Sundanese language

Sundanese is an Austronesian language spoken by the Sundanese people, mainly in the western part of Java. It has around 32 million native speakers, which makes up about 15% of Indonesia’s total population. The language is known locally as "Basa Sunda" and has its own special scripts, including Sundanese script and Pegon script. It is one of the many rich languages found in the diverse country of Indonesia.

Classification

The Sundanese language is closely related to the Malayic languages. Experts believe it also shares similarities with languages spoken in Borneo, like the Land Dayak languages and the Kayan–Murik languages. These connections are based on many words that are alike across these different languages.

History and distribution

Main article: History of Sundanese language

See also: Old Sundanese language

Sundanese is mainly spoken on the west side of the island of Java, in an area known as Pasundan. It is also spoken in parts of western Central Java, such as Brebes and Cilacap Regency, because these places were once ruled by the Galuh Kingdom. Many place names in these areas still have Sundanese origins.

Until around 1600 AD, Sundanese was the official language in several kingdoms, including Salakanagara, Tarumanagara, Sunda, Galuh, Pajajaran, and Sumedang Larang. During this time, the language was influenced by Sanskrit language. Sundanese was used in many important areas of life, including art and religion.

Because of movements of Sundanese people, the language has spread to many places beyond Java, such as Lampung, South Sumatra, Bengkulu, Riau, West Kalimantan, and Southeast Sulawesi. There are also many Sundanese people living outside Indonesia, in countries like Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.

Dialects

Sundanese has several dialects, named based on where the people live.

• Western dialect, spoken in Banten, parts of Bogor Regency, and some areas of Lampung.
• Northern dialect, spoken in Bogor Regency and 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 parts of Indramayu.
• Northeast dialect, spoken in Kuningan and Brebes.
• Southeast dialect, spoken in Ciamis, Pangandaran, Banjar, and Cilacap.

The Priangan dialect is the most common type of Sundanese and is taught in schools in West Java and Banten Province.

Writing system

Main article: Sundanese script

The Sundanese language has been written using different writing systems over time. The oldest known Sundanese writings used the Old Sundanese script (Aksara Sunda Kuno). When Islam arrived, the Pegon script was introduced, mainly for religious texts. Later, the Latin script became common after Europeans came to the area. Today, most Sundanese books and writings use the Latin alphabet.

Local leaders in West Java and Banten encourage people to use the Standard Sundanese script (Aksara Sunda Baku) in public spaces and on signs. While the Pegon script is mostly seen in Islamic schools called pesantrens and religious books, it sometimes appears on signs in places like Lembang and Tasikmalaya.

Latin alphabet

Below is a comparison table of letter usage between previous Sundanese spellings and the current spelling.

Phonology

Vowels

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

/ɨ/ may be pronounced differently by younger speakers. In Bandung, it sounds like /ɤ/, and in Tangerang, it sounds like /ɯ/. Indonesian speakers may say it as /ɘ/ in Sundanese words borrowed from Indonesian, like keukeuh /kɘkɘh/ and Pameungpeuk /pamɘŋpɘʔ/.

Consonants

There are 18 main consonant sounds in Sundanese, such as /b/, /t͜ɕ/, /d/, /ɡ/, /h/, and others. Words from other languages have added new sounds like /f/, /q/, and /z/, as in fonem, qur'an, and xerox.

Some extra sounds /w/ and /j/ are added between vowels in certain words, like in kuéh /kuwɛh/ and béar /bejar/.

Register

Sundanese has different ways of speaking to show how formal or casual a conversation should be. Originally, there were six levels, but now there are mainly two: basa hormat (respectful) and basa loma (fair). The hormat style is used to show respect, while the loma style is neutral and often used in writing, like in books and newspapers.

There is also a rough style called cohag, used only in very angry or close conversations, mainly in the Sundanese Priangan area. Many words have different forms depending on the style, like arék (loma) versus badé (lemes) for "want". Similar systems exist in languages like Japanese, Korean, and Thai.

Basic vocabulary

Personal pronouns

Numeral

Main article: Sundanese numerals

Grammar

Root word

Root verb

Plural form

Other Austronesian languages often use a special way to show many things by repeating parts of words. Sundanese, however, adds a small piece called ar to the middle of a word to show more than one. If the word starts with the letter l or has an r after this piece, it changes to al. If the word starts with a vowel, this piece becomes a beginning instead of being in the middle. Here are some examples:

1. Mangga téh, tarahuna haneut kénéh. "Please ma'am, the bean curds are still warm/hot." The word for "bean curd, tofu" becomes plural by adding ar after the first letter.
2. Barudak leutik lalumpatan. "Small children running around." The word for "children" is made from the word for "child" with the ar piece; in the word for "run," it changes to al because it starts with l.
3. Ieu kaén batik aralus sadayana. "All of these batik clothes are beautiful." Made from a word meaning "nice, beautiful, good" with the ar piece that becomes a beginning because it starts with a vowel. It shows the description "beautiful" for many clothes.
4. Siswa sakola éta mah balageur. "The students of that school are well-behaved." Made from a word meaning "well-behaved, nice, polite, helpful" with the ar piece, which changes to al because of an r in the word, to show the description "well-behaved" for many students.

Active form

Most active forms of Sundanese verbs look the same as the basic word, like diuk "sit" or dahar "eat". Some change depending on the first letter:

1. Words that start with /d/, /b/, /f/, /ɡ/, /h/, /j/, /l/, /r/, /w/, /z/ can add nga in front, like ngadahar.
2. Words that start with /i/, /e/, /u/, /a/, /o/ can add ng in front, like nginum "drink".

Negation

There are several words to say "no" or "not" in Sundanese. These can change depending on how polite or casual you are speaking, and also by dialect.

Polite

In one type of Sundanese, polite negation is done by adding henteu (a shorter form, teu, is also used) to most verbs. To say "not" when describing something, sanés is used.

• Abdi teu acan neda. "I have not eaten yet."

In this sentence, "acan" shows that the speaker hasn't done something, but they will soon.

• Buku abdi mah sanés nu ieu. "My book is not this one."

Other words that can be used to say "not" in clauses are moal (to show that the speaker is not going to do something) and alim (to show that the speaker does not want to do something). Other Sundanese dialects may have different ways to say "not".

Casual

There are many casual words to help say "not". In one type of Sundanese, this can be done with several words.

• Urang acan dahar. "I have not eaten yet."

The shorter version, can, is also commonly used in speaking.

• Buku Urang mah lain nu ieu. "My book is not this one."

The word lain can be used as a casual version of sanés.

Moal and its longer version moal waka can also be used casually. Other words include teu hayang (which can also sound strong depending on context) and embung (which is somewhat a casual version of alim).

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

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 dibawa ku aing. "The book is brought by me." Dibawa is the passive form mawa "bring".
• Pulpén diinjeum ku aing. "The pen is borrowed by me."
• Soal ieu digawékeun ku aing. "This problem is done by me."
• Tasma dipaké ku aing. "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.

Prepositions

Place

Sundanese has three general words for showing where something is:

• di: 'in', 'at' etc., showing position
• dina/na: 'on', 'at' etc., showing a specific position
• ka: 'to', showing direction (from places like city, country, buildings, rooms, street, human, entities, etc. and treating the noun as a place where something happens)
• kana: 'to', showing specific direction (from things, tools, containers, plants, organs or parts of body, etc. and treating the noun as an object)
• ti: 'from', showing origin
• tina: 'from', showing specific origin

Using different words can change the meaning.

di cai: at the bathroom/toilet

dina cai: inside of water

ka cai: going to a bathroom/toilet

kana cai: into water

ti cai: (someone) comes from the bathroom/toilet

tina cai: (something) made of water, or (something) comes from water

ka mobil: going inside a car

kana mobil: something is done/happened to a car

To express more specific places (like 'inside', 'under' etc.), these words have been combined with place words:

Di gigir/luhur/handap/tukang/hareup (also ka gigir, ti gigir etc.) are absolute expressions without a following noun. To express relative position, they have to add the ending -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', alternative version: pengkereun bumi
• tina pengker lomari – 'from behind the cupboard'

Formal:

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

Miscellaneous

Sample text

Here are some sentences from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Sundanese, along with the original in English.

Sundanese in Latin script

Sakumna jalma gubrag ka alam dunya téh sipatna merdika jeung boga martabat katut hak-hak anu sarua. Maranéhna dibéré akal jeung haté nurani, campur-gaul jeung sasamana aya dina sumanget duduluran.

Sundanese in Sundanese script

ᮞᮊᮥᮙ᮪ᮔ ᮏᮜ᮪ᮙ ᮌᮥᮘᮢᮌ᮪ ᮊ ᮃᮜᮙ᮪ ᮓᮥᮑ ᮒᮦᮂ ᮞᮤᮕᮒ᮪ᮔ ᮙᮤᮁᮓᮤᮊ ᮏᮩᮀ ᮘᮧᮌ ᮙᮁᮒᮘᮒ᮪ ᮊᮒᮥᮒ᮪ ᮠᮊ᮪-ᮠᮊ᮪ ᮃᮔᮥ ᮞᮛᮥᮃ. ᮙᮛᮦᮂᮔ ᮓᮤᮘᮦᮛᮦ ᮃᮊᮜ᮪ ᮏᮩᮀ ᮠᮒᮦ ᮔᮥᮛᮔᮤ, ᮎᮙ᮪ᮕᮥᮁ-ᮌᮅᮜ᮪ ᮏᮩᮀ ᮞᮞᮙᮔ ᮃᮚ ᮓᮤᮔ ᮞᮥᮙᮍᮨᮒ᮪ ᮓᮥᮓᮥᮜᮥᮛᮔ᮪._

Sundanese in Pegon script

«ساكومنا جالما ڮوبراڮ كا عالم دنيا تَيه سيڤاتنا مَيرديكا جۤڠ بَوڮا مرتبة كاتوت حق۲ أنو سارووا. مارانَيهنا ديبَيرَي أكال جۤڠ هاتَي نورانی، چامڤور-ڮأول جۤڠ ساسامانا أيا دينا سوماڠَيت دودولوران.»‎

Sound sample

English

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.