Learn about formal Indonesian
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Intro |
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| Michael: How does formal Indonesian work? |
| Blanca: And when is it used? |
| Michael: At IndonesianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Gundar, a high-school student, meets Karen, the mother of his neighbor friend, and greets her, |
| "Good morning, Mrs. Lee, how are you today?" |
| Gundar Gunawan: Selamat pagi, Ibu Lee, bagaimana kabarnya hari ini? |
| Dialogue |
| Gundar Gunawan: Selamat pagi, Ibu Lee, bagaimana kabarnya hari ini? |
| Karen Lee: Baik, Gundar. Kamu? |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Gundar Gunawan: Selamat pagi, Ibu Lee, bagaimana kabarnya hari ini? |
| Michael: "Good morning, Mrs. Lee, how are you today?" |
| Karen Lee: Baik, Gundar. Kamu? |
| Michael: "Fine, Gundar. (And) you?" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: You may have noticed in the conversation how Karen answers very concisely to Gundar. This is the result of using two different levels of politeness. |
| Indonesians consider themselves being polite when they use |
| Blanca: bahasa baku |
| Michael: This literally means "standardized language." Using standardized Indonesian means using correct spellings, correct sentence patterns, as well as correct prepositions and conjunctions. Words are used in their full and correct forms, and sentences are complete with a subject and a predicate. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s start by checking the conversation again. |
| Do you remember how Gundar says "Good morning, Mrs. Lee, how are you today?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Blanca as Gundar Gunawan: Selamat pagi, Ibu Lee, bagaimana kabarnya hari ini? |
| Michael: First is the greeting meaning “good morning” |
| Blanca: Selamat pagi |
| Michael: a greeting expression that is used in its complete form. Next is |
| Blanca: Ibu Lee |
| Michael: which means “Mrs. Lee” and shows how Gundar is trying to address Karen as politely as possible, by using the honorific |
| Blanca: ibu |
| Michael: meaning “Ma’am.” This is because Karen is older than him and, as you should already know, respect towards someone who is older than you is crucial in Indonesian culture. Finally, Gundar asks |
| Blanca: bagaimana kabarnya hari ini? |
| Michael: meaning "how are you today?" That is a complete sentence using standardized words or |
| Blanca: kata-kata baku. |
| Michael: If Gundar was Karen’s peer, his greeting would have sounded like this |
| Blanca: Pagi, Karen! Gimana kabarnya hari ini? |
| Michael: First dropping |
| Blanca: selamat |
| Michael: from |
| Blanca: Selamat pagi. |
| Michael: resulting in |
| Blanca: Pagi. |
| Michael: And the standard word |
| Blanca: bagaimana |
| Michael: would have been shortened to |
| Blanca: gimana, |
| Michael: a dialect that is originally from the Jakarta area but is now widely used throughout Indonesia. Other common words or expressions that are shortened from their standard form are |
| Blanca: makasih |
| Michael: from |
| Blanca: terima kasih |
| Michael: which means "thank you." |
| Blanca: enggak |
| Michael: from |
| Blanca: tidak |
| Michael: which means "not." |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at how Karen Lee answers "Fine, Gundar. (And) you?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Blanca as Karen Lee: Baik, Gundar. Kamu? |
| Michael: You can notice right away that Karen omits the greeting. Gundar is a teenager, so omitting that doesn’t sound inappropriate. Karen just says |
| Blanca: baik |
| Michael: which means “fine” and then she adds Gundar's name without any honorific, and, finally, she just returns the same question by adding |
| Blanca: Kamu? |
| Michael: which in this context means “and you?” If Gundar was older than Karen, she would have probably replied: |
| Blanca: Baik, Pak. Bagaimana dengan Bapak? |
| Michael: "Fine, Sir. How about you, Sir?" In this case, Karen would have used the honorifics as well, and she would have also repeated the question to sound more polite. |
| In other words, while polite Indonesian language uses complete sentences, casual Indonesian drops some words. |
| Michael: Casual Indonesian language also omits affixes from verbs, as in |
| Blanca: kerjaan |
| Michael: which is omitting the prefix pe- from |
| Blanca: pekerjaan |
| Michael: which means "work." Let’s see how a sentence can change: |
| Blanca: Hari ini saya punya banyak pekerjaan. |
| Michael: means “Today I have a lot of work”. Here the subject “I” |
| Blanca: saya |
| Michael: and predicate “have” |
| Blanca: punya |
| Michael: are both present. Let’s compare this sentence to its casual version: |
| Blanca: Hari ini saya banyak kerjaan. |
| Michael: This literally means “Today, I a lot of work.” where the predicate “have” |
| Blanca: punya |
| Michael: is missing and the standard word for “work” |
| Blanca: pekerjaan |
| Michael: is shortened to |
| Blanca: kerjaan. |
| Michael: The polite version of the sentence would be appropriate when speaking to a superior at work, while the casual version is perfect when speaking to family and friends. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned that, in Indonesian, depending on who you’re talking to, it’s very important to use certain words to address them. Just remember that polite Indonesian uses standardized language or |
| Blanca: bahasa baku |
| Michael: and casual Indonesian uses non-standardized language or |
| Blanca: bahasa tidak baku |
| Michael: that is marked by incomplete sentences and shortened words. |
| Michael: As a rule of thumb, remember that Indonesians speak casually only with their family and friends, while they prefer speaking more politely at the workplace or at school, or when addressing older people, or meeting a person for the first time. |
| Review |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after the native speaker focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how to politely say "Good morning, Mrs. Lee, how are you today?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Blanca as Gundar Gunawan: Selamat pagi, Ibu Lee, bagaimana kabarnya hari ini? |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Blanca as Gundar Gunawan: Selamat pagi, Ibu Lee, bagaimana kabarnya hari ini? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Blanca as Gundar Gunawan: Selamat pagi, Ibu Lee, bagaimana kabarnya hari ini? |
| Michael: And do you remember how to casually say "Fine, Gundar. (And) you?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Blanca as Karen Lee: Baik, Gundar. Kamu? |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Blanca as Karen Lee: Baik, Gundar. Kamu? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Blanca as Karen Lee: Baik, Gundar. Kamu? |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Blanca: Dadah. |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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