Indonesian slang

ndonesian slang language (bahasa gaul or bahasa prokem) is a non-formal language of Indonesia mainly spoken in urban areas.

History

Indonesian slang language is an informal variety of the Indonesian language.

Its native name, bahasa gaul, means 'language for socialization', as gaul means 'to be socialised'. This term was coined in the late 1990s.

The term bahasa prokem, which was coined in the early 1980s, means 'the language of gangsters'; prokem is a slang form of preman, derived from the Dutch word free-man, which means 'gangster'.

Indonesian slang language is mainly a spoken form, used in social milieus and in popular media, and to certain extent is used in publications such as teen magazines or pop culture magazines. One can deduce that Indonesian slang language is the primary language for oral communication spoken by everybody in daily life, except for formal speeches. It would be very unusual to communicate orally to people using the formal Indonesian.

The slang language is an ever-evolving language, as many words quickly become outdated and obsolete because of trends.

Geographic distribution

Indonesian slang language is mainly spoken in urban areas. There are different variations of slang language in different cities, mainly characterised by derivatives of different local ethnic languages. For example, in Bandung, West Java, the slang language contains vocabulary from the Sundanese language.

Vocabulary

Indonesian slang language structure is derived mainly from formal Indonesian. Its vocabulary is extended by a combination of derivatives or borrowings from foreign languages such as Hokkien, English, and Dutch, or local ethnic languages such as Betawi, Sundanese, and Javanese. In many cases however, new words are invented on the spot, and their origin is obscure.

Some of the slang language vocabulary was transformed from formal Indonesian through several ways

» Nasalisation of active verb and adding -in at the end of the word, for example:

- pikir (to think) into mikir
- menanyakan (to ask) into nanyain

» Adding -in at the end of the passive transitive verbs, for example:

- diajari (to be taught) into diajarin
- dipukuli (to be beaten) into dipukulin

» Adding ke- at the beginning of passive intransitive verbs, instead of using ter-, for example:

- tertangkap (to be caught) into ketangkep
- terpeleset (to accidentally slip) into kepeleset

» Eliminating one or few letters of the word, for example:

- habis (depleted) into abis
- tahu (know) into tau

» Contraction of two or more words into one word, for example:

- terima kasih (thank) into makasih
- jaga image (to safeguard one's social image) into jaim

» Replacing letter a into e in some w