Balinese phrasebook

Balinese or simply Bali (known natively as Basa Bali) is a language spoken predominantly by the Balinese people, native to the Indonesian island of Bali and its adjacent islands.

It is a very tough language for non-Balinese to master, and while related to Javanese, is not mutually intelligible with it. You are unlikely to need to learn Balinese, as virtually every Balinese speaker is also able to speak Indonesian, and many can even manage some English. That being said, attempting to communicate in Balinese would almost certainly please the locals.

The language has three main registers depending on the status of those speaking:

low (basa ketah)
middle (basa madia)
high (basa singgih)

This phrasebook will cover the low register only as that is the language spoken by the vast majority of Balinese, and the only one likely to be encountered by visitors.

Pronunciation guide

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
! High
! Mid
! Low

The official spelling denotes both and by a. However, a is usually pronounced when it ends a word, and occurs also in prefixes ma-, pa- and da-.

Consonants

	Labial		Dental		Palatal		Velar	Glottal
!Plosive	p	b	t	d	c	ɟ	k	ɡ
!Nasal	m		n		ɲ		colspan=2	ŋ
!Fricative			s				colspan=2
!Trill			r				colspan=2
!Lateral			l				colspan=2
!Approximant	w				j		colspan=2

Common diphthongs

Phrase list

Basics

; Hello. : . (__)

; Hello. (informal) : . (__)

; How are you? : (Engken kabare?) (Sapunapi gatra?) (ken ken kabare?)

; Fine, thank you. : . (Iyang becik-becik kewanten.)

; What is your name? : (Sira pesengen ragane?)

; My name is ______ : (Tiang____ ._)

; Nice to meet you. : . (__)

; Please. : . (__)

; Thank you. : . (Matur suksma.)

; You're welcome. : . (suksma mewali)

; Yes. : . (Inggih. Patut.)

; No. : . (Tan. Nente)

; Excuse me. (getting attention) : . (__)

; Excuse me. (begging pardon) : . (__)

; I'm sorry. : . (__)

; Goodbye : . (__)

; Goodbye (informal) : . (__)

; I can't speak Balinese [well]. : [ ]. (Titiang nenten [ ])

; Do you speak English? : (Bapa bisa basa Angrit??)

; Is there someone here who speaks English? : ? (?)

; Help! : ! (Tulung !)

; Look out! : ! (!)

; Good morning. : . (Rahajeng semeng.)

; Good afternoon. : . (Rahajeng sanja.)

; Good evening. : . (Rahajeng peteng.)

; Good night. : . (Rahajeng Wengi.)

; Good night (to sleep) : . (__)

; I don't understand. : . (Titiang nenten nawang)

; Where is the toilet? : ? (Ring dija toiletne?)

; Where is... ...: (Ring dija?)

; What is that?: (Napi punika?)

; Are you already married?: (Bapa suba makurenan?)

; I just came from Ubud: (Tiang mara teka uli Ubud.)

Problems

Numbers

;½ = - ;0 = - ;1 = satunggal ;2 = kalih ;3 = telu ;4 = papat ;5 = lima ;6 = nenem ;7 = pitu ;8 = kutus ;9 = sia ;10 = dasa ;11 = solas ;12 = rolas ;13 = telulas ;14 = pat belas ;15 = limo las ;20 = duang dasa ;21 = duu phulahu set ;30 = tigi phulah ;40 = empaat phulah ;50 = lina phulah ;100 = raatus ;200 = duu rahatus ;1000 = riba ;2000 = duu rhiba ;10000 = pulah rhiba

Time

Clock time

Duration

Days

Sunday: Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday: Saturday:

Months

Writing time and date

Colors

Transportation

; I want to go to airport. (Tiang lakar ka airport.)

Bus and train

Directions

Taxi

Lodging

Money

Eating

; Restaurant (__) ; Have you eaten (polite) :Sampun ngajeng? ; Which dishes are they? :Ajengan napi sane wenten? ; Do you have native Balinese dishes? :Ada ajengan Bali ane tulen? ; Do you have pineapple? :Wenten manas? ; Delicious :Jaen