Indonesian slang language
Encyclopedia
Indonesian slang is an informal language
of Indonesia
primarily spoken in urban areas.
. Despite its direct origins, Indonesian slang often differs quite significantly in both vocabulary and grammatical structure from the most standard form of Indonesia's national language.
Its native name, bahasa gaul (the 'social language'), was a term coined in the late 1990s where bahasa means 'language' and gaul means 'social', 'cool' or 'trendy'. Similarly, the term bahasa prokém (a more out-dated name for Indonesian slang) created in the early 1980s means 'the language of gangsters'. Prokém is a slang form of the word préman and was derived from the Dutch word vrijman (English: freeman; lit. gangster).
Indonesian slang is predominantly used in everyday conversation, social milieus, among popular media and, to a certain extent, in teen publications or pop culture magazines.
For those living in more urbanized regions of Indonesia, Indonesian slang language often functions as the primary language medium for communication in daily life. While it would be unusual to communicate orally with people on a casual basis with very formal Indonesian, the use of proper or 'good and correct' Indonesian ("bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar") is abundant in the media, government bodies, schools, universities, workplaces, amongst some members of the Indonesian upper-class or nobility and also in many other more formal situations.
Indonesian slang is an ever-evolving language phenomenon. This is, in part, due to its vocabulary that is often so different from that of standard Indonesian and Malaysian and also because so many new words (both original and foreign) are quite easily incorporated into its increasingly wide vocabulary list. However, as with any language, the constant changing of the times means that some words become rarely used or are rendered obsolete as they are considered to be outdated or no longer follow modern day trends.
Indonesian is part of the Western Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages. According to the Ethnologue
, Indonesian is modelled after Riau Malay
, a form of Old Malay originally spoken in Northeast Sumatra
.
, West Java
, the local slang language contains vocabulary from the Sundanese language
while the slang found in Jakarta
tends to be heavily influenced by English or the old Batavian
dialect (i.e. the language of the original inhabitants of Jakarta or Batavia as it was known during the Dutch colonial period
). For more information relating to the geographics of Indonesian slang and regional influences, please see "Region Specific Slang" below).
or Dutch
are often transliterated according to the modern Indonesian orthography
. For example, 'please' is often written as plis. Another closely related phenomenon to arise in recent years is the formation of complex nouns or phrases created using a combination of English and Indonesian (slang) in the one sentence. A prime example of this is the phrase "so what gitu loh!", meaning "who cares?!" or quite simply "so what!" with added emphasis from the phrase "gitu loh". "Gitu" is an abbreviated form of the Indonesian word "begitu" meaning "like that/ such as" while "loh" (also spelt lho) is simply a particle of expression commonly used in slang or conversational Indonesian to show surprise or instigate a warning. In these cases of combined, interlingual phrases, the original spelling (and quite often the pronunciation) of the foreign word(s) are retained. Hence, the English component of the Indonesian slang phrase "so what gitu loh!" remains relatively unchanged as far as spelling and pronunciation are concerned.
, although in many cases sentences are simplified or shortened when necessary. The differences between formal and colloquial Indonesian are most evident in vocabulary and grammatical structures (e.g. affixes).
commonly referred to as Hokkien, English
, and Dutch
, as well as local ethnic languages such as Batavian
, Sundanese
, and Javanese
. However, in many cases, new words are simply created at random, their origins often quite obscure.
• A large proportion of the vocabulary used in Indonesian slang language was developed from formal Indonesian through several methods, most of which are listed below:
• Some words are simply transliterated from English, for example:
• Many words also emerged without following the above rules at all, many of which have their own unique history and/or origin. For example:
Example of use: Dia datang dong / Dia datang kok / Dia datang lah / Dia datang lho. All of them can be translated to 'She/he does come'. However, "Dia datang dong" can means She comes for sure, in other intonation when 'o' in the word dong read longer - it would means She comes i wish. Dia datang kok is used when we convince some one who do not believe that She would come. Dia datang lah means She does come, it's used when we for very sure that She would come and underestimating her dis-coming. Dia datang lho means She comes, You know?.
Particles for question are used always in first place in the question.
BothKok, Dia datang? / Lho? Dia datang are can be translated to "How could she come?". Kok used mainly when we are very disbelieving an info and the info was true. Lho is representing common surprised and disbelieve.
PS: The true meaning could be vary depends on the situation.
For example, the word Bapak was broken into B-ok-apak and the last -ak is deleted, and the resulting word is Bokap which, until this day, is used as a slang term for Father.
The word Sekolah (School) was transformed into Skokul, but this word slowly become outdated and by 1990s the word was no longer used, and changed to Sekul or simply Skul, reminiscent of the English word "school".
Other notable words such as mémblé (ugly, frowning), kécé (beautiful, good looking), the sentence attribute Nih yé, and the exclamation Alamakjan! all emerged in the same decade.
including Botabek
is the capital city of Indonesia with a population of more than 20 million people. Consequently, such a huge population will undoubtedly have a role in the Jakarta slang evolution.
Some prominent examples:
is the capital city of West Java
province with a predominantly Sundanese culture. The Sundanese language
has three levels or forms, namely: high (polite), middle class, and low (impolite). Bandung slang often uses the Low Sundanese pronouns along with the many other Sundanese translations of popular Indonesian.
Some examples:
and Yogyakarta where Javanese is predominantly spoken. Like Sundanese which are spoken in Bandung, Javanese also has 3 different set of vocabularies, based on the politeness level. Common people usually talk with a mix between low-Javanese, middle-Javanese, and Indonesian. Some non-Javanese residents added their own dialects to the pot, resulting what is called the Central Java slang
It is a transformation from Javanese, in which Javanese traditional character sequences are being switched with one another, using the formula below:
Using the above manner, the expletive expression Matamu! (which literally means: 'Your Eyes!') is transformed into Dagadu!. You can also using easier method to translate the slang using Walikan Translator
, Surabaya
uses a rougher dialect of Javanese and has a fairly complete list of its own slang. Javanese language originated from the Central Javanese farmland and by the time it reached the coastal area of East Java, it changed from its original polite form into a more impolite version with the creation or further adaptation of many new 'Javanese-style' words and swearwords, many of which are used throughout Indonesia today, like Opo cok?? means "whatz up?", Kon means "you".
is the capital of North Sumatra
Province. Most of the slang from Medan are heavily influenced by Hokkien and Batak language. For example, Amang for " Father", Inang for " Mother ", Tutup lampu for "turn off the light", Buka radio for "turn on the radio". Another example of Medan slang is by adding "punya" at the end of the sentence. For example "mobil aku punya" for "my car". They also have the tendency to confuse between e and é.
slang mostly involves changing the letter at the end of the word with letter 'o'. However, not all words can be modified to include the characteristic 'o', as this rule applies mostly to words ending with the letter 'a'.
Another characteristic pattern of Jambi and Palembang slang involves the addition or replacement of the final letter of a word with 'k'.
slang is influenced by Malay
, Teochew and Dayak
and sometimes combined with Hakka. It is spoken in the Malay dialect. These slang varieties are spoken throughout West Kalimantan
.
-ta (very formal and respectful), -mu (neutral), and -nu (informal). For example:
Meanwhile, the word for you itself is divided into two, the formal ki and the informal ko.
Ini mi? -> 'This one?'
Biarkan mi -> 'Let it go'
Ko sudah belajar mi? -> 'Have you studied?'. Ko derives from the informal Indonesian word Kau, which stands for 'you'.
Sudah dimulaimi itu ulangan? -> 'Has the exam started?', literally, 'Has-been started-the exam?'
Ji is also often used in the end of words. Most often, it means 'only', or used to give a more assuring tone to a sentence.
Di functions more like a question tag, read with a glottal stop at the end, which makes it to be 'dik'
Aside from that, Makassarese more often speak with a heavier accent, mixing many of the Indonesian words with native Makassar words.
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
of Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
primarily spoken in urban areas.
History
Indonesian slang is the informal version of IndonesianIndonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
. Despite its direct origins, Indonesian slang often differs quite significantly in both vocabulary and grammatical structure from the most standard form of Indonesia's national language.
Its native name, bahasa gaul (the 'social language'), was a term coined in the late 1990s where bahasa means 'language' and gaul means 'social', 'cool' or 'trendy'. Similarly, the term bahasa prokém (a more out-dated name for Indonesian slang) created in the early 1980s means 'the language of gangsters'. Prokém is a slang form of the word préman and was derived from the Dutch word vrijman (English: freeman; lit. gangster).
Indonesian slang is predominantly used in everyday conversation, social milieus, among popular media and, to a certain extent, in teen publications or pop culture magazines.
For those living in more urbanized regions of Indonesia, Indonesian slang language often functions as the primary language medium for communication in daily life. While it would be unusual to communicate orally with people on a casual basis with very formal Indonesian, the use of proper or 'good and correct' Indonesian ("bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar") is abundant in the media, government bodies, schools, universities, workplaces, amongst some members of the Indonesian upper-class or nobility and also in many other more formal situations.
Indonesian slang is an ever-evolving language phenomenon. This is, in part, due to its vocabulary that is often so different from that of standard Indonesian and Malaysian and also because so many new words (both original and foreign) are quite easily incorporated into its increasingly wide vocabulary list. However, as with any language, the constant changing of the times means that some words become rarely used or are rendered obsolete as they are considered to be outdated or no longer follow modern day trends.
Classification
At present, there is no formal classification for Indonesian slang language as it is essentially a manipulated and popularized form of the Indonesian (the national language of Indonesia).Indonesian is part of the Western Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages. According to the Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
, Indonesian is modelled after Riau Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, a form of Old Malay originally spoken in Northeast Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
.
Geographic distribution
Indonesian slang language is mostly spoken in urban regions of the Indonesian archipelago. Variations of slang language can be found from city to city, mainly characterised by derivatives of the different local ethnic languages. For example, in BandungBandung
Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...
, West Java
West Java
West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...
, the local slang language contains vocabulary from the Sundanese language
Sundanese language
Sundanese is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population....
while the slang found in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
tends to be heavily influenced by English or the old Batavian
Betawi language
The Betawi language is the spoken language of the Betawi people in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is the native language of about 2,700,000 people . It is a Malay-based creole, and closely related to Malay language. Betawi vocabulary have large amount of Hokkien Chinese, Arabic, and Dutch loanwords...
dialect (i.e. the language of the original inhabitants of Jakarta or Batavia as it was known during the Dutch colonial period
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
). For more information relating to the geographics of Indonesian slang and regional influences, please see "Region Specific Slang" below).
Official status
Indonesian slang language is not an official language of Indonesia. However, it is a modified form of the Indonesian language and is widely used for everyday communication and in informal situations.Sounds
Indonesian slang generally uses the same pronunciation as standard Indonesian, although there are many influences from regional dialects on certain aspects such as accent and grammatical structure. Loan words adopted from foreign languages (especially European) such as EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
or Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
are often transliterated according to the modern Indonesian orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
. For example, 'please' is often written as plis. Another closely related phenomenon to arise in recent years is the formation of complex nouns or phrases created using a combination of English and Indonesian (slang) in the one sentence. A prime example of this is the phrase "so what gitu loh!", meaning "who cares?!" or quite simply "so what!" with added emphasis from the phrase "gitu loh". "Gitu" is an abbreviated form of the Indonesian word "begitu" meaning "like that/ such as" while "loh" (also spelt lho) is simply a particle of expression commonly used in slang or conversational Indonesian to show surprise or instigate a warning. In these cases of combined, interlingual phrases, the original spelling (and quite often the pronunciation) of the foreign word(s) are retained. Hence, the English component of the Indonesian slang phrase "so what gitu loh!" remains relatively unchanged as far as spelling and pronunciation are concerned.
Grammar
The overall structure of Indonesian slang is not all that different from formal IndonesianIndonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
, although in many cases sentences are simplified or shortened when necessary. The differences between formal and colloquial Indonesian are most evident in vocabulary and grammatical structures (e.g. affixes).
Vocabulary
The structure of the Indonesian slang language is mostly derived from formal Indonesian, however its vocabularly is a different story altogether. Indonesian slang vocabulary is enriched by a combination of derivatives or loan words/ structures from foreign languages such as Min NanMin Nan
The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora....
commonly referred to as Hokkien, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, as well as local ethnic languages such as Batavian
Betawi language
The Betawi language is the spoken language of the Betawi people in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is the native language of about 2,700,000 people . It is a Malay-based creole, and closely related to Malay language. Betawi vocabulary have large amount of Hokkien Chinese, Arabic, and Dutch loanwords...
, Sundanese
Sundanese language
Sundanese is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population....
, and Javanese
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
. However, in many cases, new words are simply created at random, their origins often quite obscure.
• A large proportion of the vocabulary used in Indonesian slang language was developed from formal Indonesian through several methods, most of which are listed below:
- Nasalisation of active verb, shortening or exclusion of the original prefix and adding -in at the end of the word, for example:
- memikirkan (pikir) (to think) into mikirin
- menanyakan (tanya) (to ask) into nanyain (exclusion of "me-"), often with a glottal stopGlottal stopThe glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
between the a and the i, thus nanya'in
- Adding -in at the end of the passive transitive verbs, for example:
- diajari (to be taught) into diajarin
- dipukuli (to be beaten) into dipukulin
- Adding ke- at the beginning of passive intransitive verbs, instead of using ter- and altering pronunciation from 'a' to 'e' (Javanese influence) for example:
- tertangkap (to be caught) into ketangkep
- terpelését (to accidentally slip) into kepelését
- Eliminating one or few letters of the word, for example:
- habis (depleted/ finished/emptied) into abis
- tahu (know) into tau
- Contraction of two or more words into one word, for example:
- terima kasih (thank) into makasih
- jaga image (to safeguard one's social image) into ja'im, with a glottal stopGlottal stopThe glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
between the a and the i - Percaya diri (confidence) into PD (pédé)
- Replacing letter a with e in some words (Javanese influence), for example:
- benar (correct) into bener
- pintar (smart) into pinter
- malas (lazy) into males
- segar (fresh) into seger
- Contracting diphthong into monosyllabic letter, for example:
- kalau (if) into kalo
- pakai (use) into paké
- sampai (until) into sampé
- Addition/ exclusion of silent consonants and glottal stops to the beginning/ends of words:
- pakai (use) into paké or even pakék (final -k being a glottal stopGlottal stopThe glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
) - enggak (no, not) into nggak or ngga or even gak/ga/kaga/ogah/wegah (enggak itself is also a slang word.)
- pakai (use) into paké or even pakék (final -k being a glottal stop
- Contracting the beginning three letters with the infix -ok- after the first letter (ended with closest consonant if the third letter is a vowel), for example:
- Bapak / Ayah (father) into Bokap
- Ibu (Mother) Into Nyokap
- jual (sell) into jokul
- bérak (defecate) into bokér
- Bapak dan Ibu (Father and Mother) into bonyok
- Add prefix nge- or ng- to signify activity, for example:
- ngebut (to go fast)
- ngedance (dance)
- ngedrink (drink)
- ngedrug (do drugs)
- ngegebet (to pick up)
- ngafe (go to a café)
- ngabur or ngacir (fleeing)
- ngimpi (dreaming)
- ngomong (speaking)
• Some words are simply transliterated from English, for example:
- Sorry into sori
- Friend into prén
- Swear into suér
- Brother into bro
- Sister into sis
- by the way into btw (bétéwé)
• Many words also emerged without following the above rules at all, many of which have their own unique history and/or origin. For example:
- Cuék (to ignore or to take something easy, or to be aloof) - Popularized by the Indonesian singer Ruth SahanayaRuth SahanayaRuth Sahanaya is an Indonesian singer. She rose to fame in the late 1980s and is perhaps best known for her hit song "Kaulah Segalanya". She has toured internationally, been the Indonesian representative at many music festivals, and has received multiple awards...
in her 80s hit Astaga; most likely derived from the Malay word cuai, that means 'negligent'. - Do'i (boyfriend / girlfriend) - Originated from the word dia (him/her) transformed by inserting letter 'o' in the middle and deleting the last letter 'a'. It is later transformed into Doski.
- Bokép (pornographic film) - Originated from abbreviation BF which means 'Blue Film'. BF is read 'Be-Ef', which in its pidgin form is read as Be-Ep. The word Bokep obtained by inserting infix -ok- in between 'Be-Ep'.
- Camer - calon mertua, future in-laws).
- Jayus / Garing - Lame or corny; meant to be or sound funny, but it is not. Garing originally means 'crispy'.
- Jijay ('Disgusting' or 'grotesque') - Originated from jijik. Sometimes used to express a condition of 'utmost disgust'. Used in the phrase jijay bajay.
- Jomblo (single) - Originated from Sundanese jomblo means 'unable to sell (the product)' or 'unrequited'.
- ABG / Abégé (teenagers) - Stands for 'Anak Baru Gede' - Literally means 'A child who just grown up'. The original Indonesian term is 'remaja', which means 'teen'.
- Cupu (out of date / not trendy) - Stands for culun punya. Culun itself is a slang means the same with cupu. Punya means 'have / possess / belonging'. It became popular when Pop Ice showed their advertisement on TV in 2007
- Gebetan (someone you’re keen on)
- Juték means 'sassy'.
- Lebai means 'overacting', originated from the word 'lebih' meaning 'more' that is read by a native English speaker, and transliterated. It became popular by Indonesian duo singers T2 in their song Jangan Lebai.
- Alay means over-dressed, over-make up, and overacting, Alay means Ridicule in Turkish.
- Beud comes from Banget that means very. This word is being so popular after CFC Advertisement on TV showed up word Beud
- Jebakan Betmen means 'website prank' - "Jebakan Betmen" Originated from a TV show on one of Indonesian Channel where the guests are being pranked on in his or her entire day
- Kimpoi means 'wedding' - "kimpoi" is from word "kawin"
- Pedekate or PDKT means 'pendekatan' - the stage of flirting or hitting on someone
- Tete'em or TTM means 'teman tapi mesra' - casual sex partner. This word is famous after Duo Maya's song TTM published
- Putus aja - break up
- GR from 'gede rasa' - means arrogant
- Ja'im from 'jaga imej' - means superficial
- Matré means materialistic
- Telmi from 'telat mikir' - describes someone who is a little bit slow on the uptake.
- Nongkrong means hang out
Particle
A lot of slang particle is used in the end of a sentence. Some of these particles do not change the sentence's meaning while some of the others emphasize the meaning. There are also particles which can give a hesitancy to the sentence. For example:- Particle which does not change a sentence meaning:
- Nih. Example of use: Dia datang nih = Dia datang (She/he comes)
- Particle which emphasizes the meaning of a sentence:
- Dong
- Kok
- Lah
- Lho;
Example of use: Dia datang dong / Dia datang kok / Dia datang lah / Dia datang lho. All of them can be translated to 'She/he does come'. However, "Dia datang dong" can means She comes for sure, in other intonation when 'o' in the word dong read longer - it would means She comes i wish. Dia datang kok is used when we convince some one who do not believe that She would come. Dia datang lah means She does come, it's used when we for very sure that She would come and underestimating her dis-coming. Dia datang lho means She comes, You know?.
- Particles which can give a hesitancy to the sentence:
- Ah. Example of use: Dia datang ah. Can be translated to 'I think she/he comes'.
- Dong Example of use: Dia datang dooong". It means 'I wish She comes' or 'Please let her comes'
- Particle in the Question
Particles for question are used always in first place in the question.
-
- Kok
- Lho
BothKok, Dia datang? / Lho? Dia datang are can be translated to "How could she come?". Kok used mainly when we are very disbelieving an info and the info was true. Lho is representing common surprised and disbelieve.
PS: The true meaning could be vary depends on the situation.
Pre-1980s
- Kumpul kebo - Lit. means 'water buffalo-style gathering' or 'gather like cattle'. This term basically means that two people in a relationship are living together without being married, i.e. in a domestic partnership/ de facto relationship. To Kumpul kebo in Indonesia is considered immoral and sometimes illicit. For these reasons and also those relating to religion, Asian culture and general ethics, it is often frowned upon in modern Indonesian society to do such a thing.
1980s
The 1980s was the era of bahasa prokém. At this time slang language vocabulary was formed by inserting the infix -ok- after the first consonant of a word, and deleting the last syllable, creating a totally new word. "Prokem" itself is a prokem word, created by adding -ok- to preman and removing the -an.For example, the word Bapak was broken into B-ok-apak and the last -ak is deleted, and the resulting word is Bokap which, until this day, is used as a slang term for Father.
The word Sekolah (School) was transformed into Skokul, but this word slowly become outdated and by 1990s the word was no longer used, and changed to Sekul or simply Skul, reminiscent of the English word "school".
Other notable words such as mémblé (ugly, frowning), kécé (beautiful, good looking), the sentence attribute Nih yé, and the exclamation Alamakjan! all emerged in the same decade.
New Millennium
Much of the slang language created post-2000 originated from the Indonesian LBGT community. The latest method for transforming a word is to take a different word which has a similar sound. For example, the word mau (want), is replaced with the word mawar originally meaning rose. Despite its creativity and originality, this latest form of Indonesian slang can be quite complicated to understand, even to the native Indonesians themselves. For example: Akika tinta mawar macarena originates from the sentence written in proper Indonesian - Aku tidak mau makan meaning 'I don't want to eat'.Jakarta slang
JakartaJakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
including Botabek
Jabotabek
Jabotabek is an officially recognized definition and term given to the urban region surrounding Jakarta, Indonesia in 2000, officially including five municipalities and three regencies...
is the capital city of Indonesia with a population of more than 20 million people. Consequently, such a huge population will undoubtedly have a role in the Jakarta slang evolution.
Some prominent examples:
- Ajé (from 'saja') - Only, just
- Bang (from 'abang') - Slang form of address for elder males/ brother.
- Bégo (BEnar-benar GOblok) - Stupid
- Berapa duit? or Berapaan? - How much money/ how much is the cost?
- Bo'il (with a glottal stopGlottal stopThe glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
between o and i) - Car - Bokap - Father
- Nyokap - Mother
- Doang - Only, that's all
- Émangnya kenapa? - So what? / What does it matter?
- Gilé! (from 'gila')- An exclamation meaning crazy/insane/obscene, as emphasis to a sentence or phrase.
- Gué - I, me
- Busét/Sial/Sialan! - An expression meaning crap/crappy. Originated from Bullshit.(compare with TagalogTagalog languageTagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
Buwisét, meaning the same) - Lu - You
- Gopek - Rp.500,00
- Seceng - Rp.1000,00
- Goceng - Rp.5000,00
- Ceban - Rp.10.000,00
- Gua or Gué - Me
- Yo'i - Yes
Bandung slang
BandungBandung
Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...
is the capital city of West Java
West Java
West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...
province with a predominantly Sundanese culture. The Sundanese language
Sundanese language
Sundanese is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population....
has three levels or forms, namely: high (polite), middle class, and low (impolite). Bandung slang often uses the Low Sundanese pronouns along with the many other Sundanese translations of popular Indonesian.
Some examples:
- Aing (from kuring) - I/me
- Sia - you
- Euy - Sundanese particle in the end of the sentence to express excitement and surprise
- Da - Sundanese particle in the end of the sentence to express certainty and emphasizes the meaning, somehow similar to Japanese "desu".
- O'on (from Blo'on) or Oneng (from the name of a slow witted character in Sinetron Bajaj Bajuri) - stupid, dim witted
Javanese slang
These slangs are shared across Central JavaCentral Java
Central Java is a province of Indonesia. The administrative capital is Semarang. It is one of six provinces on the island of Java.This province is the province of high Human Development in Indonesia and its Points Development Index countries is equivalent to Lebanon. The province of Central Java...
and Yogyakarta where Javanese is predominantly spoken. Like Sundanese which are spoken in Bandung, Javanese also has 3 different set of vocabularies, based on the politeness level. Common people usually talk with a mix between low-Javanese, middle-Javanese, and Indonesian. Some non-Javanese residents added their own dialects to the pot, resulting what is called the Central Java slang
Jogjakarta
Jogjakarta slang is also known as Basa Walikan, literally means Reverse Language' http://hanacaraka.fateback.com/plestJogja.htm.It is a transformation from Javanese, in which Javanese traditional character sequences are being switched with one another, using the formula below:
- ha na ca ra ka → pa dha ja ya nya
- da ta sa wa la → ma ga ba tha nga
- pa dha ja ya nya → ha na ca ra ka
- ma ga ba tha nga → da ta sa wa la
Using the above manner, the expletive expression Matamu! (which literally means: 'Your Eyes!') is transformed into Dagadu!. You can also using easier method to translate the slang using Walikan Translator
Malang
Malang slang is inverted alphabetical word. The way is just read from end of the word. Example: Ongis Nade comes from Singo Edan (the supporter of Malang Football Club)Surabaya
As the second largest city in Indonesia and the capital of East JavaEast Java
East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and islands to its east and to its north East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and...
, Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
uses a rougher dialect of Javanese and has a fairly complete list of its own slang. Javanese language originated from the Central Javanese farmland and by the time it reached the coastal area of East Java, it changed from its original polite form into a more impolite version with the creation or further adaptation of many new 'Javanese-style' words and swearwords, many of which are used throughout Indonesia today, like Opo cok?? means "whatz up?", Kon means "you".
Medan slang
MedanMedan
- Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang....
is the capital of North Sumatra
North Sumatra
North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia on the Sumatra island. Its capital is Medan. It is the most populous Indonesian province outside of Java. It is slightly larger than Sri Lanka in area.- Geography and population :...
Province. Most of the slang from Medan are heavily influenced by Hokkien and Batak language. For example, Amang for " Father", Inang for " Mother ", Tutup lampu for "turn off the light", Buka radio for "turn on the radio". Another example of Medan slang is by adding "punya" at the end of the sentence. For example "mobil aku punya" for "my car". They also have the tendency to confuse between e and é.
Jambi & Palembang slang
Jambi and PalembangPalembang
Palembang is the capital city of the South Sumatra province in Indonesia. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being a capital of a maritime empire. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400.61 square...
slang mostly involves changing the letter at the end of the word with letter 'o'. However, not all words can be modified to include the characteristic 'o', as this rule applies mostly to words ending with the letter 'a'.
Another characteristic pattern of Jambi and Palembang slang involves the addition or replacement of the final letter of a word with 'k'.
- Pulak - pula (too, also, as well)
- Aek - air (water)
Pontianak slang
PontianakPontianak, Indonesia
Pontianak is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. It is a medium-size industrial city on the island of Borneo. Pontianak occupies an area of 107.82 km² in the delta of the Kapuas River...
slang is influenced by Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, Teochew and Dayak
Dayak languages
The term Dayak is used for the languages of the Dayak people; that is, those languages of Borneo apart from varieties of Malay and language of Chinese, Indian, and European origin...
and sometimes combined with Hakka. It is spoken in the Malay dialect. These slang varieties are spoken throughout West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak is located right on the Equator....
.
Makassarese slang
Makassarese slang is highly influenced by the native Makassarese dialect and sometimes combined with Chinese accents. The slang, in the end, sounds more informal and 'rude', as going with the tough image of Makassarese people. The possessive word for you (kamu) has three degrees of politeness:-ta (very formal and respectful), -mu (neutral), and -nu (informal). For example:
- This book belongs to you → Buku ini punya-ta (the - reads as a glottal stop, which makes it punya'ta. In Makassarese dialect, the apostrophe is sometimes added in written form). Buku ini punya'mu is deemed more neutral, while Buku ini punya'nu is only spoken with very close friends.
Meanwhile, the word for you itself is divided into two, the formal ki and the informal ko.
- 'Di mana maki (Where are you now) as opposed to informal 'Di mana moko. The -ma and -mo derives from the -mi which is often added in the end of words, having various meanings. It is hard to determine when to use mi or not, except to learn it by heart.
Ini mi? -> 'This one?'
Biarkan mi -> 'Let it go'
Ko sudah belajar mi? -> 'Have you studied?'. Ko derives from the informal Indonesian word Kau, which stands for 'you'.
Sudah dimulaimi itu ulangan? -> 'Has the exam started?', literally, 'Has-been started-the exam?'
Ji is also often used in the end of words. Most often, it means 'only', or used to give a more assuring tone to a sentence.
- Sedikit ji -> 'It's only a little'
- Tidak apa-apa ji -> 'It's okay'
- Tidak susah ji soalnya -> 'The problem isn't difficult.'
Di functions more like a question tag, read with a glottal stop at the end, which makes it to be 'dik'
- Tidak susah ji di?? -> It's not difficult, right?
Aside from that, Makassarese more often speak with a heavier accent, mixing many of the Indonesian words with native Makassar words.
- Tena ku isseng'i apa maksudnya (or even more complicated Tena ku isseng'i apa massu'na ) -> Literally, "No I understand what its meaning", actually meaning, "I don't understand what it means". In places, Makassarese slangs add -i at the end of words, putting a glottal stop before that. Furthermore, the words tend to be shortened considerably, which makes -nya read as -na and words ending with -d or -t gets its ending replaced with glottal stops. Menyusut (shrinking) becomes menyusuk, and vice versa. Native Makassar people usually reads becak (pedicab) as becat.
Other related Wikis
- Indonesian Slang Tutorial in Wikibooks
- Indonesian Slang in Wiktionary