Hi! Selamat datang di MasteringBahasa. If you stop by to improve your Indonesian skills, you’re at the right place because Indonesian is an important language to learn. Today we’ll learn something a little different. First of all, are you familiar with rhymes? Rhymes are words that have the same ending sound. Can you think of rhymes in English language?
Horse and remorse, cat and mat, hen and pen, the list could go on forever. Rhymes are also widely used in literature such as poetry because it makes poems more catchy and easy to remember when there are words that end in the same sound.
Indonesian Words that Rhyme
In Indonesian, rhymes exist too. We call it sajak in our language. There are also unique Indonesian words and Indonesian words of wisdom that you can check out. Now, let’s learn Indonesian rhymes from Indonesian poems and see if you can spot the words with same ending sound!
1.“Berakit-rakit dahulu
Berenang ketepian
Bersakit-sakit dahulu
Bersenang-senang kemudian”
In this poem, ketepian and kemudian have the same ending sound (-ian), although their meanings are entirely different. Ketepian means to the side while kemudian means then.
2. “Pohon pepaya di dalam semak
Pohon manggis sebasar lengan
Kawan tertawa memang banyak
Kawan menangis diharap jangan
Angin pulang menyejuk bumi
Menepuk teluk mengempas emas
Lari ke gunung memuncak sunyi
Berayun-ayun di atas alas”
What are the rhyming words in this poem?
Semak (bush) and banyak (many)
Lengan (arm) and jangan (don’t)
Bumi (earth) and sunyi (quiet)
Emas (gold) and alas (base/mat)
Here is another short poem as an example of Indonesian words that rhyme.
3. Termenung ku ditepi pantai
Menanti ombak dari tengah laut
Teringat semua lupa dan lalai
Dosa dan khilaf kian berpaut
The words that rhyme here are pantai (beach) and lalai (careless), and laut (sea) and berpaut (interlock).
This poem also contain more Indonesian rhyming words! Can you spot them on your own?
Menuntut ilmu hendaklah semangat
Jangan malas haruslah giat
Ilmu akan membuat kita selamat
Di dunia ataupun akhirat
Ilmu buat kita makin dewasa
Ilmu pula yang hilangkan lara
Bukankah Ilmu faktor kita bahagia?
Dari muda hingga menua
Now, let’s check out another example of an Indonesian poem with rhymes, but with a different style.
“Kalau sampai waktuku
Ku mau tak seorang kan merayu
Tidak juga kau
Tak perlu sedu sedan itu
Aku ini binatang jalang
Dari kumpulannya terbuang
Biar peluru menembus kulitku
Aku tetap meradang menerjang
Luka dan bisa kubawa berlari
Berlari
Hingga hilang pedih peri
Dan aku akan lebih tidak perduli
Aku mau hidup seribu tahun lagi”
Let’s list down the rhyming words from this poem.
Waktuku (my time) and merayu (lure)
Jalang (wild) and terbuang (thrown)
Berlari (running) and peri (ache/sore)
Perduli (care) and lagi (again)
As you might notice in this poem, the rhyming words are placed in consecutive lines of the poem, whereas in the previous examples they are placed in alternating lines.
These are techniques freely chosen by the poet when making the poem.
“Sepisau luka sepisau duri
sepikul dosa sepukau sepi
sepisau duka serisau diri
sepisau sepi sepisau nyanyi
sepisaupa sepisaupi
sepisapanya sepikau sepi
sepisaupa sepisaupoi
sepikul diri keranjang duri
sepisaupa sepisaupi
sepisaupa sepisaupi
sepisaupa sepisaupi
sampai pisauNya ke dalam nyanyi.”
The poem above is an example of another technique where all the last words in every line are rhyming with the same ending sound, which is –i, but there are thousand more Indonesian words that rhyme.
There are many other poems in Indonesia with rhymes. As you can see, making poems this way makes the poem more enjoyable to read and pleasant to hear. Selamat Belajar Bahasa Indonesia!
For more Indonesian lessons, check out: