{{Short description|Word for "language" derived from Sanskrit}} {{other uses|Bhasa (disambiguation)|Basa (disambiguation)}} {{italic title}} {{wikt|भाषा|bhasa|bhāsā|bahasa|Bahasa}} '''''Bhāṣā''''' (or one of its derived forms) is the word for "language" in many South and Southeast Asian languages, which derives from the Sanskrit word {{lang|sa|भाषा}} ''{{IAST|bhāṣā}}'' meaning "speech" or "spoken language". In transliteration from Sanskrit or Pali, bhasa may also be spelled '''bhasa''', '''basa''', or '''phasa'''.
The word ''Bahasa'' in English is sometimes used to refer specifically to the Malay language (including Indonesian and Malaysian standards)<!--thus "standard Malay" is misnomer-->, this standalone usage however is considered incorrect within the language:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050508115242/http://www.hawaii.edu/indolang/malay.html "Bahasa Indonesia: The Indonesian Language," George Quinn, Australian National University]</ref> when referring to other languages, a non-capitalized ''bahasa'' ("language") is used preceding a toponym or ethnonym (e.g. ''bahasa Ingg''[''e'']''ris'' "English", ''bahasa Italia'' "Italian").<ref>{{Cite dictionary|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-60272783/view?partId=nla.obj-436263050#page/n295/mode/1up/search/bahasa|title=bahasa|dictionary=A Malay-English dictionary (romanised)|last=Wilkinson|first=Richard James|publisher=Salavopoulos & Kinderlis|location=Mytilene|pages=65-6|volume=I|year=1932|via=TROVE}}</ref> However, ''bahasa'' could also be expanded to refer to any lect from one of a particular region (''bahasa daerah'') to one only used personally (idiolect, ''bahasa aku'').<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anderbeck |first1=Karl |title=The Malayic-speaking; Orang Laut Dialects and directions for research |journal=Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia |date=31 October 2012 |volume=14 |issue=2 |page=267 |doi=10.17510/wacana.v14i2.64 |url=https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/wacana/vol14/iss2/5 |issn=2407-6899|doi-access=free }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-natyashastra/d/doc210088.html Rules on the use of Languages (bhāṣā)], Chapter XVIII of the Nāṭyaśāstra
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhāṣā}} Category:Indian words and phrases