Indonesian is the sole national and official language of Indonesia. However, there are more than 300 languages in the archipelago. For most Indonesian the language of the home is one of those regional languages.

Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian is one of the varieties. This style of language is in many ways significantly different from the formal language of government and education, to the extent that it deserves separate consideration. It has become the prestige variety of colloquial Indonesian and the standard informal style, language of everyday communication between Indonesian in all but formal situation. It is the everyday speech of people with whom most visitors to Indonesia need to communicate.

Thus for the foreign learner proficiency in both formal and informal – this means Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian – is essential for effective communication. It is also essential to have an understanding of the appropriateness of styles so that each style is used in the correct social context.

This chapter will explain colloquial words usage, syntax(sentence structure) and morphology(word structure). The description is confined to aspects of colloquial Indonesian where there are significant differences with the formal Indonesian.

Reference: Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian (Pacific Linguistics, 581) by James Neil Sneddon (2006)