Betawi language

For other uses, see Betawi (disambiguation).
Betawi
basè Betawi, basa Betawi
Native toIndonesia
Australia
RegionJakarta
West Java
Banten
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Ethnicity
Native speakers
5 million (2000 census)[1]
Dialects
  • Bekasi
  • Cikarang
  • Depok
  • Parung
  • Serpong
  • Tangerang
Latin (Malay alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3bew
Glottologbeta1252
Distribution map of languages spoken in Java, Madura, and Bali. Betawi language spoken in and around modern Jakarta (blue) is traditionally registered as Malay.

Betawi, also known as Betawi Malay, Jakartan Malay, or Batavian Malay, is the spoken language of the Betawi people in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is the native language of perhaps 5 million people; a precise number is difficult to determine due to the vague use of the name.

Betawi Malay is a popular informal language in contemporary Indonesia, used as the base of Indonesian slang and commonly spoken in Jakarta TV soap operas and some animated cartoons (e.g. Adit Sopo Jarwo).[2] The name "Betawi" stems from Batavia, the official name of Jakarta during the era of the Dutch East Indies. Colloquial Jakarta Indonesian, a vernacular form of Indonesian that has spread from Jakarta into large areas of Java and replaced existing Malay dialects, has its roots in Betawi Malay. According to Uri Tadmor, there is no clear border distinguishing Colloquial Jakarta Indonesian from Betawi Malay.[3]

  1. ^ Betawi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Bowden, John. Towards an account of information structure in Colloquial Jakarta Indonesian. Proceedings of the International Workshop on Information Structure of Austronesian Languages, 10 April 2014. Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. p. 194.
  3. ^ Kozok, Uli (2016), Indonesian Native Speakers – Myth and Reality (PDF), p. 15