Indonesian honorifics

Indonesian honorifics are honorific titles or prefixes used in Indonesia covering formal and informal social, commercial relationships. Family pronouns addressing siblings are used also in informal settings and are usually gender-neutral. Pronouns vary by region/ethnic area and depend on the ethnic group of the person spoken to.[1] In addition to being gender- and ethnic-based, pronouns are often seniority-based and even profession-based.[1][2]

Properly addressing people in Indonesian is important and learnt from an early age. It is common and expected to call people using a pronoun and their first name.[3]

Usage
Indonesian pronouns (bold more common)[3]
level age male female Comment/Translation
informal friends Kamu, (colloquial lo) you
formal any Anda
formal 30+/married Bapak/Pak Ibu/Bu You, Mister, Ma'am
formal uncommon Saudara Saudari (lit. brother/sister)
casual a bit older Kak/Kakak Older sibling
casual a bit younger Adik/Dek/Ade Younger sibling
casual older Om Tante Uncle/Aunt (Dutch orig)
casual older Kakek Nenek Grandfather/mother
informal middle age (A)bang, Bung brother, (workers)

Adult men are addressed by Bapak (short Pak) and adult women by Ibu (short Bu).[3] This can be translated to Mr. and Mrs. but can also mean Father/Mother. It can be used in conjunction with their first name or full name. Important to note, Indonesian pronouns can all be used in second and third-person singular and even in first-person. [3]

Example by case:

  • 1.Person: Kakak mau makan ("I (the older sibling) want to eat") (lit. older sibling wants to eat). Using a pronoun (besides saya or aku) for oneself is more uncommon.
  • 2.Person: Minta maaf, Bu Tejo ("Sorry, Miss Tejo)
  • 3.Person: Jokowi kabur ("Jokowi ran away")

An informal way to address a significantly older person is to use Om, Paman, Bibi or Tante, which mean "uncle" and "aunt".[3] The terms are Dutch-influenced and quite commonly used in the big cities.

Indonesian like to speak in an short and effective way so when speaking to someone, omitting the pronoun completely is common (unlike in English).[3] Kapan tiba di Jakarta? (lit. when do [you] arrive in Jakarta).[3]

Reflective Pronoun

Indonesian speakers use enclitic pronouns -ku (1 SG), -mu (2 SG), and -nya (3 SG).[4] The latter may also be used as a polite form for the second person singular. "Siapa namanya?" (What is your name, lit. what is his/her name).

By local language

Javanese

In Javanese and broadly speaking in Java, Mbak is used for "older sister" and Mas is used for "older brother".[3] Mbak and Mas are used for example to address junior staff in cafes and restaurants in Java.

Sundanese

In Sundanese, i.e. in Bandung, Aa (A'ak) is used for Mas and Teteh (Tétéh) for Mbak.[3]

Balinese

In Balinese, older (relative to the speaker) people are addressed as Bli (m.) and Mbok (f.)

Papuan

In Papua, men are addressed by Pace, women by Mace (older woman) or Usi (older sister). Uncles and aunts are addressed relative to the parents age, Bapak muda, Bapak tua, Mama muda, Mama tua (younger uncle, older uncle, younger aunt, older aunt respectively).

Hokkien

Cici is used call women for older sister, Koko is used for older brother.

References
  1. H, Erina (2020-10-03). "The Curious Case of Indonesian Honorifics". Medium. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
  2. Street-vendors might be called "bang" but government-workers "bapak/ibu"
  3. Byrnes, Christopher. (2003). Teach Yourself Indonesian. Nyimas, Eva. (2003 ed.). Chicago: Contemporary Books. pp. 43–44, 53–54, 84. ISBN 0-07-142026-6. OCLC 53834417.
  4. ThomasJ, C.; ONNERS. "Reference tracking and non-canonical referring expressions in Indonesian". www.semanticscholar.org. S2CID 203600921. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
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