bahasa ibu

Indonesian

Etymology

Compound of bahasa (“language”) +‎ ibu (“mother”), calque of Dutch moedertaal.

Noun

bahasa ibu

1. (linguistics) mother tongue, native language, first language, the language one first learned; the language one grew up with.

Synonyms

• bahasa ibunda (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore)

Further reading

• “bahasa ibu” 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.