basantara
Indonesian edit
Etymology edit
Blend of bahasa (“language”) + perantara (“intermediary”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
basantara (first-person possessive basantaraku, second-person possessive basantaramu, third-person possessive basantaranya)
- lingua franca
- Synonyms: bahasa dagang, bahasa pasar
Further reading edit
- “basantara” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.
Javanese edit
Alternative forms edit
- ꦧꦱꦤ꧀ꦠꦫ (basantara)
Etymology edit
Inherited from portmanteau in Old Javanese basantara (“lingua franca”); ꦧꦱ (basa, “language”) + ꦲꦤ꧀ꦠꦫ (antara, “intermediary”).
Noun edit
basantara
- (linguistics) lingua franca, a common language used by people of diverse backgrounds to communicate with one another, often a basic form of speech with simplified grammar, particularly, one not the first language of any of its speakers.