How to pronounce the consonant 'k'

This is another time for me to keep my promise. As I told you in one of my previous posts, Indonesian Alphabet, the consonant 'k' is not always pronounced the same way.
The consonant 'k' when put as the first letter of a word is always read just like 'k' in king, kayak, kind, etc. When put at the end of a syllable, there are two ways to pronounce it.

2  ways to pronounce 'k' at the end of a syllable:

1. Clear 'k' sound almost like kayak or block but without trailing 'h' sound like how most English speakers pronounce them. Some of Indonesian words that use this pronunciation are: kotak (box), masak (cook or ripe), kelak (later), kerak (crust), ketiak (armpit), botak (bald), cetak (print), dongkrak (jack (tool)), enak (tasty, delicious, nice, good), gerak (movement, move), taktik (tactics), taksi (taxi), paksa (force (not physics term)), etc. Most 'k' at the end of a syllable are pronounced this way.
2. 'k' pronounced as glottal stop. Example of this are: bakso (meatball), kakak (older brother/sister), kakek (grandfather), bapak (father), tokek (gecko), nenek (grandmother), etc. Most words using the second 'k' pronunciation come from local languages (minangese, javanese, etc.)

I don't know how to determine which 'k' is pronounced the first way or the second way. I just memorized them. Since there are only a few words that are pronounced the second way, you wouldn't have a hard time to do it.

Continue reading →

Indefinite Articles

In English there are only two indefinite articles which are "a" and "an". In Bahasa Indonesia there are many. But they are not  differentiated by what sound in the first syllable comes after the articles. They are distinguished by the types of the noun which is divided into three main articles: sebuah (for non-living thing and plant), seekor (for animal), and seorang (for human).

The "se-" morpheme here means satu (one). But you can't use it directly combined with the noun. Because it will mean other things. For example: if you combine se- with rumah (house) it will become serumah which means "living in the same house" not "a house". To say "a house" you say sebuah rumah.
Anyway sebuah is not an accurate way to call any non living things or plants. Sebuah should only be used if you don't know the exact singular indefinite articles for that certain non living thing or plant.

I will show you some common indefinite articles and their noun examples.
Sehelai (a strand) => kain (cloth), pakaian (clothes), kertas (paper), rambut (hair), benang (thread), etc. Usually any thin things you can wave. Your hand is not one of them because it's not thin.

Secarik (a scrap) => kertas, surat (letter). Basically a piece of paper.

Sebatang (a rod/stick) => pohon (tree), kayu (wood), rokok (cigarette), etc.

Sebongkah (a chunk) => batu (stone, the big one), berlian (diamond, the big one), emas (gold, the big one), etc.

Setangkai (a stalk) => bunga (flower), or any kinds of flower: mawar (rose), anggrek (orchid), melati (jasmine), etc.
And many others.

But nowadays, many Indonesian just use sebuah to make it simple in a formal writing even sometimes not specify any articles, let alone in a conversation. For example: "John just bought a t-shirt in that store" would become "John baru saja membeli baju kaos (not specified whether it is one t-shirt or many) di toko itu" in some formal writing and would become "John barusan beli kaos di toko itu" in everyday conversation.

Continue reading →

How to pronounce vowels in words

As I promised in my previous post, I will explain to you the sound of vowels, especially 'e'. Vowel is huruf vokal in Indonesia. There are only two pronunciations (mainly) for 'e' even though there is only one way to write it, which is just 'e'.

2 ways to pronounce 'e':
(1). 'e' sound which similar to e in taken. Also known as schwa. For example: mengapa (why), kenapa (synonym of mengapa), kelas (class), beban (weight), and so on.
(2). 'e' sound which similar to e in best. For example: enak (delicious), bebek (duck), lelang (auction), apotek (pharmacy store), and so on.

Unofficially, there is another type of 'e' sound, the one that doesn't pronounced at all. For example: selamat (in terms of greeting or congratulating, most Indonesian read it as if there is no 'e') sounds like 'slamat' , terima sounds like 'trima' (you can see phrase examples of these words in Greetings and special greetings), etc. But if it's to be spoken clearly then the pronunciation should sound like number (1).

Unlike in English, other vowels are to be pronounced consistently the same as I mentioned it in my previous post. 'A' is always pronounced ah, just like 'u' in buddy, bunny, lust, unknown, etc. You know how to pronounced 'Bali', right? Yeah, it's just like that. I, O and U are also always pronounced as the way you read the Indonesian alphabet (as I taught in my previous post, Indonesian Alphabet).

Examples:
tebak (guess) <=> father (the 'e' pronounced as 'e' in number  (1))
bohong (lie, not telling the truth) <=> in soap
lihat (see) <=> see
bubuk (powder) <=> bluetooth

Just a fun fact: In Sundanese (language that ethnic Sunda in West Java province are using) there is a diphthong, eu, which sounds like the swinged version of schwa. Not all Indonesian can make this sound.

Continue reading →

Greetings and special greetings

Greetings is called ucapan salam or sapaan in Bahasa Indonesia. Let's start with common greetings.

Hello  ==>  Halo
Hi  ==>  Hai (pronounced exactly the same as hi in english)
Welcome  ==>  Selamat datang
Good morning  ==>  Selamat pagi
Good day ==>  Selamat siang (when you meant to greet someone in midday)

If you want to state that it is a good day then you say Hari yang baik or Hari yang menyenangkan.
Good afternoon  ==>  Selamat sore
Good evening  ==>  Selamat malam
Good night  ==>  when you (or the one you talk to) is about to go to bed, then you say Selamat tidur (Have a (good) sleep!)
Good bye  ==>  Selamat tinggal or Selamat jalan

Nice to meet you  ==>  Senang berkenalan dengan Anda/kamu (close literal translation: (I am) delighted to be acquainted with you)
Thank you == Terima kasih (l.t.: take (this) love)
You're welcome == Sama-sama (inf.)(l.t.: also (feeling) the same (here)), kembali (l.t.: back (at you))
Excuse me == Permisi or maaf (inf.)
Special greetings that you only say occasionally:
Have fun  ==>  Selamat bersenang-senang

Happy anniversary  ==>  Selamat ulang tahun pernikahan or Selamat hari jadi
Happy birthday  ==>  Selamat ulang tahun
Happy Easter  ==>  Selamat hari Paskah
Happy holiday  ==>  Selamat berlibur
Merry Christmas  ==>  Selamat hari Natal or Selamat Natal
Good luck  ==>  Semoga berhasil (lit. trans.: I hope (you) succeed. Semoga = I hope; berhasil = succeed, successful)

Other greetings that probably don't have any equivalence in english:

Selamat mencicipi  ==>  when you let the one(s) you talk to (and yourself) taste (a) food(s) or (a) drink(s) after you/someone served them. Probably equivalent to French bon appétit. (mencicipi = tasting)
Selamat mencoba  ==>  when you let him/her/them try something (usually an activity, but also opens in possibilty for foods or drinks or toys or other things). (mencoba = trying)
Selamat menikmati  ==>  when you let him/her/them enjoy something (usually foods or drinks). (menikmati = enjoying)
Selamat makan  ==>  when you let the one(s) you talk to (and yourself) eat. Close equivalence in english for this is "enjoy your meal/food". (makan = to eat)

You must be wondering, what are the differences between selamat mencicipi, selamat menikmati, and selamat makan?
Before you say selamat mencicipi usually you already talked about the food. Maybe it's because you just learned how to cook, or you learned a new recipe, or you hire a new cook. And you can say this when you also join them in tasting the food.

In selamat menikmati, you let other(s) eats food in which you have a confidence that the food will taste at least good/enjoyable. You usually see this in a restaurant take out box. Selamat menikmati also opens for any case of enjoyment.

In selamat makan, you say it before he/she/they (and you) eat. It's similar to itadakimasu in japanese. Only in selamat makan the purpose is not to thank god for the food, but simply saying let's eat now or you may eat now in a more cheerful but polite way.

Continue reading →

Indonesian Alphabet

Alphabet is called alfabet or abjad in Indonesia. Alphabet in Indonesia is similar to english alphabet. The difference lies only in the pronunciation.

Unlike in english, in Bahasa you can count on every letter to always sound the same (except for vowel 'e', consonant 'k' and some diphthongs which we will learn later) in any words. In English, 'g' in 'game' is pronounced differently from 'g' in 'magic'. In Bahasa, it's always the 'g' as in 'game' , 'go', 'greet', 'magazine', 'magnet', 'logo', etc.
Let's get started.

Continue reading →