Nusa Penida Balinese Language

The Nusa Penida Balinese (referred to by its speakers as ''basa Nosa'') is a dialect of the Balinese language spoken by the local Balinese people inhabiting Nusa Penida, an island located to the south of Bali which is administratively part of Klungkung Regency. This dialect is considered the most distinct among Balinese dialects, possessing unique features not found in other varieties. Due to Nusa Penida's geographical isolation from mainland Bali, it is sometimes incomprehensible to mainland Balinese speakers. The Nusa Penida dialect is often classified as a subset of the Bali Aga dialect spoken by the Bali Aga people in the highland regions of Bali.

The uniqueness of the Nusa Penida dialect compared to the mainland Balinese dialect generally lies in phonological, morphological, and intonation aspects. The Nusa Penida dialect differs not only in terms of intonation but also in its vocabulary. The intonation of Nusa Penida speakers, which tends to be short in duration and high in pitch, also poses challenges for mainland Balinese speakers to understand what is being said. In addition, like the Bali Aga dialect, the Nusa Penida dialect lacks the speech register system that is found in lowland Balinese dialects.

Classification

Linguistically, the Nusa Penida Balinese is considered a dialect of Balinese, which is a Malayo-Polynesian language within the Bali-Sasak-Sumbawa branch of the Austronesian language family. This dialect is regarded as more closely related to the Bali Aga dialect spoken in the highland regions of mainland Bali than to lowland Balinese. Both the Bali Aga and Nusa Penida dialects are derived from Old Balinese and have preserved features that have been lost in modern Balinese. Numerous studies have classified the Nusa Penida dialect as a subset of the Bali Aga dialect.

Distribution

Currently, the Nusa Penida dialect is widely used only in Nusa Penida in Klungkung Regency. However, it is important to note that not all communities in Nusa Penida use the Nusa Penida dialect. There are several groups of people who communicate using different dialects. On the islands of Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, which are located next to Nusa Penida, as well as in a small part of Nusa Penida close to these islands, there is a distinct dialect that is quite different from the Nusa Penida dialect. One of the most striking differences is in words like ''eda'' (you) and ''kola'' (I) in the Nusa Penida dialect. Speakers of the Nusa Lembongan dialect use words like ''cai'' or ''ci'' (you) and ''cang'' (I). Another example is ''əndək'' (Nusa Penida dialect) and ''tusing'' (Nusa Lembongan dialect), ''geleng-cenik'', ''hangken-kenken'', and so on. Only 13 out of 16 villages in Nusa Penida use the Nusa Penida dialect. The remaining villages either speak the Nusa Lembongan dialect or a dialect resembling mainland Klungkung Balinese.

The Nusa Penida dialect is also used outside Nusa Penida, mainly due to the migration of its speakers following the eruption of Mount Agung in 1963 as well as the transmigration program enacted by the Indonesian government. Significant speakers relocated to southern Sumatra, particularly to Bandar Lampung, Palembang, Mesuji, and East Lampung.

Phonology

This dialect is often classified as a sub-dialect of another variant within the Balinese language, namely the Bali Aga language. However, there is a notable difference between the two dialects, namely the loss or reduction of the phoneme /a/ at the end of words. This classification arises because the Nusa Penida dialect shares linguistic features with the Aga dialect, described as follows:
* The distribution of the phoneme /h/ at the beginning and middle of words;
* The presence of the endings /-ñə/ and /-cə/, which are allophonic morphemes of the ending /-ə/;
* The speakers' intonation tends to have a faster tempo and stronger stress;
* Vocabulary in the Nusa Penida dialect resembles that of the Aga dialect and its other sub-dialects.

The characteristics described above also demonstrate that both the Bali Aga dialect and the Nusa Penida dialect retain features of Old Javanese that have been lost in modern Javanese and mainland Balinese.

Vocabulary

Below is a comparison of several vocabulary words in the Nusa Penida dialect and standard Balinese:

In standard Balinese, the initial letter is commonly used, whereas in the Nusa Penida dialect, is replaced and pronounced as Additionally, the letters and are more frequently used at the beginning of words, such as in ''homah'', ''honya'', ''hoba'', ''hobat'', and ''poles''.

See also

* Nusa Penida

References

{{Languages of Indonesia

Balinese language
Subject–verb–object languages
Balinese culture