Letter Elimination
‘H’ in the beginning of the word
In daily conversation some words are nasalised by not pronouncing or eliminating a letter such as words with letter ‘h’, ’s’ or ‘m’.
| Word | After Elimination | Meaning | Word | After Elimination | Meaning |
| habis | abis | finish | hangat | anget | warm |
| hati | ati | heart, feeling | hancur | ancur | crushed, shattered |
| hafal | afal | recite | hampir | ampir | almost |
| halus | alus | soft, smooth | handuk | anduk | towel |
| hidup | idup | alive, life | hilang | ilang | lost, dissapear |
| hisap | isap/isep | to suck | hitung | itung | count, calculate |
| hitam | item | black | hutang | utang | loan, debt, owe |
| hujan | ujan | rain | hijau* | ijo | green |
*) In this case, the word ‘hijau’ also change its diphthong ‘au’ into ‘o’. See Diphthong chapter for more information.
‘H’ in the middle of the word
| Word | After Elimination | Meaning | Word | After Elimination | Meaning |
| bohong | bo’ong | to lie, a lie | jahil | jail | to bug, to tease, naughty |
| jahit | jait | to sew | jodoh | jodo | soul mate, partner |
| lihat | liat | look | pahit | pait | bitter |
| sahut | saut | answer, reply | tahu | tau | know, aware |
| tahi | tai | excrement, feces | tahun | taun | year |
‘M’ in the beginning of the word
| Word | After Elimination | Meaning |
| memang | emang | indeed |
‘S’ in the beginning of the word
| Word | After Elimination | Meaning |
| sudah | udah | done, finish |
| sama | ama | with |
| saja | aja | only, just |
| sampai | ampe* | until, up to, to (that) extent |
*) In this case, the word ‘sampai’ also change its diphthong ‘ai’ into ‘é’. See Diphthong chapter for more information.