Indonesian Slang - Sounds

Sounds

Indonesian slang generally uses the same pronunciation as standard Indonesian, although there are many influences from regional dialects on certain aspects such as accent and grammatical structure. Loan words adopted from foreign languages (especially European) such as English or Dutch are often transliterated according to the modern Indonesian orthography. For example, 'please' is often written as plis. Another closely related phenomenon to arise in recent years is the formation of complex nouns or phrases created using a combination of English and Indonesian (slang) in the one sentence. A prime example of this is the phrase "so what gitu loh!", meaning "who cares?!" or quite simply "so what!" with added emphasis from the phrase "gitu loh". "Gitu" is an abbreviated form of the Indonesian word "begitu" meaning "like that/ such as" while "loh" (also spelt lho) is simply a particle of expression commonly used in slang or conversational Indonesian to show surprise or instigate a warning. In these cases of combined, interlingual phrases, the original spelling (and quite often the pronunciation) of the foreign word(s) are retained. Hence, the English component of the Indonesian slang phrase "so what gitu loh!" remains relatively unchanged as far as spelling and pronunciation are concerned.

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Famous quotes containing the word sounds:

    If there is a man white as marble
    Sits in a wood, in the greenest part,
    Brooding sounds of the images of death,
    So there is a man in black space
    Sits in nothing that we know,
    Brooding sounds of river noises....
    Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)

    I spoke at a woman’s club in Philadelphia yesterday and a young lady said to me afterwards, “Well, that sounds very nice, but don’t you think it is better to be the power behind the throne?” I answered that I had not had much experience with thrones, but a woman who has been on a throne, and who is now behind it, seems to prefer to be on the throne.
    Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919)

    I that so long
    Was Nothing from Eternity,
    Did little think such Joys as Ear and Tongue
    To celebrate or see:
    Such Sounds to hear, such Hands to feel, such Feet,
    Such Eyes and Objects, on the Ground to meet.
    Thomas Traherne (1636–1674)