Sundanese language

Not to be confused with Sudanese.
Sundanese
Basa Sunda, ᮘᮞ ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ
Spoken in
Region West Java, Banten, Jakarta, parts of western Central Java
Total speakers 33 million
Language family Austronesian
Official status
Official language in Jawa Barat
Regulated by No official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1 su
ISO 639-2 sun
ISO 639-3 sun
Linguasphere
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Sundanese (Basa Sunda, in Sundanese script ᮘᮞ ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ, literally "language of Sunda") is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population.

It appears to be most closely related to Madurese and Malay, and more distantly related to Javanese. It has several types, conventionally described according to the locations of the people:

Priangan, which cover the most area of Sundaland (Tatar Pasundan in Sundanese), is the main and most-spoken type of Sundanese language taught in elementary till junior-high schools (equivalent to ninth-year school grade) in West Java and Banten Province.

Contents

Writing

Sundanese can be written in two different writing systems: the Sundanese script (Aksara Sunda), and in modern times the Latin alphabet.

Phonology

Sundanese orthography is highly phonetic (see also Sundanese script). There are five pure vowel sounds: a /ɑ/, é /ɛ/, i /i/, o /ɔ/, u /ʊ/, and two neutral vowels; e /ə/, and eu /ɤ/. The consonantal phonemes (18—but see below) are transcribed with the letters p, b, t, d, k, g, c (pronounced /tʃ/), j, h, ng (/ŋ/, occurs initially), ny /ɳ/, m, n, s /s/, w, l, r (trilled or flapped), and y /j/. Other consonants that originally appear in Indonesian loanwords mostly transferred into native consonants: f → p, v → p, sy → s, sh → s, z -> j, and kh /x/ → h.

Definition of Sundanese Phonology, according to Yayat Sudaryat (1985:26): "Fonologi nyaeta bagean tina elmu basa anu maluruh jeung medar sora-sora basa, prosesna, selang surupna, jeung parobahanana".

There are 16 consonants in Sundanese phonology, according to Yayat Sudaryat (1991,35): "fonem konsonan (contoid) nya eta sora omongan (fonem) anu kawangun ku hawa anu kaluar tina bayah sarta waktu liwat tikoro aya nu ngahalangan. konsonan nu aya dina basa sunda, nyaeta: /b/, /ts/, /d/, /g/, /h/, /dʒ/, /k/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /p/, /r/, /s/, /n/, /t/, /n'/, kuayana pangaruh basa kosta sok kapanggih konsonan /f/, /v/, /z/ mangrupa fomem nu asalna pangaruh basa kosta, saperti dina kecap: fonem, qur'an, xerox, zakat".

Based on the statement above, it is clear that the Sundanese language has only 16 consonants, there are three consonants /f, v, z/ which exist in Sundanese as a result of borrowing words, but naturally they are not Sundanese consonants.

Furthermore, Sudaryat does not mention the phonemes /w, j/ as semi vowels, although as vowels, /w, j/ function as a glide sound between two different vowels, as in the words:

Phonemes /w/ and /j/ function as glide sounds between two different vowels as in the words:

Basic grammar

Root word

Root verb

English Sundanese
(normal)		 Sundanese
(polite)
eat .. dahar .. tuang ..(for other)
neda ..(for myself)
drink .. inum .. leueut ..
write .. tulis .. serat ..
read .. maca .. maos ..
forget .. poho .. hilap ..
remember .. inget .. emut ..
sit .. diuk .. calik ..
stand .. tangtung .. adeg ..
walk .. leumpang .. papah ..

Active form

Most of active form in sundanese verb are in their root verb like 'diuk' or 'dahar'. Some other depend on first phonem in root verb:

  1. first phoneme in 'd' is eliminated and changed to prefix 'nga' like in 'ngadahar'
  2. first phoneme in 'i' is eliminated and changed to prefix 'ng' like in 'nginum'
  3. first phoneme in 'b' is eliminated and changed to prefix 'm' like in 'maca'

Negation

(to be written).

Question

(to be written).

Dupi -(question)

example:

Polite-

Passive form

(to be written.)

Adjectives

(to be written). example:

teuas (hard), tiis (cool), hipu (soft), lada (hot, usually for foods), haneut (warm), etc.

Prepositions

Place

English Sundanese
(normal)		 Sundanese
(polite)
above .. diluhureun .. diluhureun ..
behind .. ditukangeun .. dipengkereun ..
under .. dihandapeun .. dihandapeun ..
inside .. di jero .. di lebet ..
outside .. di luar .. di luar ..
between ..
and ..		 di antara ..
jeung ..		 di antawis ..
sareng ..
front .. hareup .. payun ..
back .. tukang .. pengker ..

Time

English Sundanese
(normal)		 Sundanese
(polite)
before saacan sateuacan
after sanggeus saparantos
during basa nalika
past baheula kapungkur

Miscellaneous

English Sundanese
(normal)		 Sundanese
(polite)
from tina tina
for jang kanggo
Languages Spoken in Java

See also

External links