Indonesian slang language

Indonesian Slang Language (Bahasa Gaul or Bahasa Prokem) is a non-formal language of Indonesia mainly spoken in urban areas.

Contents
1 History
2 Classification
3 Geographic distribution

3.1 Official status

4 Sounds
5 Grammar
6 Vocabulary

6.1 General Words and Phrases
6.2 Particles
6.3 Sexual Slangs
6.4 Swear Words

7 Vocabulary Evolution

7.1 Before 1980s
7.2 1980s
7.3 1990s
7.4 2000s

8 Region Specific Slangs

8.1 Bandung Slang
8.2 Jakarta Slang
8.3 Manado Slang
8.4 Medan Slang
8.5 Pontianak Slang
8.6 Surabaya Slang
8.7 Yogyakarta Slang

9 See also
10 External links

History

Indonesian Slang Language, or natively known as Bahasa Gaul or Bahasa Prokem, is an informal branch of Indonesian Language.

Its native name Bahasa Gaul means Language for socialization, as gaul means to be socialised. This terms is coined in late 90s.

Whereas Bahasa Prokem, which was coined in early 80s, means Language of gangsters or free-man, as prokem is a slang form of preman derived from Dutch word of free-man which means gangster.

Indonesian Slang Language is mainly in spoken form in social mileu and in popular media (Radio, TV, Movies), and to certain extent is used in publications such as teen magazines or pop culture magazines. One can say, Indonesian Slang Language is the primary language for oral communication spoken by everybody in the daily life, except for formal speeches. It would be very unusual to communicate orally to people using formal Indonesian Language.

Indonesian Slang Language is an ever-evolving language, as many words quickly become outdated and obsolete because of trends.

Classification

There is no formal classification of Indonesian Slang Language, except perhaps that it is a subclass of Indonesian language.

Geographic distribution

Indonesian Slang Language is mainly spoken in urban areas. There are different variations of slang language depending on which city you are in, mainly characterised by derivatives of different local ethnic languages. For example, in Bandung, West Java, the slang language contains vocabulary from Sundanese language (See Region Specific Slang below)

Official status

Indonesian Slang Language is not the official language of Indonesia, although it is widely used for oral communication in daily life.

Sounds

The way Indonesian Slang Language is pronounced is the same as Indonesian Language. Words borrowed from other language such as English or Dutch are transliterated in Indonesian pronunciation, for example, Please written as Plis, or, Married written as 'Merit.

For more, and to listen to examples, see SEASite Guide to Pronunciation of Indonesian

Grammar

Indonesian Slang Language structure and grammar are not so much different from formal Indonesian Language, albeit in many cases sentences are simplified or shortened when necessary. The major differences between Indonesian Language and Indonesian Slang Language are mainly vocabulary.

Vocabulary

Indonesian Slang Language structure is derived mainly from formal Indonesian Language. Its vocabulary expands from a combination of derivatives or borrowing from other languages such as Hokkien, English, Dutch, or local ethnic languages such as Betawi, Sundanese, or Javanese. In many cases, even, the vocabulary is not derived from anywhere at all.

According to Nyoman Riasa, some of the slang language vocabulary was transformed from formal Indonesian Language through several way:

Some words are transliteration of english language, for example:

Many words also emerged without following the above rules at all. Sometime the words have their own unique history or origin.

General Words and Phrases

This entry will list words and phrases that are accepted formally as Indonesian Slang, which are not Region Specific (See below), and which are never considered as outdated.

Particles

Sexual Slangs

Swear Words

Vocabulary Evolution

Before 1980s

List of words and phrases commonly used in the 1980s:

1980s

1980s is the era of Bahasa Prokem. In this era, slang language vocabulary was formed by inserting '-ok-' at the first syllable of a word, and deleting off the last syllable, creating totally new word.

For example, the word Bapak is broken into B-ok-apak and the last -ak is deleted, and the resulting word is Bokap which used as a slang for Father, even until now.

The word Sekolah (School) is transformed into Skokul, but this word is slowly become outdated and by 1990s the word is not used anymore. (currently transformed into simply: skul)

Notable words like memble, kece, sentence attribute Nih ye, exclamation Alamakjan! emerged in the 1980s decade.

List of words and phrases commonly used in the 1980s:

1990s

List of words and phrases commonly used in the 1990s:

2000s

A genre of slang language in the 2000 originated from the Indonesian gay community, and popularized by Debby Sahertian in her Kamus Bahasa Gaul or Slang Language Dictionary. The method of transforming a word is to use a different word which has a similar sound. For example, the word mau (want), is replaced by the word mawar which originally means rose. Hence the sentence became quite complicated to understand:

Akika tinta mawar Macarena originated from Aku tidak mau makan which means I do not want to eat

List of words and phrases commonly used in the 2000s:

Region Specific Slangs

The region specific slangs are arranged in alphabetical order.

Bandung Slang

Bandung, is the city in west java with predominantly Sundanese culture. Sundanese language has three levels: High (polite), Normal, and Low (rough and impolite). Bandung Slang mostly uses derivative of Low Sundanese words such as Aing, Maneh, etc.

One distinct characteristic in Bandung Slang grammar is generous insertion of the word Anjing in a sentence. The word Anjing means Dog or Bitch, but its usage in Bandung Slang is merely for emphasis and not as swearword.

For example: Nasi Goreng Jalan Madura ngeunah pisan, anjing! which means Fried Rice in Jalan Madura is really delicious, gosh!

However, Anjing is also used as swearword if used independently in a sentence. For example: Anjing Siah! means You Biatch!

Jakarta Slang

To be written

Manado Slang

Manado Slang or also known as Logat Manado is widely used all over the North Sulawesi province. It is used casually in everyday life and sometimes used in formal occasions.
Many words are similar to the national language Bahasa Indonesia, the technical information can be found in Manado Malay section of this encyclopedia.

Some of the simple words that visitors should know when they travel to Manado are:

Some words and phrases that are more temporary mostly used by young people:

Some cuss words are:

Medan Slang

To be written

Pontianak Slang

Pontianak slang is influenced by bahasa malaysia, teo chew and dayaknese. It is spoken in malay dialect.

Surabaya Slang

Dancuk, dancik, cuk, dancrit = fuck

Yogyakarta Slang

According to Aksara Jawa Site, Yogyakarta Slang is also known as Basa Walikan. It is a transformation from Javanese language, in which Javanese traditional character sequences are being switched with one another, using the formula below:

  1. ha na ca ra ka =======> pa dha ja ya nya
  2. da ta sa wa la =======> ma ga ba tha nga
  3. pa dha ja ya nya =====> ha na ca ra ka
  4. ma ga ba tha nga =====> da ta sa wa la

Using the above manner, the exclamation word Matamu! (which means: Your Eyes!) is transformed into Dagadu!

See also

External links

See also: Indonesian slang language, Common phrases in different languages, Demographics of Indonesia, Dutch, English language, Hokkien, Indonesia, Indonesian, Javanese, Language