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Welcome to
“Indonesian phrases”! Here, you can learn practical phrases in Bahasa Indonesia
(lit. “the Indonesian language”), my mother tongue. Well, perhaps you don’t know, where Indonesia is? Let me tell you then..
ABOUT INDONESIA..
Indonesia, my beloved homeland,
is a tropical paradise, located on the equator line in Southeast Asia. Consisting of thousands
of island, and stretching from east to west, 1,5 times as wide as the US,
it is home to 350 ethnics, speaking 200 completely different languages! Without the establishment of Bahasa Indonesia in the 1920s, mutual intelligibility wouldn’t be possible (just like what would happen
to my mom & dad, since my mom is a Sundanese and my father is a Javanese).
Indonesia is
also the place where the world’s great rain forest, ¼ world’s fauna species, Orangutans, Borneo, Bali, and nice vacant beaches are to be found. The oldest known Homo sapiens species
(Palaeojavanicus), the world’s largest Buddhist temple (the Borobudur), and the world's largest Muslim population (not in Arabia!) find their home here too. Make a visit here! Surely you’ll
never forget it! =)
PRONUNCIATION
GUIDANCE:
Indonesia
is often said as a language without accent. Words are read fairly flat.
Only pitch is given at the end of a sentence, when it is an interrogative sentence.
In Indonesian,
each letter is pronounced exactly the same as it is spelled:
a – is always
read like the clear “u” in “under”.
i – is always read like the clear “i” in “intimate”.
u - is always read like "u" in "Guyana"
e – is sometimes read like the clear “e” in “french”.
o – is always read like the clear “o”
in “O'hara”.
c - is always read like "ch" in
"chopper"
g - is always read like "g" in "Guyana"
j - is always read like "j" in
"jeopardy"
k - when at the end of word, read as a voiceless stop
r - is read as a trilled "r"
ng – is always
read as one sound like the clear “ng” in “working”.
ny – is always
read as one sound like the “ñ” in Spanish “señorita”
As a foreigner,
it always works, to read every syllable in Indonesian words slowly and clearly,
in order to be understood. Additional dashes are given below in order to help.
Since Indonesian
is a hierarchial language, where different speech form is used to address people from different social status, use "Bapak"
in the phrases below if you address an older man/a man you wish to respect, "Ibu" for a woman, and "kamu"
for a person coming exactly from your age.
PHRASES:
Hello!
Good morning! Good afternoon! Good evening!
Hi! Se-la-mat pa-gi! Se-la-mat si-(y)ang! Se-la-mat ma-lam!
Can you speak Indonesian?
A-pa-kah
Ba-pak/I-bu/ka-mu bi-sa ba-ha-sa In-do-ne-sia?
Yes, (I
speak) a little. No, (I can't speak) at all.
Ya, sa-ya bi-sa se-di-kit. Ti-dak,
sa-ya ti-dak bi-sa sa-ma se-ka-li.
I don't
understand.
Sa-ya ti-dak me-nger-ti.
Please
speak (in) English [when you are forced =)]
To-long, bi-ca-ra ba-ha-sa Ing-gris.
(Could
you) pls repeat that?
To-long u-la-ngi.
(Could
you) pls write that?
To-long tu-lis.
What's your name?
Si-a-pa na-ma Ba-pak/I-bu/ka-mu?
My
name is....
Na-ma sa-ya....
How
are you ?
Ba-gai-ma-na ka-bar Ba-pak/I-bu/ka-mu?
I'm
fine, I'm sick.
Sa-ya se-hat. Sa-ya sa-kit.
Where
do you live?
Di-ma-na Ba-pak/I-bu/ka-mu ting-gal?
I live
in...
Sa-ya ting-gal di..
I want
to.. work, finish this, eat, pray, take a rest, go home.
Sa-ya ma-u.. be-ker-ja, me-nye-le-sai-kan
ini, ma-kan, ber-do-a, is-ti-ra-hat,
pu-lang.
Do
you want to come with?
Apa-kah Ba-pak/I-bu/ka-mu
ma-u i-kut?
Yes,
of course. No, I'm sorry.
Ya, ten-tu. Ti-dak, ma-af.
Let's
eat! Let's go! Let's take a rest! Come on! Come inside!
A-yo ma-kan! A-yo
per-gi! A-yo is-ti-ra-hat! Ayo-lah! Ayo ma-suk!
Thank
you. You are welcome.
Te-ri-ma ka-sih. Sa-ma-sa-ma.
Good
bye!
Daag! (read as daaH, a loanword from Dutch)
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