3.5 Standard Vocabulary (Kata Baku) and KBBI

Standard Vocabulary (Kata Baku) and KBBI

Quick Answer: Kata baku is the standard, dictionary-approved form of a word; tidak baku is a non-standard variant often heard in speech or seen in older texts. The reference authority is KBBI (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia), maintained by Badan Bahasa. UKBI items ask you to identify the baku form among four near-identical options or to spot the non-standard word in a sentence.

What KBBI Is

The Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) is the official lexicographical reference for the Indonesian language, compiled and continuously updated by Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa. The current edition is KBBI V (2016) with ongoing online updates through KBBI Daring (kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id). Every word marked baku in PUEBI-aligned writing must be traceable to a KBBI entry.

KBBI is prescriptive for formal contexts: government documents, textbooks, news, and UKBI itself. Words not listed in KBBI — or listed with a "tidak baku" tag — are excluded from formal writing.

Baku vs Tidak Baku: The Pattern

Non-standard forms usually arise from three sources:

1. Phonetic drift in speech: speakers simplify or shift sounds over time. izin (baku) → ijin (tidak baku, j for z).
2. Inconsistent loanword adaptation: older Dutch-era spellings survive alongside modern ones. kuitansi (baku) → kwitansi (tidak baku).
3. Hypercorrection or back-formation: diagnosa is wrongly formed from diagnosis by dropping the final s; analisa from analisis.

High-Frequency Baku / Tidak Baku Pairs

Why Some "Baku" Forms Surprise You

A few forms feel wrong to native speakers because the baku form has shifted:

• ijazah (baku, certificate) — sometimes misspelled with extra h, but the standard is ijazah (one h at the end, none elsewhere).
• atas nama (baku) — written as two words, not atasnama.
• terhadap (baku) — one word, not ter hadap.
• demikian (baku) — one word.
• apa pun (baku) — two words when apa is a pronoun ("whatever"); apapun as one word is non-standard. This is heavily tested.
• apa-apa (baku, with hyphen) — apa-apa (anything) always takes a hyphen as reduplication.
• agar and supaya are both baku; agar supaya is pleonastic (redundant) — see Section 3.6.
• daripada is baku in comparisons (lebih tinggi daripada); dari is baku in origin statements (dari Jakarta). Do not use daripada for origins.

How KBBI Distinguishes Meanings

KBBI tags each entry with a label: baku (standard), tidak baku (non-standard), arkais (archaic), kasar (coarse), cak (casual). For UKBI, only baku is acceptable in formal writing. A word with a tidak baku tag has a baku equivalent listed alongside it — that baku form is what UKBI rewards.

Some words are listed without a baku tag because they are the only form (e.g. demokrasi, telepon, komputer — no competing form). For these, the question of baku vs tidak baku does not arise.

How to Answer Kata Baku Items

When you see a kata baku item with four near-identical options:

1. Look at the differing letters only — usually a single vowel or consonant distinguishes the four choices.
2. Apply the loanword rule: kw- → k-, final -a → -is, final -s retained.
3. Apply the z/j rule: z is baku for Arabic-derived words (izin, zikir, zakat); j is tidak baku.
4. Apply the e/i rule in final syllables: apotek (not apotik), telepon (not telpon).
5. Apply the u/w rule: jadwal (not jadual), wujud (not ujud).

If you cannot decide, default to the form with the less simplified spelling (more letters retained closer to the source language) — this catches the diagnosis/diagnosa and analisis/analisa cases.

Building a Baku Vocabulary

Make a flashcard deck of the 40 highest-frequency baku/tidak baku pairs (the table above covers the most-tested 20). Review daily for two weeks before the test. Most Merespons Kaidah kata baku items are drawn from this same recurring set — the test does not invent new pairs.