Introduction
A brief introduction to Indonesian
Indonesian is the national language of the world’s fourth-largest nation, spoken by at least 70% of the nation’s 250 million people. It is a mother tongue to over 27%, connecting speakers of 750 regional languages. As a variety of Malay, it is also understood in Singapore and Malaysia, making it a major language of Southeast Asia. An Austrone-sian language, modern Indonesian developed from Riau Malay into the official language of post-war independent Indonesia. It has borrowed widely from other languages and absorbed myriad influences, making it dynamic and always in flux.
Indonesian is considered relatively easy to learn, having very regular grammar. Adjectives follow the noun, as in French, and there is a wide range of verbs. Word order generally follows a subject-verb-object pattern. Words may be left out if the context is clear. Pronunciation is similar to Spanish or Italian, although accents vary.
| Vowels: | a | as in father |
| e | mostly as in loosen (swallowed “shwa” sound); sometimes as in egg. In older texts this is written as é | |
| i | as in marine | |
| o | as in open | |
| u | as in blue | |
| Diphthongs: | ai | as in aisle |
| au | as in sauerkraut | |
| Consonants: | as in English, except for: | |
| c | like ch in child | |
| g | always hard, as in gum, never soft as in gem | |
| kh | throaty sound as in loch | |
| ng | as in thing | |
| ngg | as in finger (ng+g) | |
| r | rolled, as in Spanish | |
| sy | sh as in show |
This pocket Indonesian dictionary aims to represent the modern, standard usage of Indonesian, through common entries, new terminology and authentic terms, as well as identify parts of speech. A helpful, unusual feature is that this volume does not presume knowledge of word structure, which is vital when using most quality Indonesian dictionaries. For example, the word mengalahkan is listed under mengalahkan as well as its base, kalah in this dictionary. In most dictionaries, only the latter would appear.
Selection of entries
By definition, a pocket dictionary is a selection of useful words and phrases, rather than a complete compendium. This dictionary attempts to reflect general, everyday usage throughout Indonesia and the English-speaking world, including words that are important to students, language learners and tourists. American spelling is used. Entries cover survival language for tourists, common everyday words, national culture and language heard on the street.
Guide to using this dictionary
The dictionary is divided into two sections, Indonesian–English and English–Indonesian.
| menghadap | entry (in bold type) |
| halang: halangan | first word is not found (or commonly used) alone. Sub-entries follow after semi-colon, in bold black type |
| V | word type (ie part of speech). Not always given if more than one word type exists. eg. cas charge (could be N, V) |
| child N children | irregular plurals follow the noun symbol N |
| put V put put | irregular past tense forms (simple past and past perfect) follow the verb symbol V |
| [nait] | irregularly-spelt words are given in Indonesian phonetic pronunciation |
| malam | meaning (in plain type) |
| session, meeting; hearing | Similar meanings are divided by commas; other meanings are divided by a semi-colon |
| ~ tiri stepmother; bahasa ~ mother tongue | Entries or sub-entries are indicated by ~ (in italics). On the left, ~ represents ibu. |
| ouch! ow! (expressions of pain) to (be able to) speak or use a language | Round brackets contain additional information; or perhaps an extra meaning. |
| baik ... maupun ... both ... and ... | ... represents any word, in a set phrase |
| bersih, membersihkan, pembersih handwriting N [handraiting] tulisan tangan ← hand | Where possible, all entries and sub-entries are grouped alphabetically. A left-pointing arrow indicates the base word. |
| abis → habis became → become | A right-pointing arrow shows an entry for further information or reference; or the base of an irregular past tense verb form. |
List of Abbreviations
| ABBREV | abbreviation |
| ADJ | adjective |
| ADV | adverb |
| ARCH | archaic |
| CATH | Catholic |
| CHILD | child(ren) |
| CHR | Christian |
| COLL | colloquial |
| CONJ | conjunction |
| DEROG | derogatory |
| EJAC | ejaculation |
| F | feminine |
| GR | greeting |
| HIND | Hindu |
| ISL | Islamic |
| M | masculine |
| N | noun |
| PL | plural |
| POL | polite |
| PREF | prefix |
| PREP | preposition |
| PRON | pronoun |
| S | singular |
| SL | slang |
| SUF | suffix |
| V | verb |
| V,
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