If you listen to Balinese speaking Indonesian, you may have
noticed that many people use the third person to speak about
themselves and also anyone they’re talking to.
For example: Wayan (referring to himself): Wayan mau pulang
dulu ya….
Wayan’s (I’m) going home now…
Or: Wayan (talking to his friend): Peter kemana?
Where’s Peter (you) going?
Whilst this is not common practice for other speakers of Indonesian,
Balinese do this because they are influenced by their own
local language—Balinese (Basa Bali). To remain neutral
when they speak, Balinese use the third person to refer to
themselves and the person they’re talking to.
In English this seems odd and makes the speaker sound childish.
Think ‘Dobby’ from Harry Potter… Parents
tend to do this: “Come on, help mummy do the dishes.
The same goes for us referring to the person’s name
when we are talking to them. It sounds like we are being condescending,
unless of course the person is a small child.
Balinese I’ve talked to about this say that it is more
common for people who consider themselves important to do
this. Children and teenagers who are spoilt get into this
habit too. This is when you’ll hear non-Balinese Indonesian’s
speaking like this: try listening to any kids on TV.
Another reason for avoiding the use of ‘you’ when
they talk to you is to avoid that awkward choice between ‘kamu’
and ‘anda’. Balinese tend to translate ‘kamu’
as being ‘ci/cai’ in Balinese; words that are
only used with close friends. So they just use your name or
your title (Ibu, Bapak, Adik, Nenek, Kakek, Om, Tante etc.).
For foreigners it’s very difficult to get into this
habit because it’s not something they normally do in
their own language. Most foreigners stick with using ‘saya’
when they talk about themselves, which is fine but when you
talk with non-Balinese friends it may sound a little stilted.
More about ‘Balinesianisms’ next issue…
Copyright@ Kulture Kid 2007
You can read all past articles of Kulture Kid at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
