Speaking in language

I don't think it's uncommon at all among Indonesians and Malaysians to say "I speak Bahasa." See for example here and here. I've always had the impression that it's non-Indonesians/Malaysians who want to show they know what "bahasa" means and will insist that it's wrong.

Saying just "bahasa" may also help in Malaysia, where, if I understand it correctly, whether you say Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Melayu is a political can of worms all of its own.

See also this link ("And how will the government want to encourage non-Malays in Singapore and other countries to speak in Malay when it is described as Bahasa Malaysia, anyway? No wonder, many of them just say ‘bahasa’. Even on the covers of many Hollywood films, they only say ‘bahasa’ to refer to both ‘Bahasa Malaysia’ and ‘Bahasa Indonesia’.")

Clearly it is only really in context of Aboriginal language, rather than Australian usage. It is an elegant and intense way to claim earliest culture. Good on them.

I've always had the impression that it's non-Indonesians/Malaysians who want to show they know what "bahasa" means and will insist that it's wrong.

Those are the people whose opinions I had heard. Thanks, Cosmo and shilgia.

Treseda I like your description "elegant and intense". I really like the way it sounds too. It also neatly bypasses the fact that there isn't really an "aboriginal language", there are actually over 200. So "speaking in language" correctly covers all of them. Perhaps that's how it came about.

Thanks, shilgia! I have duly changed my opinion :-)

Well done, Tony!

I must say, I've never heard an Indonesian say it. I speak Bahasa means, of course, "I speak language" but all my Indonesian friends have always said "bahasa Indonesia" or "bahasa Inggris" etc - otherwise, how do you know which language you are referring to??? I've always thought that the non-Melayu people who use the short-term bahasa in their posts were under the impression that Bahasa meant a malay language rather than any language. I'm wondering if the people in the links you cite are just going with the Western trend because they know they are addressing Westerners and would not usually use "bahasa" to refer to their language amongst their fellow Malays (or Indonesians).

because they know they are addressing Westerners and would not usually use "bahasa" to refer to their language amongst their fellow Malays (or Indonesians).

It's possible, but I don't think so, particularly given that sentence about movie covers ("Even on the covers of many Hollywood films, they only say ‘bahasa’ to refer to both ‘Bahasa Malaysia’ and ‘Bahasa Indonesia’.")

It's also possible that saying "bahasa" is more common in Malaysia than in Indonesia. Compare wikipedia about Malay ("The language is sometimes simply referred to as Bahasa or BM") with wikipedia about Indonesian ("Indonesian is sometimes called "Bahasa" by English speakers"). Indonesia doesn't have the social-political Malaysia/Melayu issues mentioned above.

I think what we really need here is orangutan's input.

#9: Yes, it is very common although I mainly speak for Malaysian and not so much for Indonesians. All of my Malaysian friends always (simply) say "speak Bahasa" or "our kids always speak English at home and never Bahasa". Maybe it is just laziness but it certainly very common.