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Acehnese
Achinese
Bahsa/Basa Acèh بهسا اچيه
'Basa Acèh' written in the Jawi script
Pronunciation
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Aceh, Sumatra
Ethnicity	3.37 million Acehnese (2010 census)
Native speakers	2.8 million (2010 census)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Chamic Acehnese
Writing system	Latin script Jawi script
Official status
Official language in	Indonesia Aceh (co-official with Indonesian)
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ace
ISO 639-3	ace
Glottolog	achi1257
Areas where Acehnese is a majority   Areas where Acehnese is a significant minority
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Acehnese (Jawi: بهسا اچيه) is an Austronesian language natively spoken by the Acehnese people in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. This language is also spoken by Acehnese descendants in some parts of Malaysia like Yan, in Kedah. Acehnese is used as the co-official language in the province of Aceh, alongside Indonesian.

Name

As of 1988, Acehnese is the modern English name spelling and the bibliographical standard, and Acehnese people use the spelling Acehnese when writing in English. Achinese is an antiquated spelling of the English language tradition. Atjehnese is the Dutch spelling and an outdated Indonesian one. The spelling Achehnese originates from a 1906 English translation of the Dutch-language Studien over atjesche klank- en schriftleer. Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 35.346-442 by Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, 1892. In Acehnese the language is called Basa/Bahsa Acèh. In Indonesian it is called Bahasa Aceh.

Classification and related languages

Acehnese belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian. Acehnese's closest relatives are the other Chamic languages, which are principally spoken in Vietnam and Cambodia. The distant relative of the Chamic family is the Malayic language family, which includes languages also spoken in Sumatra such as Minangkabau as well as the national language, Indonesian.

Paul Sidwell notes that Acehnese likely has an Austroasiatic substratum.

Linguist Paul Sidwell wrote that "Sometime during this early phase of language shift, perhaps before the beginning of Common Era, the Chamic speakers who were to become the Acehnese left the mainland on a journey that would ultimately end in northern Sumatra." Basing on Graham Thurgood's thesis, Sidwell argues that Acehnese likely had been long separated from Chamic around the first to second century BCE.

Distribution

Acehnese language is spoken primarily in coastal region of Aceh. This language is spoken in thirteen regencies and four cities in Aceh, which are:

City

1. Sabang
2. Banda Aceh
3. Lhokseumawe
4. Langsa

North-East Coast

1. Aceh Besar
2. Pidie
3. Pidie Jaya
4. Bireuen
5. North Aceh
6. East Aceh (except in three districts, Serba Jadi, Peunaron and Simpang Jernih, where the Gayo language is spoken)
7. Aceh Tamiang (mostly Manyak Payet and Kuala Simpang District; the rest of the Regency speaks Tamiang Malay)

West-South Coast

1. Aceh Jaya
2. West Aceh
3. Nagan Raya
4. Southwest Aceh (except in Susoh District where the Jamee language is spoken)
5. South Aceh (mixed with Kluet language and Aneuk Jamee)

Phonology

Oral monophthong vowels in Acehnese are shown in the table below.

In addition to the modern 26 letter basic Latin alphabet, Acehnese uses the supplementary letters è, é, ë, ô, and ö, making a total of 31 letters in its orthography.

The table below shows the Acehnese consonant phonemes and the range of their realizations.

Notes:

• The stop /t/ is slightly retroflex.
• Syllable-final orthographic ⟨k⟩ always represents /ʔ/ save in certain recent loans
• /z/, /f/, and /ʃ/ are borrowed sounds, and are often replaced by d and the clusters ph and ch, respectively
• The nasals /m/, /n/, /ɲ/, /ŋ/ are realized as post-oralized nasals (also called "funny nasals") before oral vowels and consonants. They are distinct from the nasal–plosive sequences /mb/, /nd/, /ɲɟ/, /ŋɡ/, e.g. in 'port' vs 'all'.

Grammar

Acehnese features a split ergative system. Intransitives that align with the agent of a transitive verb (Sa) always show agreement by a proclitic (1). Meanwhile, intransitives that align with the patient of a transitive verb (Sp) may optionally show agreement by an enclitic (2). Volitionality is the determining factor for whether an intransitive verb is Sa or Sp.

Jih

he

ka=ji=jak.

INCHO=3=go

Jih ka=ji=jak.

he INCHO=3=go

"He has gone."

Gopnyan

he

ka=sakét=geuh.

INCHO=sick=3

Gopnyan ka=sakét=geuh.

he INCHO=sick=3

"He is sick."

Writing system

Formerly, the Acehnese language was written in an Arabic script called Jawoë or Jawi in the Malay language. The script is less common nowadays. Since colonization by the Dutch, the Acehnese language has been written in the Latin script, with the addition of supplementary letters. The diacritical letters are é, è, ë, ö and ô. The sound /ɨ/ is represented by ⟨eu⟩ and the sound /ʌ/ is represented by ⟨ö⟩, respectively. The letter 'ë' is used exclusively to represent the schwa sound which forms the second part of diphthongs. The letters f, q, v, x, and z are only used in loanwords.

Literature

Acehnese language is rich with literature. The oldest manuscript written in Acehnese is Hikayat Seumau'un from 1658 CE. Most Acehnese literatures consist of poetic works, very little written in prose form.

Dialects

At least ten Achehnese dialects exist: Pasè, Peusangan, Matang, Pidië, Buëng, Banda, Daya, Meulabôh, Seunagan, and Tunong. At least three major dialects exist: Baet Lambuot, Mesjid Punteut and Panthe Ketapang. Baet Lambuot dialect spoken in Aceh Besar regency. Mesjid Punteut dialect spoken in Simpang Ulim district, East Aceh regency. Panthe Ketapang dialect spoken in Jaya district, Aceh Jaya regency.

Geographical dialects: Aceh Besar, Pidie, Peusangan, Pasai, East Aceh (Aceh Timur) and West Aceh (Aceh Barat), North Aceh (Aceh Utara), Bireun, Aceh Jaya

West coast dialects (dialek pesisir barat): Tunong, Seunagan, Meulabôh, Daya.

Vocabulary

Pronouns

Numerals

Interrogative words

Sample text

The following texts are excerpts from the official translations of article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Acehnese, along with the original declaration in English.

• Acehnese text sample:

Original text

"Bandum ureuëng lahé deungon meurdéhka, dan deungon martabat dan hak njang saban. Ngon akai geuseumiké, ngon haté geumeurasa, bandum geutanjoë lagèë sjèëdara. Hak dan keumuliaan."

Using standard spelling

"Bandum ureuëng lahé deungön meurdéka, deungön martabat ngön hak nyang saban. Ngön akai geuseumiké, ngön até geumeurasa, bandum geutanyoë lagèë cèëdara. Hak ngön keumuliaan."

• The original English version of the text:

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Gallery

• Hikayat Akhbarul Karim
• Hikayat Banta Beuransah
• Hikayat Prang Sabi

References

1. ^ Acehnese at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)
2. Qanun Aceh Tentang Bahasa Aceh (Qanun 10). People's Representative Council of Aceh. 2022.
3. Durie (1988a:104)
4. Sidwell, Paul (2006). "Dating the separation of Acehnese and Chamic by etymological analysis of the Aceh-Chamic lexicon" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies. 36: 187–206. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2012-10-22.(, Alternate Archived 2014-11-08 at the Wayback Machine, )
5. Sidwell, Paul (2005). "Acehnese and the Aceh-Chamic Language Family" (PDF). Pacific Linguistics. 7: 211–246. doi:10.15144/PL-569.211. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
6. Pillai & Yusuf (2012:1031), citing Asyik (1987:17)
7. Asyik (1982:3)
8. Asyik, Abdul Gani (1987). A Contextual Grammar of Acehnese Sentences (Complementation) (Thesis thesis).
9. Durie (1985:24)
10. Asyik (1982:2), citing Lawler (1977)
11. Long & Maddieson (1993) "Consonantal evidence against Quantal Theory", UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics 83, p. 144.
12. Durie, Mark (1988). "Preferred argument structure in an active language", Lingua 74: 1–25. Cited in Donohue, Mark (2008). "Semantic alignment systems: what's what, and what's not". In Donohue, Mark & Søren Wichmann, eds. (2008). The Typology of Semantic Alignment. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 36
13. "Ejaan Bahasa Aceh". November 12, 2008.
14. ^ "Acehnese language and alphabet". omniglot.com.
15. Durie, Mark (1996). "Framing the Acehnese Text: Language Choice and Discourse Structures in Aceh". Oceanic Linguistics. 35 (1): 113–137. doi:10.2307/3623033. ISSN 0029-8115. JSTOR 3623033.
16. Sulaiman, B. (1981). Kedudukan dan Fungsi Bahasa Aceh di Aceh. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa.
17. Tim Balai Bahasa Banda Aceh (2012). Inilah Bahasa-Bahasa Di Aceh (PDF). Banda Aceh: Balai Bahasa Banda Aceh. pp. 22–23.
18. ^ "Aceh - Peta Bahasa", kemdikbud.go.id
19. ^ Sulaiman, Budi (1979). Bahasa Aceh (PDF). Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa. p. 4.
20. ^ Rahma, Siti (2020). Penuturan Bahasa Aceh di Kalangan Masyarakat Sibreh Kecamatan Sukamakmur (PDF) (S.Hum thesis). Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry. pp. 25–28.
21. Berri, Muhammad Nabil (2008). Ejaan Bahasa Aceh (PDF). p. 2.
22. "Kata Ganti Orang dalam Bahasa Aceh". Portal Belajar Bahasa Aceh (in Indonesian). 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
23. "Angka/Bilangan". Portal Belajar Bahasa Aceh (in Indonesian). 2008-11-28. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
24. "Kata Tanya". Portal Belajar Bahasa Aceh (in Indonesian). 2008-11-25. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
25. "Peunyata Umum Hak-hak Azasi Manusia Ban Sigom Dônja" [Universal Declaration of Human Rights]. OHCHR (in Acehnese).
26. "Universal Declaration of Human Rights: English". OHCHR.

Bibliography

• Al-Harbi, Awwad Ahmad Al-Ahmadi (2003), "Acehnese coda condition: An optimality-theoretic account" (PDF), Umm Al-Qura University Journal of Educational and Social Sciences and Humanities, 15 (1): 9–21
• Pillai, Stefanie; Yusuf, Yunisrina Qismullah (2012), "An instrumental analysis of acehnese oral vowels" (PDF), Language and Linguistics, 13 (6): 1029–1050, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-11, retrieved 2014-10-31
• Asyik, Abdul Gani (1982), "The agreement system in Acehnese" (PDF), Mon-Khmer Studies, 11: 1–33, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-20
• Durie, Mark (1985). A grammar of Acehnese: on the basis of a dialect of North Aceh. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 112. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. ISBN 90-6765-074-9.
• Durie, Mark (1988a). "The So-Called Passive of Acehnese". Language. 64 (1): 104–113. doi:10.2307/414788. JSTOR 414788.
• Lawler, John M. (1977). "A Agrees with B in Achenese: A Problem for Relational Grammar". In Cole, P.; Sacock, J. (eds.). Grammatical Relations. Syntax and Semantics 8. New York: Academic Press. pp. 219–248. doi:10.1163/9789004368866_010.

Further reading

• Daud, Bukhari (1997). Writing and reciting Acehnese: perspectives on language and literature in Aceh (PhD thesis). The University of Melbourne. hdl:11343/37197.
• Daud, Bukhari; Durie, Mark (1999). Kamus basa Acèh/Kamus bahasa Aceh/Acehnese-Indonesian-English thesaurus. Pacific Linguistics Series C, Volume 151. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. doi:10.15144/PL-C151. hdl:1885/146590. ISBN 0-85883-506-1.
• Durie, Mark (1984). A grammar of Acehnese (PhD thesis). Australian National University. doi:10.25911/5d6fa25bcc31c. hdl:1885/138059.
• Durie, Mark (1985a). "Control and decontrol in acehnese". Australian Journal of Linguistics. 5 (1): 43–53. doi:10.1080/07268608508599335.
• Durie, Mark (1987). "Grammatical Relations in Acehnese". Studies in Language. 11 (2): 365–399. doi:10.1075/sl.11.2.05dur.
• Durie, Mark (1988), Proto-Chamic and Acehnese mid vowels: towards Proto-Aceh-Chamic (PDF), archived (PDF) from the original on 2010-12-24
• Lawler, John M. (1988). "On the Questions of Acehnese 'Passive'" (PDF). Language. 64 (1): 114–117. doi:10.2307/414789. JSTOR 414789. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-07-03. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
• Legate, Julie Anne (2012). "Subjects in Acehnese and the Nature of the Passive" (PDF). Language. 88 (3): 495–525. doi:10.1353/lan.2012.0069. JSTOR 23251862. S2CID 7254201.
• Thurgood, Graham (2007), The Historical Place of Acehnese: The Known and the Unknown (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-01-19
• "The Austroasiatic substratum of Acehnese | Linguistics". lx.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-24.

External links

• Learning Acehnese in Indonesian
• BasaAceh.org
• Learning Acehnese in English and Indonesian Archived 2019-12-29 at the Wayback Machine
• Acehnese literature resources
• Acehnese at Omniglot
• Dryer, Matthew S.; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Acehnese language". World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Acehnese
• PARADISEC archive of Ache language includes three collections; MD4, MD5, and MD6. These collections focus on different varieties of Achenese.
• Listen to a sample of Achinese from Global Recordings Network

• Acehnese language
• Languages of Indonesia
• Languages of Aceh
• Chamic languages