Learning Bahasa Indonesia – Pronouns

Bahasa Indonesian uses the following pronouns.

First Person

• Saya (standard, polite),
• Aku (informal, familiar),
• Kami (excl.),
• Kita (incl.)

Second Person

• Anda (polite, formal),
• Saudara (male)/Saudari(female) (polite, formal)
• Kamu (familiar, informal),
• Kau (familiar, informal),
• Engkau (familiar, informal),
• Kalian (plural, informal),
• Anda sekalian (plural, formal),
• Saudara(i)-saudara(i) (polite)

Third Person
Ia,
Dia,
Beliau (addressing to high respected person )
Mereka


Saya (I – me – my)
‘Saya’ as a first personal pronoun means ‘I’ whether it’s subject or object. For non-formal conversation, or among people in the same age, the word ‘aku’ is sometime used. ‘Aku’ is sometime shortened become ‘ku’ in possessive pronoun. Like ‘ibu saya’ or ‘ibu aku’ or ‘ibuku’ means ‘my mother’. Even, ‘aku’ is sometime shortened become ‘ku’ following verb.

Example:
Saya seorang sopir (I am a driver)
Ibu saya memberi saya sepeda baru (My mother gives me a new bike)
Ibu saya memberi aku sepeda baru (My mother gives me a new bike)
Ibu saya memberiku sepeda baru (My mother gives me a new bike)
Saya mengirim email kepada teman saya (I send an email to my friend)
Aku suka ayam goreng (I like fried chicken)
Bapak aku sedang sakit (My father is sick)
Aku sedang sibuk (I am busy)
Elizabeth membantu aku mengetik surat (Elizabeth helps me type a letter)
Elizabeth membantuku mengetik surat (Elizabeth helps me type a letter)


Kamu (You – you – your)
‘Kamu’ as a second personal pronoun means ‘you’. But ‘kamu’ can not be applied in every situation as well as to address any person we talk to. The word used for ‘you’ depends on the age, gender, and social position of the person you are addressing and the situation. When in doubt, it is better to be more formal than too casual.

It is not suggested to use ‘Kamu’ to people who are older and/or higher in rank because you will be perceived as rude, impolite, and disrespectful. The word ‘kamu’ is almost never said to older person. It is better to use ‘Anda’ or ‘Saudara’ instead of ‘Kamu’
On the other hand, it is always OK to use ‘kamu’ to people who are younger and/or lower in rank than us. Although, using ‘Anda’ is okay to respect others. ‘Anda’ is used in singular or plural.

Example:
Kamu boleh pulang jam 10 (You may go home at 10 o’clock)
Bapak memberi kamu uang untuk membeli buku (Father gives you some money to buy a book)
Semua orang menyukai kamu (All people like you)
Anda sangat baik sekali (You are very kind to me)
Saya berharap Anda semua dapat membantu saya (I hope you all can help me)
Saya berharap Saudara semua dapat membantu saya (I hope you all can help me)
Senang bertemu Anda (It’s nice to meet you)
Bantuan Anda sangat diperlukan (Your helps are needed here)
Bantuan Saudara sangat diperlukan (Your helps are needed here)



Kalian (You)
‘Kalian’ as a second personal pronoun means ‘you’ in plural form. Almost the same as single ‘you’ or ‘kamu’, ‘kalian’ can not be applied in every situation as well as to address any person we talk to. The word ‘kalian’ also depends on the age, gender, and social position of the person you are addressing and the situation.
It is not suggested to use ‘kalian’ to people who are older and/or higher in rank because you will be perceived as rude, impolite, and disrespectful. The word ‘kalian’ is almost never said to older person. It is better to use ‘Anda sekalian’ instead of ‘kalian’ to respect others. Although ‘Anda’ is used in singular or plural, sometimes we may use ‘Anda sekalian’ or ‘Anda semua’

Example:
Kalian boleh pulang jam 10 (You may go home at 10 o’clock)
Bapak memberi kalian uang untuk membeli buku (Father gives you some money to buy a book)
Semua orang menyukai kalian (All people like you)
Anda semua sangat baik sekali (You are very kind to me)
Saya berharap Anda sekalian dapat membantu saya (I hope you all can help me)
Senang bertemu Anda semua (It’s nice to meet you)


Kami (We – us – our)
'Kami' (exclusive/excludes listener) is used when the person or people being spoken to are not included. Kami (we, referring to 1st and 3rd person),

Example:
Kami akan pergi ke Jakarta besok (We will go to Jakarta tomorrow); the listener is not in a part of the speaker or the speaker will go with other persons.
Kami memiliki rumah baru (We have a new house)
Rumah kami dekat dengan sungai (Our house is close to the river)


Kita (We)
'Kita' (inclusive/includes listener) includes the opposite party. The usage of ‘kami’ or ‘kita’ is increasingly confused in colloquial Indonesian. Kita (we, referring to 1st and 2nd person)

Example:
Kita akan pergi ke Jakarta besok (We will go to Jakarta tomorrow); the listener is in a part of the speaker or the speaker will go with the listener.
Kita harus pulang (We must go home)
Ibu sedang menunggu kita di rumah (Mother is waiting for us at home)
Rumah kita dekat dengan sungai (Our house is close to the river)


Mereka (They – them – their)
‘Mereka’ is the third party (persons, animals, things) in plural form. In Bahasa Indonesia, ‘mereka’ is commonly used for persons and animals, rarely for things.

Example:
Anak-anak sedang bermain sepak bola, mereka sangat gembira (The children are playing footbal, they are very happy)
Kupu-kupu itu sangat cantik, aku menyukai mereka (Those butterflies are very beautiful, I like them)
Kemarin bapak membeli 5 buku. Buku-buku tersebut diatas meja (Yesterday father bought 5 books. They are on the table)

Dia (He – him – his)
Dia (She – her – her)
‘Dia’ is third person singular. In bahasa Indonesia, there is not any different for ‘dia’. It is used both for male and female. Sometimes, suffix ‘-nya’ is used to refer ‘dia’.
To people who are older and/or higher in rank, ‘beliau’ is used to give respect.


Example:
Santi adalah siswa Sekolah Dasar, dia pergi ke sekolah jalan kaki (Santi is an elementary school student, she goes to school on foot)
Benny sedang membantu bapaknya, dia adalah anak yang rajin (Benny is helping his father, he is a diligent boy)
Mr. Surya seorang guru, beliau berasal dari Surabaya (Mr. Surya is a teacher, he comes from Surabaya)
Joe adalah anak yang baik, aku suka padanya (Joe is a good boy, I like him)


Dia (It – it – its)
As above, ‘dia’ is third person singular. In bahasa Indonesia, there is rarely found ‘dia’ referring ‘non-living thing’. Sometimes, suffix ‘-nya’ is used to replace ‘dia’.

Example:
Aku memiliki buku baru, aku meletakkannya didalam tas (I have a new book, I put it on my bag)
Ayah membelikan aku sepeda baru, aku membawanya ke sekolah (Father bought me a new bike, I bring it to school)


OK, I think it’s time to have a rest, ……………
See you at the next lesson!!



Reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_language
http://www.bahasakita.com/
http://pusatbahasa.diknas.go.id/kbbi/index.php
http://kamus.orisinil.com/
http://bahasa-indonesia.com/index.html

Learning Bahasa Indonesia - Pronunciation

Like we said in our last article that learning Bahasa Indonesia should be very enjoyable, due to the fact that it is simple language to learn. Almost many of the words are spelled and read as they are. The basic word order/syntax in Bahasa Indonesian is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). There are not any changes of the VERB in a different adverb of time. There are no TENSES in bahasa Indonesia.

For example:
I read a book (Saya membaca buku)
Alice reads a book (Alice membaca buku)

I am reading a book (Saya sedang membaca buku)
Alice is reading a book (Alice sedang membaca buku)

I read a book yesterday (Saya membaca buku kemarin)
Alice read a book yesterday (Alice membaca buku kemarin)

I will read a book tomorrow (Saya akan membaca buku besok)
Alice will read a book tomorrow (Alice akan membaca buku besok)


How to pronounce?
For foreign language speakers, colloquial Bahasa Indonesia is perhaps among the easiest to learn. Unlike Thailand language, Korean, Japanese, Arabic or Chinese, Indonesian uses the Roman alphabet, and spelling is consistently phonetic. Basic intonation is generally conventional: rising intonation for questions and falling intonation for statements. Words are segmented into syllables all of which receive almost equal stress and are pronounced almost equally one by one. And, there is no TENSES.

Alphabeth
A a ------------- J je ------------- S es
B be ------------- K ka ------------- T te
C ce ------------- L el ------------- U u
D de ------------- M em ------------- V ve
E e ------------- N en ------------- W we
F ef ------------- O o ------------- X eks
G ge ------------- P pe ------------- Y ye
H ha ------------- Q ki ------------- Z zet
I i ------------- R er


Vowels
There are five vowels in bahasa Indonesia.

a always pronounced like the a in 'father', ‘car’
example:
api (fire) padi (rice) kepala (head)
apakah(what) makan (eat) bapak (father)
baju (clothes)

e has two different pronunciations, 'e' is pronounced like the e in 'enjoy' and 'establish'
example:
empat (four) beli (buy) beras (rice)
kelapa (coconut) penat (tired)

e is also pronounced similar to the 'e' in ‘red’
example:
enak (delicious) desa (village) bebek (duck)
pensil (pencil) keju (cheese)

e is also pronounced similar to the 'e' in 'republic'
example:
republik (republic)
presiden (president)
demo (strike)

i always pronounced like the ee in 'meet' or 'bee'
example:
ini (this) itu (that) biji (seed)
ikan (fish) ingat (remember)

o always pronounced like the o in 'go' but short
example:
toko (shop) kota (city) koran (newspaper)
radio (radio) obat (medicine)

o always pronounced like the o in ‘saw’
example:
botol (bottle)
kotor (dirty)
kompor (stove)

u always pronounced like the oo in 'spoon' and 'tooth'
example:
buku (book) guru (teacher) untuk (for)
tubuh (body) bubur (porridge)



Diphthongs
Diphthongs are made by combining vowels with one another.
ai pronounced like the word 'eye'
example:
lantai (floor)
pantai (beach)
kaisar (emperor)

au pronounced like the ow in 'cow' and 'now'
example:
kemarau (drough) pulau (island)
walau (although) engkau (you)
aura (aura) audit (audit)

oi is similar to the oi sound in 'boy'
example:
koboi (cowboy)
boikot (boycott)



Consonants
There are 21 main consonants in Indonesian, (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z). Most consonants are pronounced roughly as in English (close enough to get you by). Some consonants are influenced by Arabic (like ‘q’) and for scientific usage (like ‘x’). There are some consonants that need additional attention, including double consonants as follows:

c always pronounced like ch in 'chicken'
example:
cari (search)
cinta (love)
benci (hate)

g always hard as in 'girl'
example:
garam (salt)
gula (sugar)
gelas (glass)
surga (heaven)

h normally very soft in the beginning or middle of a word; in the final position, h must be pronounced audibly
example:
hidup (live)
tahun (year)
buruh (laborer)
membunuh (kill)

kh represents one phonetic unit, and is found primarily in words of Arabic derivation
example:
akhir (end, last)
mutakhir (sophisticated)
makhluk (creature)
khusus (special)

ng pronounced much like the ng in 'hanger'; notice that ng may occur at the beginning of a word
example:
mengantuk (sleepy)
tangan (hand)
datang (come)
ngengat (moth)

ngg pronounced like the ng in 'finger' and 'tango'
example:
panggil (call)
tunggu (wait)
pinggul (hip)

ny similar to the ny in 'canyon'
example:
nyamuk (mosquito)
tanya (ask)
banyak (many)

r trilled or rolled, as it is in Spanish
example:
rakus (greedy)
seratus (a hundred)
baru (new)
belajar (learn)

k at the end of a syllable, k serves as a glotal stop and is never aspirated (no puff of air)
example:
kata (word)
katak (frog)
anak (child)

sy hissing sound, similar to the sy in 'symbol'
example:
syukur (praise)
syahdu (quiet)
musyawarah (deliberation)




See you in the next lesson, ...........



Reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_language
http://www.bahasakita.com/
http://pusatbahasa.diknas.go.id/kbbi/index.php
http://kamus.orisinil.com/
http://bahasa-indonesia.com/index.html

Learning Bahasa Indonesia (Introduction)

Why should we learn Indonesian Language? Indonesian language (or Bahasa Indonesia) is the official national language of Indonesia. It is based on a version of Malay from the Riau islands in western Indonesia. It was first declared the official language with the declaration of Indonesian independence in 1945, following the 1928 unifying-language declaration in the Indonesian Youth Pledge.

Almost 100% of Indonesia's 240 million inhabitants speak the language and it is one of most widely spoken languages in the world. Most Indonesians, aside from speaking the national language, are fluent in another regional language or local dialect (examples include Minangkabau, Batak, Atjeh, Sundanese, Javanese, Madura, Balinese, Papua, etc) that are commonly used at home and within the local community.

Over the years, the Bahasa Indonesian, mostly through trade contacts, international media and international relationship, have been influenced and expanded by foreign languages such as Sanskrit, Tamil, Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch, and English. By having the ability to communicate in Bahasa Indonesia, foreigners, travellers, business people or whoever will feel so helpfull to relate to the Indonesian people, get comfort where you want to go, and get safe much more out of visits. Moreover, there are a lot of beautiful natural tourism destinations in this country, not just BALI.

So, learning Bahasa Indonesia should be very enjoyable, due to the fact that it is simple language to learn. Almost many of the words are spelled and read as they are. The basic word order/syntax in Bahasa Indonesian is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). There are not any changes of the VERB in a different adverb of time.


For example:
I read a book (Saya membaca buku)
Alice reads a book (Alice membaca buku)

I am reading a book (Saya sedang membaca buku)
Alice is reading a book (Alice sedang membaca buku)

I read a book yesterday (Saya membaca buku kemarin)
Alice read a book yesterday (Alice membaca buku kemarin)

I will read a book tomorrow (Saya akan membaca buku besok)
Alice will read a book tomorrow (Alice akan membaca buku besok)



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Is it so simple? We will come back……
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Reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_language
http://www.bahasakita.com/
http://pusatbahasa.diknas.go.id/kbbi/index.php
http://kamus.orisinil.com/
http://bahasa-indonesia.com/index.html
http://www.asia-atlas.com/maps/indonesia-map.jpg
http://www.digitcom-tech.co.ae/world_big.jpg