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:

    It is never the thing but the version of the thing:
    The fragrance of the woman not her self,
    Her self in her manner not the solid block,
    The day in its color not perpending time,
    Time in its weather, our most sovereign lord,
    The weather in words and words in sounds of sound.
    Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)

    Tom: Well, tell me, Gusto, you’re so smart. How could I erase a footprint that looks as if it was left by a heel?
    Augusta: Well, that sounds almost human.
    Billy Wilder (b. 1906)

    Love is the hardest thing in the world to write about. So simple. You’ve got to catch it through details, like the early morning sunlight hitting the gray tin of the rain spout in front of her house. The ringing of a telephone that sounds like Beethoven’s “Pastoral.” A letter scribbled on her office stationery that you carry around in your pocket because it smells of all the lilacs in Ohio.
    Billy Wilder (b. 1906)