Bahasa

Bahasa, Bhasa, Basa, or Phasa is the word for "language" in many Asian languages, which derives from the Sanskrit word भाषा bhāṣā "spoken language". In many modern languages in South Asia and Southeast Asia which have been influenced by Sanskrit or Pali, bahasa and cognate words are now used to mean "language" in general.

It may refer to:

• The Indonesian language, or Bahasa Indonesia
• The Malay language, or Bahasa Melayu
• The Javanese language, or Basa Jawa, also Basa Jawi
• The Sundanese language, or Basa Sunda
• The Balinese language, or Basa Bali
• The Tausug language, or Bahasa Sūg
• The Minangkabau language, or Baso Minangkabau
• The Betawi language, or Bahasa Betawi
• The Acehnese language, or Bahsa Acèh
• The Cia-Cia language, or Bahasa Ciacia
• The Khmer language, or Phiesa Khmae (Khmer: ភាសាខ្មែរ)
• The Lao language, or Phasa Lao (Lao: ພາສາລາວ)
• The Thai language, or Phasa Thai (Thai: ภาษาไทย)
• The Burmese language, or Myanma bhasa (Burmese: မြန်မာဘာသာ)
• The Sinhala language, or Siŋhala bhāṣāva (Sinhalese: සිංහල භාෂාව)
• The Newar language, or Nepal Bhasa
• Malaysian Sign Language (Malay: Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia)
• Manually Coded Malay
• Bahasa Rojak, a form of code-switching in Malaysia
• Indonesian slang, sometimes referred to as Bahasa gaul or Bahasa prokem

Usage

The word "Bahasa" in English to refer to Indonesian or Malay, usually by Western expatriates and their English-speaking Indonesian associates, is of colonial origin and is considered "incorrect". When Indonesian or Malay speakers refer to other languages, the word "Bahasa" is used; for example, Arabic is called bahasa Arab (not Bahasa Arab) literally "Arabic language".

See also

• Basa (disambiguation)#Languages