Sasak: The People and Language of the Gilis and Lombok

March 20, 2020

Indonesia is home to over 700 languages

The Indonesian archipelago consists of more than 17,000 islands. Indonesia has a total population of roughly 242 million.

For 43 million people in Indonesia, Bahasa Indonesia is their native tongue. For 156 million people in Indonesia, Bahasa Indonesia is their second language. Next to Bahasa Indonesia, over 700 other languages are used in Indonesia.

Bahasa Indonesia was introduced to enable everyone in Indonesia to be able to communicate with each other. Bahasa Indonesia is the official language of Indonesia. It is taught in schools throughout the country.

The majority of the people in Indonesia speak Bahasa Indonesia. It is used for communication in things such as media, government, commerce, etc. With family or friends from the same ethnic group, people speak their native language instead of Bahasa Indonesia.

The next most spoken language in Indonesia is Javanese, which is spoken in Java. There are 98 million Indonesians that have Javanese as their native tongue – followed by Sundanese, with 42 million native speakers. Sundanese is spoken in West Java and Banten.

The Sasak people

Sasak is one of the 700 languages spoken in Indonesia. The people that speak the Sasak language are also called Sasak.

The Sasak people are indigenous to the island of Lombok which is in the West Nusa Tenggara province. Many of the Sasak people now work and/or live on the Gilis. Lombok lies to the east of Bali. The Gilis are situated off the northwest coast of Lombok.

Some of the Sasak people are farmers, fishermen, and craftsmen. In the Sasak villages of Lombok, beautiful weavings and other crafts can be found.

Some Sasak people also commute to and from Lombok to find work elsewhere, for example on the Gilis.

The majority of the Sasak people are Muslim. They are sometimes split into two groups named “Lima Waktu” and “Wektu Telu”.

The majority of the Sasak people belong to the Lima Waktu. They are Muslim and pray five times a day.

The Sasak people belonging to the Wektu Telu are situated mostly in the village of Bayan. They are also Muslim. There are, however Buddhist, Hindu and animalistic traditions that influence their religion. They also pray, but they do this three times a day instead of five.

When visiting Indonesia, Lombok and the Gilis should be on the “to-visit” list. Lombok is covered with green, luscious mountains. The Gilis have beautiful white beaches. Furthermore, the Sasak people who live here have a fascinating indigenous culture. They are lovely people.

The Sasak language

Lombok is inhabited by 3 million people, of which 85% are the Sasak people. Roughly 2.1 million people speak the Sasak language. The Sasak language belongs to the Austronesian language group.

The Sasak language has similarities with Balinese and Javanese. But pronunciation and writing differ.

The Sasak language itself has five different dialects. The five dialects of the Sasak language are named after how the Sasak people of this area say “like this, like that”. The dialects are:

The staff at Scallywags Resorts were kind enough to give a quick lesson in two dialects of the Sasak language. The majority of the team there speak Kuto-Kute and Meriaq-Meriku.

The Sasak dialect Kuto-Kute

Kuto-Kute is classified as being North Sasak. This dialect can be found in the north of Lombok.

As many tourists come to Indonesia to go diving, one of the activities that one can do on the Gili Islands is diving. Of course, if you want to go diving, you could say this in Bahasa Indonesia as follows: “Saya mau pergi menyelam.”

If you were tired, you could say in Kuto-Kute “Lelah ku” (I am tired). If you were looking for accommodation, you could say in Kuto-Kute that you needed a room: “Aku mele kamar.”

If you would then ask how to get to, for example, Scallywags you would ask “Mbe jalan bak Scallywags?”.

When you then get to the resort, you could say “Pedet tian ku” which means that you are hungry in the Sasak dialect of Kuto-Kute.

The Sasak dialect Meriaq-Meriku

Meriaq-Meriku is classified as being Central-South Sasak. This dialect can be found in the south-central parts of Lombok.

As mentioned above, diving is one of the activities that tourists enjoy about the Gili Islands. In the dialect Meriaq-Meriku, you could then say “Melelkh lalo nyelam” which means “I want to go diving”.

In Meriaq-Meriku you can say that you are tired as follows: “Aku lelah”. You can see here again that the dialects do have their differences. If you would then state that you needed a room, it would be the same as the Kuto-Kute dialect – “Aku mele kamar”.

Asking for directions to Scallywags it would be different again, and you would ask “Embe langan lek Scallywags?”. Also saying that you are hungry would differ and you would say “Aku lapah”.

It is fascinating to see that solely on Lombok and the Gili Islands there is already such a diverse mix of culture, languages and religions. Lombok and the Gili Islands are worth a visit for their beauty. They are even more worth a visit when you have the chance to meet the lovely Sasak people and learn about the Sasak language as well.

	Bahasa	Kuto-Kute	Meriaq-Meriku
I want to go diving.	Saya mau pergi menyelam.	Meleng ku lalo menyelem.	Melelkh lalo nyelam.
I am tired.	Saya perlu kamar.	Aku mele kamar.	Aku mele kamar.
How do I get to Scallywags?	Bagaimana caranya ke Scallywags?	Mbe jalan bak Scallywags?	Embe langan lek Scallywags?
I am hungry.	Saya lapar.	Pedet tian ku.	Aku lapah.