Inside Indonesia

Reviewed by Michele Ford

Good Indonesian-English dictionaries are hard to find. Although beginners now have access to George Quinn's excellent learner's dictionary, most senior students of Indonesian, teachers and academics continue to rely on the companion dictionaries by Echols and Shadily, which were compiled over thirty years ago. The dictionaries by Echols and Shadily have remained remarkably relevant considering the speed with which the Indonesian language has evolved. However, they fail what I call the 'kinerja test' (a word meaning 'performance, which is too new to be included in Echols and Shadily).

The new A Comprehensive Indonesian-English Dictionary passes the kinerja test with flying colours. Its coverage of new terms, borrowed words, acronyms and colloquialisms is excellent, as is its brief, but useful, summary of nonstandard nasalisation patterns and pronunciation notes. Its layout is one of the best I've seen. The pages are compact, allowing for relatively comprehensive coverage, but each derivative is highlighted and located on a new line within the main entry.

I have only three real complaints. The first is that sometimes the cross-referencing is puzzling (for example the entry for 'ketombe' [the most common word for 'dandruff'] is cross-referenced to 'ketumbe' rather than the other way around). The second, and more concerning, is the dictionary's excessive emphasis on Javanese-derived words (although there is some attempt to document words from other Indonesian languages). Finally, there is not yet a companion English-Indonesian dictionary--a fault that will hopefully be rectified sooner rather later.

Overall, this dictionary is a valuable addition to the bookshelves of senior students, teachers and academics and is well-worth the hefty price-tag.

Inside Indonesia
pg. 31
Jan-March 2005