The locals love it when you try and speak Indonesian and for sure you’ll get better prices in the shops as well as having a lot of fun!

Bahasa Indonesia is not as difficult as many other languages. There are no tenses. Verbs aren’t conjugated. Plurals are often just repeating the same word twice. Same alphabet as in English and it’s pretty much spoken as it’s written. There are no tones. You can get by nicely on less than 500 words.

Balinese is a bit more difficult!

We are lucky to have a very experienced and patient teacher, Nyoman, who will happily give guests staying at Murni’s Houses classes right here at Murni’s Houses.

She’s been teaching expats and visitors since 1992 and can teach any level. She will concentrate on anything you wish.

90 minute class.

No minimum number of students.

Book as much in advance as possible. She is quite a busy lady.

Email: murni (at) murnis.com or tell Reception.

The post Learn Indonesian or Balinese at Murni’s Houses appeared first on Murni's in Bali.

Adat: customary law
Angklung: ancient bamboo percussion instrument, used in orchestra, having only 4 notes
Arak: strong spirit distilled from the sugar palm
Awig-awig: basic constitution of a group, usually written on lontar palm leaf manuscripts

Bade: cremation tower
Bale: open air pavilion
Balian: Balinese herb doctor
Banjar: hamlet
Banten: religious offering
Bebek betutu: smoked duck
Besakih: the chief mother temple on Mount Agung
Betel: nut of areca palm, pink inside, chewed with leaf of sireh vine, damar gum and lime paste
Brahman: the highest of the four castes
Brem: sweet white or pink rice wine

Cokorda: the title of the king or prince

Dadia: preferentially endogamous patrilineal kin group
Dalem: literally, “within” often used to refer to a paramount lord or “king,” his residence, court, or family
Desa: village
Desa Adat: a local community defining a sacred space and governed by one set of customary laws
Dewa: God
Dewi: Goddess
Dugul: small altar, usually of stone, for offerings to the gods

Gamelan: Indonesian generic term for orchestra
Gangsa: metallophone, ie metal keys strung like a xylophone over framed bamboo resonators
Gede: big, large, great, eg, Puri Gede, Jero Gede
Gelgel: 14th century Balinese kingdom, the primary exemplary state of Bali, founded by Javanese lords and priests, and the kingdom from which other major Balinese kingdoms broke off
Gong: literally means orchestra eg Gong Peliatan means the orchestra from Peliatan village; but also gong in the English sense
Gong Gede: full Kebiar orchestra, like a symphony orchestra
Griya: Brahman priest’s residence
Guru: teacher

Halus: refined, civilized, polite, graceful

Jaba: literally “outside”, used to indicate relatively lower status and greater distance from the centre, so a general term for the fourth caste, the Sudras
Jero: literally “inside” used often as a title to indicate a higher status and closeness to the centre and a general term for the three highest castes, for the world of the court and residences and households of lords
Jero Gede residence and household of a major lord; the major lord himself

Kahyangan: great temple
Kahyangan Tiga: the three main village temples: Pura Puseh, Pura Dalem and Pura Desa
Kain: batik cloth, worn by men and women, waist down
Kasar: unrefined, crude, impolite, ungraceful, rough
Kendang: Indonesian word for drum
Kepeng: bronze or lead Chinese coin with a hole in the middle used as a currency formerly and for offerings
Kulkul: wooden drum to summon villagers

Lalang: tall fibrous grass used for thatch
Lawar: Balinese dish of grated, spiced raw meats
Leyak: witch or spirit, generally a blood-sucking, flame-dripping female monster
Lingga: phallic image, symbol of Siwa
Lontar: palm leaf manuscript

Majapahit: 14th century Javanese kingdom considered by the Balinese to be the origin of their civilization and culture
Mecaru: religious cleansing ceremony
Meru: Holy Hindu mountain, the abode of the gods, also a temple pagoda-style roof
Metatah: tooth filing
Moksa: ascending to heaven after death without leaving the corpse
Mudra: sacred hand gesture used in rituals

Negara: state, realm, capital, court

Odalan: anniversary temple ceremony

Padi: rice growing in a field
Paras: sandstone, sold in slabs, used in building temples and for stone carving
Pedanda: Brahman high priest
Padmasana: lotus seat, the throne of the Supreme God
Pemakesan: a temple congregation, responsible for the temple’s upkeep, and worshipping the gods when they descend
Pemangku: a Sudra priest
Penjor: a bamboo pole, highly decorated
Perada: gold paint, liquid or leaf
Punggawa: a lord
Puputan: literally an “ending”, the ritual suicide to mark the end of a dynasty
Pura: temple
Pura Bale Agung: great council templ, village temple dedicated to fertility of the land and people of a customary law community
Pura Dalem: village temple of the dead
Pura Penataran: courtyard temple dedicated to enhancing the unity and prosperity of the area
Pura Puseh: “Navel Temple”; village temple dedicated to founding ancestors
Pura Ulun Carik: “Head of the Ricefields Temple”; irrigation society temple
Puri: lord’s residence, palace, household
Puri Gede: the palace and household of a paramount lord

Rebab: 2-stringed violin

Sad Kahyangan: the six Great Temples; all Bali temples dedicated to the prosperity of the island and its people as a whole
Salak: astringent fruit with a snake-like skin
Sarong: non-batik cloth used for the same purposes as a kain, but the ends are sewn and the wearer steps into it
Satria: the second highest of the four castes
Sakti: spiritual energy, charisma; the dynamic aspect of a deity
Sawah: rice field
Sebel: unclean ritually
Siwa: one of the three most important of the Hindu gods in Bali identified with the Sun
Subak: irrigation society
Sudra: the lowest of the four Balinese castes
Suling: bamboo flute
Surya: the Sun identified with Siwa

Tirta: holy water prepared by Brahman priests
Triwanga: literally the three peoples, the three upper castes, considered as a group against the fourth
Tuak: palm toddy

Wargi: relationship between two kin groups of unequal status established by the giving of a wife from the lower status group to the higher
Wesia: the third ranking of the four castes
Wong: human being

In 1972, there was a change in the spelling of Indonesian words. The most important differences were c for tj (Campuan rather than Tjampuan), j for dj (banjar rather than bandjar) and y for j (Yogyakarta rather than Jogjakarta).

The post Glossary of Balinese Expressions appeared first on Murni's in Bali.