Entah semen entah bata, harganya terus naik.

Entah ... entah ... is a set expression meaning whether ... or ..., be it ... or ..., or sometimes either ... or ....

So:

• Entah semen entah bata = whether cement or bricks
• The idea is that the statement after it applies no matter which of those you are talking about.

It is a slightly more literary or rhetorical way to present alternatives.

Because that is how the pattern works:

• entah X entah Y

This structure links two alternatives. The first entah introduces the first option, and the second entah introduces the second option.

Examples:

• Entah benar entah salah = whether right or wrong
• Entah dia entah saya = whether him or me

So the repetition is not accidental; it is the normal construction.

Not always. It often has a feeling of uncertainty, indifference, or it doesn’t matter which one.

In this sentence, it does not necessarily mean the speaker literally does not know whether it is cement or bricks. Instead, it suggests something like:

• whichever it is
• whether it’s cement or bricks
• in either case

So the main point is that prices are going up for both kinds of building material, or at least for either one you look at.

Yes. As a standalone word, entah can mean something like who knows or I don’t know.

For example:

• Entah. = Who knows / I don’t know.
• Entah kapan dia datang. = Who knows when he’ll come.

But in entah ... entah ..., it is part of a fixed pairing, so here it means whether ... or ..., not just who knows by itself.

Yes. In Indonesian, semen means cement.

This is a classic false friend for English speakers, because it looks like the English word semen, but in Indonesian it has the building-material meaning.

So in this sentence:

• semen = cement
• bata = brick / bricks

Bata by itself commonly means brick.
Batu bata is also used and is more explicit.

So:

• bata = brick
• batu bata = brick, literally something like brick stone

In everyday Indonesian, using just bata is completely normal.

The ending -nya here makes the noun more definite and refers back to what was just mentioned.

So harganya can mean:

• the price
• its price
• their price
• sometimes even the prices, depending on context

In this sentence, harganya refers to the price of the items just mentioned, namely cement and bricks.

A very natural translation is:

• the price keeps rising
• or more naturally in English, the prices keep rising

Because mereka is mainly used for people and sometimes animate beings, not normally for things like cement and bricks.

So:

• harganya = natural
• harga mereka = unnatural here

Also, Indonesian very often uses -nya to refer back to something already mentioned, especially when English would use the, its, or their.

Because Indonesian does not have to mark plural the way English does.

A singular-looking noun can often refer to:

• one thing
• more than one thing
• a general category

So harganya here can naturally mean:

• the price in a general sense
• or the prices of those materials

English usually forces you to choose between price and prices, but Indonesian often leaves that to context.

Terus means continuously, keeps on, or continues to.
Naik means to go up, to rise, or to increase.

So:

• terus naik = keeps going up
• continues to rise
• keeps increasing

For prices, this is a very common expression.

You could compare:

• Harganya naik. = The price went up / is going up.
• Harganya terus naik. = The price keeps going up.

Yes, often it can.

• naik is very common and everyday
• meningkat is a bit more formal and abstract

So these are both possible:

• Harganya terus naik.
• Harganya terus meningkat.

Both mean that the price keeps increasing, but naik sounds more direct and conversational.

The comma separates the opening contrast/topic phrase from the main statement.

Structure:

• Entah semen entah bata, = whether cement or bricks
• harganya terus naik. = the price keeps rising

It helps show that the first part sets up the alternatives, and the second part gives the comment about them.

Without the comma, the sentence might still be understandable, but the comma makes the structure clearer.

Yes. A more direct sentence would be:

• Harga semen dan bata terus naik. = The prices of cement and bricks keep rising.

Another option is:

• Baik semen maupun bata, harganya terus naik.

This also means both cement and bricks, their prices keep rising and sounds a bit more formal.

Compared with these, Entah semen entah bata, harganya terus naik has a more rhetorical flavor, like whether it’s cement or bricks, the price keeps going up.