I still remember the day clearly. We had gone early that morning to the village of Kintamani where we had a commanding view of Mount Batur and Batur lake beside it. On our way back, we were delighted to find fresh passion fruit sold by the roadside, and fresh spices such as saffron, coriander, cardamon, etc. in a farm in Temon village, a new local attraction.We had wanted to see the rice terraces but it had started to rain. As soon as our van halted, the Balinese hawkers approached our windows.
"Payong, payong," cried the hawkers, brandishing out their umbrellas.
"Yes," said Ngurah, our Balinese driver. Again, we had found another word that was common to our national language Pilipino, the official language of the Philippines based on the Tagalog dialect.
We were actually enjoying the language "discovery" ever since that first day when we had visited the foreign exchange, P.T. Central Kuta. There was a sign at the entrance door that read Buka.
"Look at that sign Buka," said my sister Joan. She looked at Ngurah. "It means open?"
"Why yes! How come you know?" Ngurah looked puzzled.
"It's almost the same. In our language, it's Bukas, with an s. It means open."
After that, I started making a list. It seemed incredible that our two Malay languages, while not tonal languages, shared many words in common. Consider the following:
Bahasa Indonesia................................Pilipino (based on Tagalog)
tolong (help)..........................................tulong (help)
sakit (pain).............................................sakit (pain, sickness)
sabun (soap)...........................................sabon (soap)
bendera (flag).........................................bandera (flag- Illongo dialect)
aku (me)..................................................ako (me)
kamu (you)..............................................kamu (you - Illongo dialect)
ini (this, that)...........................................ini (this - Illongo dialect)
itu (that/those)........................................ito (this)
kami or kita (we).....................................kami or kita (we)
ulu (head).................................................ulo (head)
manuk (chicken).....................................manok (chicken)
beli (buy)..................................................bili (buy)
bulan (month)..........................................bulan (month)
batu (stone)..............................................bato (stone)
bukit (hill).................................................bukid (hill)
dua (two)...................................................duha (two - Illonggo dialect)
lima (five)..................................................lima (five)
empat (four)..............................................apat (four)
enam (six)..................................................anom (six - Illonggo dialect)
kanan (right)..............................................kanan (right)
jalan (street)...............................................dalan (street - Illonggo dialect)
selamat (greeting)......................................salamat (thank you)
hati ( heart).................................................hati (half)
meja (table).................................................mesa (table)
lumpia (spring roll).....................................lumpia (spring roll)
And the list could go on. Everytime we drove back to the hotel, my dad would read aloud his favorite Bahasa Indonesia word, "Parkir" which means parking. It does sound like two English words "Park here" combined, doesn't it? Parkir always made his day!
Another favorite word in Bahasa Indonesia is bankrut, which means "bankrupt". Dad found this word handy whenever we went bargain-hunting at the flea market.
"How much?" Dad wanted to buy Bali souvenir tee-shirts.
"65,000," said the lady vendor.
"45,000?" I asked.
"55,000." Her voice sounded final.
"Bankrut! bankrut!" cried Dad.
"Nah, no bankrut," said the Balinese vendor, pointing to herself. "Bankrut!"
So, the joke continued. Who bankrupted who?
"How was your shopping?" Ngurah asked after every shopping spree.
"Bankrut!" cried Dad. "Time to go home."
Have you heard of the geko, considered by the Balinese as sacred? In Bahasa Indonesia, the geko is called toke while in Pilipino it's toko. Whether its toke or toko, it was in Bali that I saw a real geko for the first time. It's actually a large lizard with colorful spots, but seeing a geko for the first time was amazing because I used to be frightened of it when I was a little girl. It was in Antonio Blanco's garden that I saw them roaming among the rocks.
Despite differences in the religion of both countries, we realized that Bahasa Indonesia and Pilipino were so closely linked, perhaps because of the geographic proximity of the two countries. Ironically, Filipinos have the Spaniards to thank for this language preservation. They never imposed the Spanish language on the Filipinos despite three hundred years of rule. It was their way of keeping the Filipinos ignorant and divided as a people. The Dutch, on the other hand, didn't allow missionaries to come to Bali when they colonized it, thus preserving the exotic culture and Hindu religion of the island. Despite differences in the colonization of the two countries, many Spanish words were adapted in Pilipino, and many Portuguese words were adapted in Bahasa Indonesia, which increased the similarity of both languages.
At the airport in Bali, while we were getting ready for departure, the Indonesian porter asked the nth question, 'Where are you from?'
"Philippines," I replied.
"Ah, same. Like Indonesian." He gestured the palm of his hand over his face.
It was then that I had my lesson on perception. In Bali, I looked Indonesian. In China or HK, I looked Chinese. In Bangkok, I looked Thai. If I go to Japan, I will look Japanese. Asians had a strange way of sizing up other Asians.
A frenchwoman once remarked to me, "You don't look Filipino."
"Do I look Chinese?" I was almost sure she would say yes. It was often the case in the Philippines among Filipinos.
"No, the eyes are not the same. No." She replied unexpectedly.
Perception, unlike language, is relative, isn't it?
Another favorite word in Bahasa Indonesia is bankrut, which means "bankrupt". Dad found this word handy whenever we went bargain-hunting at the flea market.
"How much?" Dad wanted to buy Bali souvenir tee-shirts.
"65,000," said the lady vendor.
"45,000?" I asked.
"55,000." Her voice sounded final.
"Bankrut! bankrut!" cried Dad.
"Nah, no bankrut," said the Balinese vendor, pointing to herself. "Bankrut!"
So, the joke continued. Who bankrupted who?
"How was your shopping?" Ngurah asked after every shopping spree.
"Bankrut!" cried Dad. "Time to go home."
Have you heard of the geko, considered by the Balinese as sacred? In Bahasa Indonesia, the geko is called toke while in Pilipino it's toko. Whether its toke or toko, it was in Bali that I saw a real geko for the first time. It's actually a large lizard with colorful spots, but seeing a geko for the first time was amazing because I used to be frightened of it when I was a little girl. It was in Antonio Blanco's garden that I saw them roaming among the rocks.
Despite differences in the religion of both countries, we realized that Bahasa Indonesia and Pilipino were so closely linked, perhaps because of the geographic proximity of the two countries. Ironically, Filipinos have the Spaniards to thank for this language preservation. They never imposed the Spanish language on the Filipinos despite three hundred years of rule. It was their way of keeping the Filipinos ignorant and divided as a people. The Dutch, on the other hand, didn't allow missionaries to come to Bali when they colonized it, thus preserving the exotic culture and Hindu religion of the island. Despite differences in the colonization of the two countries, many Spanish words were adapted in Pilipino, and many Portuguese words were adapted in Bahasa Indonesia, which increased the similarity of both languages.
At the airport in Bali, while we were getting ready for departure, the Indonesian porter asked the nth question, 'Where are you from?'
"Philippines," I replied.
"Ah, same. Like Indonesian." He gestured the palm of his hand over his face.
It was then that I had my lesson on perception. In Bali, I looked Indonesian. In China or HK, I looked Chinese. In Bangkok, I looked Thai. If I go to Japan, I will look Japanese. Asians had a strange way of sizing up other Asians.
A frenchwoman once remarked to me, "You don't look Filipino."
"Do I look Chinese?" I was almost sure she would say yes. It was often the case in the Philippines among Filipinos.
"No, the eyes are not the same. No." She replied unexpectedly.
Perception, unlike language, is relative, isn't it?
5 comments:
Thanks. Nicely done,well written and very informative, culturally and history. I could relate to your visit to Barcelona as I and your Tita (aunt) have been there before..las ramblas..paella..the church.
Elaine,
These are beautiful articles. You must enjoy the travelling!
Hi Elaine,
I always look forward to reading your articles. It's like I'm there already!You discovered what I pretty much discovered about the language. Bahasa which is spoken also in Malaysia is similar to Pilipino which would not be surprising considering our language came from the original Malay language.
Mahal is dear which is a term of endearment in Malaysia. Did you notice the restroom signs? Is it also LELAKI for Men in Bali? I forgot! What amuses me is the ice cream...they spell it "ais krem" like that parkin pun ... ha ha ha.
Hi,
That was a great article. I didn't know that we have many words in common with the Indonesian language.
Hi Elaine,
Your blog on Indonesia was very informative and entertaining. Thanks for sharing.
Post a Comment