Balinese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken on the Indonesian island of Bali, as well as Northern Nusa Penida, Western Lombok, Eastern Java,^[3] Southern Sumatra, and Sulawesi.^[4] Most Balinese speakers also use Indonesian. The 2000 national census recorded 3.3 million people speakers of Balinese, however the Bali Cultural Agency estimated in 2011 that the number of people still using the Balinese language in their daily lives is under 1 million. The language has been classified as "not endangered" by Glottolog.^[2]

This article contains Balinese alphabet. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Balinese characters.

The higher registers of the language borrow extensively from Javanese: an old form of classical Javanese, Kawi, is used in Bali as a religious and ceremonial language. Apart from being spoken in Bali, Balinese is also widely spoken on the island of Lombok, especially western part of Lombok island, and to a small extent it is also spoken on the island of Java, especially Banyuwangi. and western part of Sumbawa island. The spread of the Balinese language on these islands cannot be separated from the history between the islands.

Balinese is an Austronesian language belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the family. Within Malayo-Polynesian, it is part of the Bali–Sasak–Sumbawa subgroup.^[5] Internally, Balinese has three distinct varieties; Highland Bali, Lowland Bali, and Nusa Penida.^[2]

According to the 2000 census, the Balinese language is spoken by 3.3 million people in Indonesia, mainly concentrated on the island of Bali and the surrounding areas.

In 2011, the Bali Cultural Agency estimated that the number of people still using the Balinese language in their daily lives on Bali Island does not exceed 1 million, as in urban areas their parents only introduce the Indonesian language or even English as a foreign language, while daily conversations in the institutions and the mass media have disappeared. The written form of the Balinese language is increasingly unfamiliar and most Balinese people use the Balinese language only as a means of oral communication, often mixing it with Indonesian in their daily speech. However, in the transmigration areas outside Bali Island, the Balinese language is extensively used and believed to play an important role in the survival of the language.^[6]

The word order is similar to that of Indonesian, and verb and noun inflectional morphology is similarly minimal. However, derivational morphology is extensive, and suffixes are applied to indicate definite or indefinite articles, and optionally to indicate possession.^[7]

Balinese has been written in two different writing systems: the Balinese script, and in modern times the Latin script.

• Balinese palm-leaf manuscript
• Sign at Pura Puseh Temple, Batuan, Bali
• Page from a Bible printed with Balinese script
• Street sign in Singaraja, written in Latin and Balinese script
• Klungkung Regent's Office sign
• Lontar manuscript restoration

^1 In Balinese script, Sanskrit and Kawi loanwords tend use conservative orthography as standard form in Balinese script. The word for language, basa, in Balinese is a loanword from Old Javanese bhāṣa which came from the Sanskrit word भाषा bhāṣā, hence it is written according to Sanskrit and Old Javanese spelling ᬪᬵᬱᬩᬮᬶ in Balinese script. The Bali form in Balinese script is used by beginner writers. Meanwhile, diacritics are not written in the current romanization of the Balinese language. Thus, both Bali and basa Bali are the standard forms.

• Balinese (Unicode block)