Welcome~
This is the first post in Prelude to Indonesia, and I’m so excited to start sharing the wonder of Indonesia’s cultures and language. I purposely choose this date, 17 August, to post this first entry because 17 August is Indonesia’s independence day; more precisely, we have reached the age of 75 years!
Now, it is never a loss to learn new language and culture, and let me tell you, Indonesia is one country where there are 1,340 tribes with more than 600 regional languages spread all across more than 17,000 islands. But relax, the language I’m going to post here is the one and unified language: Bahasa Indonesia. It is the formal language of Indonesia, and no matter where you go, almost everyone will understand what you are saying when you use Bahasa Indonesia, though you might not understand their reply because of each person’s dialect (^w^)
Bahasa Indonesia was first recognized as the unifying language during the Second Youth Congress (or Kongres Pemuda Kedua) in 1928. This congress was held for two days in Batavia, present day Jakarta, and was held by young Indonesian nationalists. At the end of the second day, more precisely on 28 October 1928, a declaration aptly named Youth Pledge (Sumpah Pemuda) was announced. This pledge proclaimed three ideals of One Motherland, One Nation, and One Language, which is Indonesia. If you search it on the internet, though, you might find the original script of it, which was written using the old spelling.
Sumpah Pemuda (Youth Pledge)
Bahasa Indonesia
1. Kami, putra dan putri Indonesia, mengaku bertumpah darah yang satu, Tanah Air Indonesia.
2. Kami, putra dan putri Indonesia, mengaku berbangsa yang satu, Bangsa Indonesia.
3. Kami, putra dan putri Indonesia, menjunjung bahasa persatuan, Bahasa Indonesia.
English
1. We, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, acknowledge us as one motherland, Indonesia.
2. We, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, acknowledge us as one nation, Indonesia.
3. We, the sons and daughters of Indonesia, honour the language of unity, Bahasa Indonesia.
*The English translation is my own since I can’t find the official translation
A unique thing to note is that on that point of history, Indonesia was not even recognized as a free country; it is still under the colonization of the Netherlands. It was not until 17 August 1945 that Indonesia declared herself a free country. Well, it was not as if all country accepted this declaration of independence at once, but now we are a free country.
This declaration is also seen as one of the most important historical event that has a great impact and effect to the nationalism of Indonesians, especially the youths, at that time. Even now, this pledge is taught all throughout elementary school as part of our curriculum, so that everyone can understand the meaning and able to recite it by heart. Every 28 October, Indonesians also remember this event by having a formal ceremony, called upacara, where the youth pledge is always being read.
Alright, perhaps there’s too much new terms and words thrown in this post, as it is our first lesson and I kinda get carried away (@_@). Don’t hesitate to tell me if there is anything you want to know about those terms and want me to cover them!
Anyway, let us move on directly to our first lesson:
THE ALPHABET
Indonesia’s alphabet is actually written the same as their English counterpart; the pronunciation, however, is different. If I have to say, Indonesia’s sounds more like the German or Netherlands' pronunciation.
Here are the 26 alphabet:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
They’re the same, right? They also have 21 consonants and 5 vowels.
For the vowels, some are pronounced very differently than the English counterpart. For example:
‘A’ in English sounds the same as ‘E’ in Bahasa Indonesia.
‘E’ in English sounds the same as ‘I’ in Bahasa Indonesia.
‘I’ in English sounds the same as ‘AI’ in Bahasa Indonesia.
A lot of Indonesians said that our alphabet is the easiest to pronounce: it is pronounced as it is (with very little exceptions). A lot of our words are also derived from other languages, such as from Sanskrit, Arabic, English, or Dutch terms, and we share a lot of similar-sounding words with our Malay neighbours even though the pronunciation and meaning differs a bit. Those words that were derived from another language is called ‘kata serapan’ (literally translated as absorbed word). Though in the case of words derived from Sanskrit, they are already integrated into the words used by our ancestors who first lived in Indonesia area and as such we can no longer differentiate these Sanskrit words (except if you’re a scholar specializing in linguistic, perhaps).
Of course, first of all, let me introduce you to the pronunciation of singular alphabets in Bahasa Indonesia.
Aa
A is pronounced as /ɑ/ (a)
Like in ‘fAther’ or ‘mAmA’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘Apel’ (apple)
Bb
B is pronounced as /beɪ/ (be)
Like in ‘BEt’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘BEcak’ (rickshaw)
Cc
C is pronounced as /tʃeɪ/ (che)
Like in ‘CHEddar’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘CEko’ (Czech)
Dd
D is pronounced as /deɪ/ (de)
Like in ‘DEnmark’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘penDEkar’ (warrior)
Ee
E is pronounced as /eɪ/ or /ɛ/ or /æ/ (bé or bê or bè)
Like in ‘bEt’ or the beginning of ‘Emmm…’ or ‘bAd’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘Ejek’ (mock) or ‘Elang’ (eagle) or ‘Empati’ (empathy)
E is quite difficult to be explained without voice example, but in short there are three types of pronunciation for the alphabet ‘e’ in Bahasa Indonesia (I dunno how to better explain this in words ╥﹏╥)
Ff
F is pronounced as /æf/ (ef)
Like in ‘EFfort’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘EFektif’ (effective)
Gg
G is pronounced as /ɡeɪ/ (ge)
Like in ‘GAme’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘GEografi’ (geography)
Hh
H is pronounced as /hɑ/ (ha)
Like in ‘HOuse’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘HAti’ (heart)
Ii
I is pronounced as /i/ (ee)
Like in ‘EEl’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘Ikan’ (fish)
Jj
J is pronounced as /dʒeɪ/ (je)
Like in ‘JEopardy’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘JEnderal’ (general (in military capacity))
Kk
K is pronounced as /kɑ/ (ka)
Like the ‘ka’ sound (without ‘ee’ sound) in ‘KIte’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘KAmera’ (camera)
Ll
L is pronounced as /æl/ (el)
Like in ‘ELla’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘ELemen’ (element)
Mm
M is pronounced as /æm/ (em)
Like in ‘EMerald’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘EMber’ (bucket)
Nn
N is pronounced as /æn/ (en)
Like in ‘ENd’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘ENak’ (delicious)
Oo
O is pronounced as /ɒ/ (o)
Like in ‘rObOt’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘Obor’ (torch)
Pp
P is pronounced as /peɪ/ (pe)
Like in ‘PEking’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘PErak’ (silver)
Qq
Q is pronounced as /ki/ (ki)
Like in ‘KIll’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘KIblat’ (Qibla)
Rr
R is pronounced as /ær/ (er)
Like in ‘ERror’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘ERosi’ (erosion)
Ss
S is pronounced as /æs/ (es)
Like in ‘ESkimo’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘ES’ (ice)
Tt
T is pronounced as /teɪ/ (te)
Like in ‘TEn’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘TEh’ (tea)
Uu
U is pronounced as /ʊ/ (uu)
Like in ‘bOOk’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘Unta’ (camel)
Vv
V is pronounced as /veɪ/ (ve)
Like in ‘VErsus’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘VEspa’ (Vespa)
Ww
W is pronounced as /weɪ/ (we)
Like in ‘WEt’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘WEda’ (Vedas)
Xx
X is pronounced as /æks/ (eks)
Like in ‘X-ray’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘EKSpedisi’ (expedition)
Yy
Y is pronounced as /jeɪ/ (ye)
Like in ‘YEllow’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘YEn’ (Yen)
Zz
Z is pronounced as /zeɪt/ (zet)
Like in ‘ZETta’
Pronunciation example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘ZETizen’ (a youth newspaper based in Surabaya, Indonesia)
Please note that the example in Bahasa Indonesia does not always use the alphabet, but it is more of a show of HOW to PRONOUNCE the alphabet. Especially in the case of Q and X, there are only some words in Bahasa Indonesia that uses these two alphabets and almost all of them are kata serapan.
I will post a video on how to pronounce it. Though don’t be discouraged: even if you botched some pronunciation, Indonesians usually still understand what you are trying to say.
Another thing to note is that almost all of our alphabets are pronounced with a hard sound, though in the words and sentences, they might be pronounced in a soft sound, depending.
Right, now that we know how to pronounce the individual alphabets, let’s take it to another level: how to read words (AKA the combination of alphabets).
As we all know, it is impossible to make a word, much less a sentence, without combining some alphabets. Bahasa Indonesia is different than English in which not one alphabet can stand alone and has a meaning. For example, in the English lexicon, alphabets such as ‘I’ and ‘a’ can stand alone and have meanings. This is not the case in Bahasa Indonesia, though if we’re talking about chatting or online slang then there are such alphabets.
Anyway, we’re trying to learn proper and formal Bahasa Indonesia, so let’s save those slang for when we have understood more of the language. First, let us start with the combinations of vowels.
In Bahasa Indonesia, there are four diphthongs (AKA two vowels read as one syllable):
/ai/ like when you say ‘kite’ (example in bahasa Indonesia: ‘pandAI’ (smart))
/au/ like when you say ‘faux’ (when it’s pronounced in a high speed, it sounds kinda like ‘oo’) (example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘harimAU’ (tiger))
/oi/ like when you say ‘joy’ (example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘bOIkot’ (boycott))
/ei/ like when you say ‘survey’ (example in Bahasa Indonesia: ‘survEI’ (survey))
Note, though, that not every time these two vowels meet each other will it be read as one syllable. How to differentiate them? Why, by practicing a lot and enrich your vocab of course!
Trust me, there really is no way to differentiate them other than using your ‘feeling’ and knowledge. Even some of us don’t exactly know whether it’s a one syllable or two syllable every time we see one. By keep practicing and encountering new words, slowly you will understand by yourself, so just keep on it ^_^
Next, we’re going to the meeting between the alphabets in general. In Bahasa Indonesia, a lot of words have two consonants which are read as one sound, and some these consonants are ‘kh’, ‘ny’, ‘sy’, and ‘ng’. Almost all of these will be directly followed by a vowel. The only exception (maybe, I can only think of this right now :p) is the ‘ngg’ sound.
It might sound strange at first, but to make it easier the first time around, just think of it as voicing ‘ng’ followed directly by ‘g’ and a vowel. For example, the word for ‘mango’ in Bahasa Indonesia is ‘mangga’. You see how there is an ‘ngg’ in there. Now, the word ‘mangga’ can be read as /mɑŋgɑ/ (mang-ga). The ‘ngg’ sound has a hard sound and stress, and is read as one sound.
For the other consonant combination, it is still read as it is. As an example, ‘kh’ is read as a soft ‘kh’ sound, but it can be read as a soft ‘k’. Say, the word ‘khusus’ which means ‘special’ is read as /khʊsʊs/ (khu-sus). The beginning ‘kh’ can be read as either ‘kh’ or a soft ‘k’, though because of our tongue Indonesians mostly say it with a soft ‘k’.
The combinations of consonant and vowel are also read as it is. For example, the word ‘kamera’ which means ‘camera’ is read as /kɑmeɪrɑ/ (ka-me-ra). Another example, the word ‘pisang’ which means ‘banana’ is read as /pisɑng/ (pi-sang). As simple as that!
Of course, when the alphabet ‘E’ came up, things might get a little bit confusing. For example, the word ‘apel’ in the example for alphabet above means ‘apple’. Now, the ‘E’ in this ‘apel’ is the second form, so it is actually read as /ɑpɛl/ (a-pel). However, when you change the ‘E’ sound into the third form, which is read as /ɑpæl/ (a-pel), it does not mean apple anymore! It now means an assembly or rollcall, usually done in the morning. If you say it using the first ‘E’ form, it does not have any particular meaning in Bahasa Indonesia; your listener will probably catch it as whichever meaning in accordance to the sentence’s context.
Relax though, as not many words got changed like that. And even if you botched up your ‘E’ pronunciation, people can still get what you are trying to say in line with the sentence’s context. Another thing to note about words in Bahasa Indonesia is that we have a lot of words ending in consonants. Which is probably why, say, a Japanese person, might have difficulties on pronouncing some words, because their mother language does not have any words ending with consonants (as far as I know).
For the real application, you can try to read or listen one of my translation of Indonesia’s local folktales or myths, or even try to look for songs in Bahasa Indonesia. A lot of our songs are actually quite good, and we have some movies that are great as well!
Conclussion of today’s lesson:
Remember, combinations of alphabets in Bahasa Indonesia is read as is!
Trivia:
In Bahasa Indonesia, consonant and vowel are called ‘huruf mati’ and ‘huruf hidup’ respectively. ‘Huruf’ translates as alphabet or letter, while ‘mati’ literally means ‘dead’ and ‘hidup’ means alive. Quite grotesque sounding; the alphabet became something like a matter of life and death (*x*)
Edit 18/08/20 : The video for Alphabets A-M is up on Youtube! Click the link below to watch it^^
Edit 20/8/20: The video for alphabets N-Z is also up now! It also has a review off all alphabets pronunciation. Check it in the link below~
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