Indonesian/Lesson 0 Exercise

< Indonesian/Lesson 0 Okay, so now you at least know how to read Indonesian. That's a great start! Indonesian/Malay has a rhymic quality akin to Italian. And for long, native poets, scribes, and orators have had a penchant of creating sentences that rhyme with each other. Just like in English poetry, the rhyming makes extensive use of the many similar final-sounds of words. To prove my point, let me bring you the Rhyme Game. Rhyme Game Objective: To practice your pronunciation of Indonesian through the rhyming pattern in the words To build up your vocabulary, obviously! Kuku-kukuku kaku (My nails are stiff) -ku (pronounced -COO) is not very common, but it does contain some important words! Word Pronunciation Meaning aku uh-coo I, me, my buku boo-coo book siku see-coo elbow Now that I've established the pattern, can you guess how to pronounce these words? Word Meaning baku formal, conforming to the norm duku a sweet, small indigenous fruit. Here's what it looks like! kaku stiff kuku nail (i.e. fingernail) paku nail (i.e. hammer the nail!) pangku to lap (esp. placing sth over one's thighs) saku pocket suku tribe tungku stove Cinta itu buta (Love is blind) Words ending with -ta (-TUH) are often related to love, and to umm... many other things! Word Pronunciation Meaning cinta chin-tuh n. love buta boo-tuh blind genta gEn-tuh bell renta rurn-tuh* elderly (and frail) (*)the vowel sound in ren- is essentially a schwa, in contrast to gEn- in genta Can you guess, based on what you've learned? Word Meaning bata brick beta I, me, my (esp. in poetry) cita desire, obsession data data, duh! dusta n. lie gita song harta wealth, fortune kata word kita we, us, our (inclusive) kusta leprosy lunta to neglect mata eye pita ribbon peta map pinta to ask for sth, to request rata flat, plain, equal sengketa n. dispute senjata weapon tata to put things in order unta camel Tangkap ikan kakap! (Catch the Barramundi fish!) When you catch and hold onto something, you say -kap (-CUP)! And when you let something be known, you should also say -kap! Word Pronunciation Meaning tangkap tung-cup to catch dekap dur-cup* to hug, to embrace ungkap oong-cup to tell (esp. to expose the truth) Here we go again! Word Meaning bekap to forcefully prevent so from speaking cakap (1)v. to talk, (2)adj. skillful kakap (1)n. Barramundi fish, (2) adj. big, gargantuan lengkap complete longkap to skip over perangkap trap rangkap double sekap to detain sikap behavior singkap to expose tingkap window Other Tongue Twisters If you're feeling especially game after your Indonesian phonetics lesson, have a go at the following tongue twisters: Indonesian English Ular melingkar-lingkar di atas pagar bundar the snake does circles on top of the circular fence Kuku-kuku kaki-kaki kakak-kakakku kaku-kaku the toe-nails of my older siblings are stiff