Diphtong
‘ai’ becomes ‘é’
In daily spoken Indonesian, diphtongs are often contracted. In some words diphthong ‘ai’ can change/contract into ‘é’ as in ‘egg’.
| Formal | Colloquial | Meaning |
| cabai | cabé | chilli |
| cerai | ceré | divorced |
| gulai | gulé | curry, spicedmeat soup |
| pakai | paké | use, wear |
| satai | saté | satay |
| sampai | sampé | until, arrive, up to |
‘au’ becomes ‘o’
In some words diphthong ‘au’ can change/contract into ‘o’ .
| Formal | Colloquial | Meaning |
| hijau | ijo* | green |
| kacau, mengacau | ngaco | disturb |
| kerbau | kebo | buffalo |
| kalau | kalo | if, when, unless |
| pulau | pulo | island |
| ramai | rame | crowded, busy |
| saudara | sodara | gentleman, relative |
*) In this case, the word ‘hijau’ also lost the ‘h’. See Letter Elimination chapter for more information.
