‘ai’ becomes ‘é’
In daily spoken Indonesian, diphtongs are often contracted. In some words diphthong ‘ai’ can change/contract into ‘é’ as in ‘egg’.
| Formal | Colloquial | Meaning |
| cabai | cabé | chilli |
| cerai | ceré | divorced |
| gulai | gulé | curry, spicedmeat soup |
| pakai | paké | use, wear |
| satai | saté | satay |
| sampai | sampé | until, arrive, up to |
‘au’ becomes ‘o’
In some words diphthong ‘au’ can change/contract into ‘o’ .
| Formal | Colloquial | Meaning |
| hijau | ijo* | green |
| kacau, mengacau | ngaco | disturb |
| kerbau | kebo | buffalo |
| kalau | kalo | if, when, unless |
| pulau | pulo | island |
| ramai | rame | crowded, busy |
| saudara | sodara | gentleman, relative |
*) In this case, the word ‘hijau’ also lost the ‘h’. See Letter Elimination chapter for more information.
For more information or articles about colloquial, colloquial Indonesian, colloquial Jakartan Indonesian by Dr. Timothy Hassall from ANU, Canberra, Australia, click here.
