Symbols
64Click a symbol to copy it and open its page.
Alphabet
Banjar uses the plain Latin alphabet with its own spelling rules, based on Indonesian; no accented letters are needed. F, Q, V, X and Z appear mainly in loanwords and names, and the upriver Banjar Hulu dialect gets by with the vowels a, i and u.
Punctuation
Quotation marks as in Indonesian. Prices: rupiah written Rp, ringgit RM; neither has a Unicode sign.
Where it's spoken
South, Central and East Kalimantan and Riau in Indonesia; Banjar communities in Perak and Selangor, Malaysia.
Banjar in emoji
Jukung boats of the floating markets, Martapura gems, the Sultan Suriansyah Mosque, the bekantan monkey, soto Banjar, wadai cakes, the madihin drum and sasirangan cloth.
On the map
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The Banjar language alphabet: plain A–Z
Banjar (bahasa Banjar) is the language of the Banjar people of South Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo, and today it is usually written in Latin script under Banjar spelling rules based on Indonesian. The official guide's core alphabet is narrower than A–Z, and it marks a Banjar vowel with a diacritic. The spelling also has Banjar-specific conventions; for example, it uses tarima kasih rather than terima kasih.
Sounds written with two letters work as in Indonesian and Malay: ng as in urang (person), ny, and sy and kh in words taken from Arabic. F, Q, V, X and Z turn up mostly in loanwords and names; the native vocabulary needs far fewer letters.
How Banjar spelling differs from Indonesian
The vowel pattern varies by dialect: Banjar Hulu, the upriver variety, is usually described with just three vowels, a, i and u, and often has a where Indonesian has neutral e, as in tarima kasih (thank you), ampat (four) and baras (rice grain). Banjar Kuala, the coastal variety of Banjarmasin, also uses e and o.
The other giveaway is vocabulary. Ulun is the polite 'I' and pian the polite 'you', while aku and ikam are for friends and family; kada means 'not', bungas 'beautiful', banyu 'water' and wadai 'cake'. Greetings often use habar where Indonesian says kabar: Apa habar? 'How are you?'
Punctuation, prices and typing Banjar
Banjar punctuation follows Indonesian: full stops, commas, question marks and quotation marks written “like this”. On Windows the curly quotes are Alt0147 for “ and Alt0148 for ”; on a Mac, Option[ and OptionShift[; phone keyboards offer them when you hold down the " key. In Banjar spelling, an apostrophe can mark a glottal stop, as in ba'ah and du'ur.
Prices in South Kalimantan are in Indonesian rupiah, written Rp before the amount with a dot for thousands (Rp 25.000); in Malaysia the ringgit is written RM. Neither currency has a Unicode sign of its own, so the letters are all you need.
Where the Banjar language is spoken
Banjar is spoken by an estimated 4.2 million people, almost all in Indonesia . Its home is South Kalimantan, with Banjarmasin, the 'city of a thousand rivers', and the old court town of Martapura, and it is widely used in Central and East Kalimantan too. Banjar migrants also settled on the east coast of Sumatra, around Tembilahan in Riau.
Across the Strait of Malacca, Banjar families settled in Perak and Selangor in Malaysia from the nineteenth century on; CLDR estimates about 5,000 speakers there, and Banjar is generally no longer the main language of Banjar communities there, where Malay is widely used. Banjar is a Malayic language, so its closest relatives are Malay and Indonesian; Javanese, Minangkabau and Buginese are more distant cousins in the same Austronesian family.
Banjar before the Latin alphabet: Jawi
For centuries Banjar people wrote in Jawi, the Arabic-based script of Malay, which they call Arab Melayu. The Banjar Sultanate kept its letters and records in it, and Muhammad Arsyad al-Banjari of Martapura wrote his famous Islamic law book Sabilal Muhtadin in Malay in Jawi. The script is still seen on mosques, religious books and some signs; its letters are in the Malay (Arabic) collection.
How to use them
5 situationsClick to copyBanjar Language Alphabet combos
10Worth knowing
- Banjar has its own Wikipedia edition, written in Latin script.
- The proboscis monkey , called bekantan, is the official animal mascot of South Kalimantan; it lives in the mangroves and riverbanks of the Banjar country.
- Madihin, a Banjar performance art, is improvised rhyming verse sung by a poet who beats a frame drum , often teasing the audience or a rival poet.
Questions people ask
7What alphabet does the Banjar language use?
The Latin script is used today under Banjar spelling rules based on Indonesian but adapted for Banjar; the official guide also marks a vowel with a diacritic. Before the Latin alphabet Banjar was written in Jawi (Arab Melayu), the Arabic-based script of Malay.
How do you say thank you in Banjar?
Tarima kasih, or tarima kasih banyak for 'thank you very much'. In Banjar Hulu, a often corresponds to Indonesian's neutral e, as in tarima for terima.
How do you say I and you in bahasa Banjar?
Ulun is the polite 'I' and pian the polite 'you'; aku and ikam are the familiar forms used with friends and family.
What is cantik in bahasa Banjar?
Bungas. Bungas banar means 'really beautiful'.
Is Banjar the same as Indonesian or Malay?
No. Banjar is a separate Malayic language, close to Malay and Indonesian but with its own sounds and vocabulary (ulun, pian, kada, banyu, wadai). Most Banjar speakers in Indonesia also speak Indonesian.
Where is the Banjar language spoken?
Mainly in South Kalimantan, Indonesia, around Banjarmasin and Martapura, and also in Central and East Kalimantan, Riau, and Banjar communities in Perak and Selangor in Malaysia. Speakers are estimated at about 4.2 million.
Is there a Banjar or South Kalimantan flag emoji?
No. There is no Banjar or South Kalimantan flag emoji; Unicode includes country and regional flag sequences plus other flag designs such as the rainbow flag. People use the Indonesian flag , or the Malaysian flag for Banjar Malaysians, often with or beside it.
