Pasang
The word pasang “pair/couple” is a noun and usually refers to a male and a female: Dua pasang suami istri. Two married couples. Bambang membeli dua pasang burung dara. Bambang buys two pairs…
Gemes
This word is difficult to find in the dictionaries because the “proper” form is actually “gemas”. Gemes is the Jakartanese pronunciation. The word describes the emotion of intense and passionated anger, but the…
Domestic Architecture
Most houses in Indonesia divide their space into formal “public” areas at the front, and private “inner” areas at the back. They both have open spaces at the front where visitors and guests are…
Tidak Harus?
There is no *tidak harus” in Indonesian (or rather, *tidak harus occurs rarely and only in special contexts). So how do you negate harus? A quick glance at English will help here. In English we have…
Monas
Javanese cities used to be built around an alun-alun or rectangular, grassed common. Around the sides of the alun-alunyou would find the palace of the ruler (called the kraton in Javanese, or istana in Malay), a prison…
Weather or Climate
The Indonesian word for climate is iklim /EE.k’leem/. The word cuaca /choo.WĀ.chā/ is usually used like the English “weather” to talk about a particular situation on a certain day. Like the English words “climate” and…
Compass in Indonesian – Mata Angin
Here are the main points of the compass (mata angin) in Indonesian. These terms can be attached to the names of places: Asia Tenggara Amerika Selatan Jakarta Barat Laut Utara Southeast Asia South America West…
Points Of The Compass In Everyday Life
In some parts of Indonesia people use the points of the compass in everyday life to orient themselves and indicate direction. This is especially the case in the Javanese heartland around Yogyakarta and…
Islamic Education
Indonesia has a huge number of Islamic schools that operate beyond the direct jurisdiction of the Department of National Education (Departemen Pendidikan Nasional). Many of them are traditional, independent, community schools supported and…
Alphabet in Indonesian
Abbreviations are often used in Indonesian. There are literally thousands of commonly used acronyms and abbreviations, and they pop up in profusion in every domain of life. It is important to be able…
