Pronunciation bahsa at͡ʃeh Ethnicity Acehnese Glottolog achi1257 Language family Austronesian languages | Native to Indonesia ISO 639-3 ace Region Aceh | |
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Native speakers 3.5 million (2000 census) Writing systems Latin script, Arabic script | ||
Learning english for achehnese spoken 18 with yusrizahanim
Acehnese language (Achinese) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by Acehnese people natively in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. This language is also spoken in some parts of Malaysia by Acehnese descendents there, such as in Yan, Kedah.
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Learning english for achehnese spoken 2 with yusrizahanim
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 "Atjehnese" is the Dutch spelling and an outdated Indonesian one.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. The closest relative of the Chamic family is the Malay language family, which includes languages also spoken in Sumatra such as Gayo, the Batak languages and Minangkabau as well as the national language, Indonesian.
Paul Sidwell notes that Acehnese likely has an Austroasiatic substratum.
Distribution
Acehnese language is located primarily in coastal region of Aceh. This language is spoken in 13 regencies and 4 cities in Aceh, those are:
City
- Sabang
- Banda Aceh
- Lhokseumawe
- Langsa
North-East Coast
- Aceh Besar
- Pidie
- Pidie Jaya
- Bireuen
- Aceh Utara
- Aceh Timur (except in 3 subdistricts, Serba Jadi, Peunaron and Simpang Jernih where Gayo language is spoken)
- Aceh Tamiang (Manyak Payet and Kuala Simpang subdistrict)
West-South Coast
- Aceh Jaya
- West Aceh
- Nagan Raya
- Southwest Aceh (except in subdistrict Susoh where Aneuk Jamee language is spoken)
- South Aceh (mixed with Kluet language and Aneuk Jamee language)
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:
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.
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 additional 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 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.
Dialects
So far there has been no complete research about dialects of the Acehnese language. However, there are at least 10 dialects in the Acehnese language. The dialects are Pasè, Peusangan, Matang, Pidië, Buëng, Banda, Daya, Meulabôh, Seunagan and Tunong.