In addition, according to some Sundanese language experts until around the 6th century, the area of speech reached around the Dieng Plateau in Central Java, based on the name "Dieng" which is considered the name Sundanese (from the origin of the word dihyang which is an Old Sundanese word). Along with transmigration and immigration carried out by the Sundanese ethnics, speakers of this language have spread beyond the island of Java. For example, in Lampung, South Sumatra, Jambi, Riau, West Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi and even outside the country of Indonesia, such as Taiwan, Japan, Australia and other countries, a significant number of ethnic Sundanese live in areas outside the Pasundan.

Dialects

Sundanese has several dialects, conventionally described according to the locations of the people:

Linguistic map of West Java, Banten, Western part of Central Java and Jakarta.
  • Western dialect, spoken in the provinces of Banten and some parts of Lampung;
  • Northern dialect, spoken in Bogor, and northwestern coastal areas of West Java;
  • Southern or Priangan dialect, spoken in Sukabumi, Sumedang, Cianjur, Bandung, Garut and Tasikmalaya
  • Mid-east dialect, spoken in Cirebon, Majalengka and Indramayu,
  • Northeast dialect, spoken in Kuningan, and Brebes (Central Java),
  • Southeast dialect, spoken in Ciamis, Pangandaran, Banjar and Cilacap (Central Java).

The Priangan dialect, which covers the largest area where Sundanese people lives (Parahyangan in Sundanese), is the most widely spoken type of Sundanese language, taught in elementary till senior-high schools (equivalent to twelfth-year school grade) in West Java and Banten Province.

Writing

The language has been written in different writing systems throughout history. The earliest attested documents of the Sundanese language were written in the Old Sundanese script (Aksara Sunda Kuno). After the arrival of Islam, the Pegon script is also used, usually for religious purposes. The Latin script then began to be used after the arrival of Europeans. In modern times, most of Sundanese literature is written in Latin. The regional government of West Java and Banten are currently promoting the use of Standard Sundanese script (Aksara Sunda Baku) in public places and road signs. The Pegon script is still used mostly by pesantrens (Islamic boarding school) in West Java and Banten or in Sundanese Islamic literature.[5]

Phonology

Sundanese orthography is highly phonemic (see also Sundanese script).

Vowels

There are seven vowels: a /a/, é /ɛ/, i /i/, o /ɔ/, u /u/, e /ə/, and eu /ɨ/.[6]

Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Mid ɛ ə ɔ
Open a

Consonants

According to Müller-Gotama (2001) there are 18 consonants in the Sundanese phonology: /b/, /tʃ/, /d/, /ɡ/, /h/, /dʒ/, /k/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /p/, /r/, /s/, /ŋ/, /t/, /ɲ/, /w/, /j/; however, influences from foreign languages have introduced several additional consonants such as /f/, /v/, /z/ (as in fonem, qur'an, xerox, zakat). The consonantal phonemes are transcribed with the letters p, b, t, d, k, g, c (pronounced /tʃ/), j /d͡ʒ/, h, ng (/ŋ/), ny /ɲ/, m, n, s /s/, w, l, r /r~ɾ/, and y /j/. Other consonants that originally appear in Indonesian loanwords are mostly transferred into native consonants: f/v /f/ → p, sy /ʃ/ → s, z /z/ → j, and kh /x/ → h.

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless p t tʃ k
voiced b d dʒ ɡ
Fricative s h
Lateral l
Trill r
Approximant w j

Epenthetic semivowels /w/ and /j/ are inserted after a high vowel immediately followed by another vowel, as in the words:

  • kuéh - /kuwɛh/
  • muih - /muwih/
  • béar - /bejar/
  • miang - /mijaŋ/

Register

Sundanese has an elaborate system of register distinguishing levels of formality.[7] At the beginning of speech level development, it was known 6 levels of Sundanese language: basa kasar (rough), sedeng (medium), lemes (polite), lemes pisan (very polite), kasar pisan (very rough), and basa panengah (intermediate). But since the 1988 Congress of Sundanese Language in Bogor, the speech level has been narrowed to only two parts: basa hormat (respectful) and basa loma (fair). Besides that, the term was changed to "tatakrama basa" (lit. 'language manners'), although the substance remained the same. The hormat variant is a subtle language to respect, while the loma variant is fair, neutral and familiar use. This variety of loma language is then used as a kind of "standard" variety of written languages in Sundanese society. Sundanese magazines, newspapers, literary books and theses, mostly using the loma variant.

Apart from the two previous levels, there is actually one more lowest level, namely cohag (rough). This level is only used when angry or just to show intimacy between speakers. This register can only be found in the Sundanese Priangan dialect, while other dialects such as Bantenese Language, generally do not recognize this register.

For many words, there are distinct loma and lemes forms, e.g. arék (loma) vs. badé (lemes) "want", maca (loma) vs. maos (lemes) "read". In the lemes level, some words further distinguish humble and respectful forms, the former being used to refer to oneself, and the latter for the addressee and third persons, e.g. rorompok "(my own) house" vs. bumi "(your or someone else's) house" (the loma form is imah).

Similar systems of speech levels are found in Japanese, Korean and Thai.

Basic vocabulary

Pronoun
Glos Lemes Loma Cohag
1SG
'I'		 abdi (informal)

simkuring (formal)

 urang (informal)

kuring (formal)

kami (non-formal,

expressing speaker's superiority)

 aing
2SG, 2PL
'you'		 anjeun

hidep (for younger)

 manéh

silaing

 sia
3SG, 3PL
'he, she'		 mantenna (to be respected)

anjeunna

 manéhna si éta
1PL.EXCL
'we'		 abdi sadayana (informal)

sim kuring sadayana (formal)

 kuring saréréa aing kabéhan
1PL.INCL
'we'		 urang samudayana arurang -
2PL
'you all'		 aranjeun

haridep (for younger)

 maranéh saria, sararia
3PL
'they'		 aranjeunna maranéhna -

Numeral
Number Sundanese script Sundanese
1 |᮱| hiji
2 |᮲| dua
3 |᮳| tilu
4 |᮴| opat
5 |᮵| lima
6 |᮶| genep
7 |᮷| tujuh
8 |᮸| dalapan
9 |᮹| salapan
10 |᮱᮰| sapuluh
11 |᮱᮱| sabelas
12 |᮱᮲| dua belas
20 |᮲᮰| dua puluh
21 |᮲᮱| dua puluh hiji
30 |᮳᮰| tilu puluh
31 |᮳᮱| tilu puluh hiji
40 |᮴᮰| opat puluh
50 |᮵᮰| lima puluh
60 |᮶᮰| genep puluh
70 |᮷᮰| tujuh puluh
80 |᮸᮰| dalapan puluh
90 |᮹᮰| salapan puluh
100 |᮱᮰᮰| saratus
hundreds ratusan
1000 |᮱᮰᮰᮰| sarébu
thousands rébu

Grammar

Root verb
EnglishSundanese
(formal)		Sundanese
(polite)
eatdahartuang (for other)
neda (for myself)
drinkinumleueut
writetulisserat
readmacamaos
forgetpoholali (for other)

hilap (for myself)

rememberingetémut
sitdiuklinggih (for other)

calik (for myself)

standingnangtungngadeg
walkleumpangnyacat

Plural form

Other Austronesian languages commonly use reduplication to create plural forms. However, Sundanese inserts the ar infix into the stem word. If the stem word starts with l, or contains r following the infix, the infix ar becomes al. Also, as with other Sundanese infixes (such as um), if the word starts with vowel, the infix becomes a prefix. Examples:

  1. Mangga A, tarahuna haneut kénéh. "Please sir, the bean curds are still warm/hot." The plural form of tahu 'bean curd, tofu' is formed by infixing ar after the initial consonant.
  2. Barudak leutik lalumpatan. "Small children running around." Barudak "children" is formed from budak (child) with the ar infix; in lumpat (run) the ar infix becomes al because lumpat starts with l.
  3. Ieu kaén batik aralus sadayana. "All of these batik clothes are beautiful." Formed from alus (nice, beautiful, good) with the infix ar that becomes a prefix because alus starts with a vowel. It denotes the adjective "beautiful" for the plural subject/noun (batik clothes).
  4. Siswa sakola éta mah balageur. "The students of that school are well-behaved." Formed from bageur ("good-behaving, nice, polite, helpful") with the infix ar, which becomes al because of r in the root, to denote the adjective "well-behaved" for plural students.

However, it is reported that this use of al instead of ar (as illustrated in (4) above) does not to occur if the 'r' is in onset of a neighbouring syllable. For example, the plural form of the adjective curiga (suspicious) is caruriga and not *caluriga, because the 'r' in the root occurs at the start of the following syllable.[8]

The prefix can be reduplicated to denote very-, or the plural of groups. For example, "bararudak" denotes many, many children or many groups of children (budak is child in Sundanese). Another example, "balalageur" denotes plural adjective of "very well-behaved".

Active form

Most active forms of Sundanese verbs are identical to the root, as with diuk "sit" or dahar "eat". Some others depend on the initial phoneme in the root:

  1. Initial /d/, /b/, /f/, /ɡ/, /h/, /j/, /l/, /r/, /w/, /z/ can be put after prefix nga like in ngadahar.
  2. Initial /i/, /e/, /u/, /a/, /o/ can be put after prefix ng like in nginum "drink".

Negation

Polite:

  • Abdi teu acan neda. "I have not eaten yet."
  • Buku abdi mah sanés nu ieu. "My book is not this one."

Formal:

  • Urang acan dahar. "I have not eaten yet."
  • Buku urang mah lain nu ieu. "My book is not this one."

Question

Dupi (for polite situation)/Ari (for formal situation)-(question)

example:

Polite:

  • Dupi Tuang Rama nyondong di bumi? "Is your father at home?"
  • Dupi bumi di palih mana? "Where do you live?"

Formal:

  • Ari Bapa aya di imah? "Is your father at home?"
  • Ari imah di beulah mana? "Where do you live?"

Interrogatives
English Sundanese
(formal)		 Sundanese
(polite)
 Indonesian
what naon apa
who saha siapa
whose/whom nu saha kagungan saha punya siapa
where (di) mana (di) manten (di) mana
when iraha kapan
why naha, kunaon kenapa
how kumaha bagaimana
how many sabaraha berapa

Passive form

Polite:

  • Buku dibantun ku abdi. "The book is brought by me." Dibantun is the passive form ngabantun "bring".
  • Pulpén ditambut ku abdi. "The pen is borrowed by me."
  • Soal ieu dipidamel ku abdi. "This problem is done by me."
  • Kacasoca dianggo ku abdi. "Glasses worn by me."

Formal:

  • Buku dicandak ku simkuring. "The book is brought by me." Dibawa is the passive form mawa "bring".
  • Pulpén diinjeum ku urang. "The pen is borrowed by me."
  • Soal ieu digawékeun ku urang. "This problem is done by me."
  • Tasma dipaké ku urang. "Glasses worn by me."

Adjectives

Examples:

teuas (hard), tiis (cool for water and solid objects), tiris (cool for air), hipu (soft), lada (hot/spicy, usually for foods), haneut (warm), etc.

Place

Sundanese has three generic prepositions for spatial expressions:[9]

  • di: 'in', 'at' etc., indicating position
  • dina/na: 'on', 'at' etc., indicating specific position
  • ka: 'to', indicating direction
  • kana: 'to', indicating specific direction
  • ti: 'from', indicating origin
  • tina: 'from', indicating specific origin

To express more specific spatial relations (like 'inside', 'under' etc.), these prepositions have been combined with locative nouns:[10]

FormalPoliteGloss
di jerodi lebetinside
di luardi luaroutside
di gigirdi gédéngbeside
di luhurdi luhurabove
di handapdi handapbelow
di tukangdi pengkerbehind
di hareupdi payunin front

Di gigir/luhur/handap/tukang/hareup (also ka gigir, ti gigir etc.) are absolute adverial expressions without a following noun. To express relative position, they have to add the suffix -eun, e.g.:

Polite:

  • di luhur bumi – 'on top of the house'
  • dina luhur lomari – 'on top of the cupboard'
  • ti pengker bumi – 'from behind the house'
  • tina pengker lomari – 'from behind the cupboard'

Formal:

  • di luhureun imah – 'on top of the house'
  • dina luhureun lomari – 'on top of the cupboard'
  • ti tukangeun imah – 'from behind the house'
  • tina tukangeun lomari – 'from behind the cupboard'

Di jero, di luar and the polite forms luhur & pengker can be used both with and without a following noun.

Time
EnglishSundanese
(formal)		Sundanese
(polite)
beforesaacan/saméméhsateuacan
aftersanggeussaparantos
duringbasanalika
pastbaheulakapungkur

Miscellaneous
EnglishSundanese
(formal)		Sundanese
(polite)
fromtina/titina/ti
forjang, paragikanggo/kanggé
Languages spoken in Java.

See also
  • Sundanese alphabet
  • Sundanese (Unicode block)

References
  1. Muamar, Aam (2016-08-08). "Mempertahankan Eksistensi Bahasa Sunda" [Maintaining the existence of Sundanese Language]. Pikiran Rakyat (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 22 June 2019. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
  2. Bauer, Laurie (2007). The Linguistics Student's Handbook. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  3. Blust 2010.
  4. Blust 2013.
  5. Rosidi, Ajip (2010). Mengenang hidup orang lain: sejumlah obituari (in Indonesian). Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia. ISBN 9789799102225.
  6. Müller-Gotama, Franz (2001). Sundanese. Languages of the World. Materials. Vol. 369. Munich: LINCOM Europa.
  7. Anderson, E. A. (1997). "The use of speech levels in Sundanese". In Clark, M. (ed.). Papers in Southeast Asian Linguistics No. 16. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 1–45. doi:10.15144/PL-A90.1.
  8. Bennett, Wm G. (2015). The Phonology of Consonants: Harmony, Dissimilation, and Correspondence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 132.
  9. Hardjadibrata (1985), p. 30.
  10. Hardjadibrata (1985), p. 72–74.

Bibliography

Further reading
  • Rigg, Jonathan (1862). A Dictionary of the Sunda Language of Java. Batavia: Lange & Co.
  • S. Coolsma (1985). Tata Bahasa Sunda. Jakarta: Djambatan.
  • Blust, Robert (2010). "The Greater North Borneo Hypothesis". Oceanic Linguistics. University of Hawai'i Press. 49 (1): 44–118. doi:10.1353/ol.0.0060. JSTOR 40783586. S2CID 145459318.
  • Blust, Robert (2013). The Austronesian languages. Asia-Pacific Linguistics 8 (revised ed.). Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. hdl:1885/10191. ISBN 9781922185075.
Sundanese edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Look up Appendix:Sundanese Swadesh list in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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