Malay Loan Words in English
Aug 13th, 2008, in Society, by Patung
A not very taxing quiz to guess the Malay/Indonesian origins of some words in English.
“Jakarta Guy”, as some sort of way of celebrating Indonesian independence day anniversary on 17th August, holds a quiz where Indonesians are asked to guess the Indonesian Malay origins of ten words in English.
Most of them are very, very easy:
The words are:
- ketchup
- orangutan
- bamboo
- agar (gelatin from seaweed)
- amok
- rattan
- proa (type of boat)
- paddy
- compound
- boogeyman/bogeyman
There might be some dispute over the last one.
Feel free to list some more.
75 Comments on “Malay Loan Words in English”
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Achmad Sudarsono says:
Geordie,
It’s just wrong. Metaphor or not. Ya-boo-sucks might have worked in 1950s England or Australia, but it has to be laid to rest.
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Geordie says:
Pak Achmad, the metaphor was not of an insult (one wouldn’t use an insult as a metaphor for an insult, it would be redundant) but of poorly constructed, weak and rather inane arguments. It is, in my opinion, rather disingenuous to focus on the phrase itself when, if read in context, the meaning is quite clear.
Moreover, and perhaps more imprtantly, to say something is wrong when refering to English construction or usage borders on the foolhardy; opinion is one thing but declaring an absolute that’s brave.
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Geordie,
It’s just wrong. Unless you’re a kid in a 1950s playground in the U.K.or Australia.
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Okay Pak Achmad, one more go and please accept my apologies for lacking calrity in my explanations so far. I’m normally pretty good at getting my point across, as intended, to the listener though I have signally failed to do this for you and I’m sorry about that.
I was using a deliberately quaint construction to illumunate the naive, not to mention banal, arguments I’ve seen and/or experienced on, admittedly, other threads on IM. Put simply then, my insult, if insult it was, was in terms of the arguments put forward (and I agree they are, in the main, worthy of the 1950s schoolyard) not the person doing the arguing. My view is that in debate, there is no room for personal insult, one plays the ball and not the player.
I’m struggling to believe you are not being deliberately disingenuous with your dogged persual of what was a subsidiary point in my post that we’re now discussing. I’ve seen you’re posts and they are well argued though I may or may not agree with your opinions. For the avoidance of doubt and to re-iterate, I agree, the construction I used was remeniscient of a naive, bygone era and that was deliberate in terms of highlighting what I believe are childish arguments made by some posters ot IM.
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Iqhbal Sukokiman says:
Georgie,
I’m using Achmad’s computer — it’s his turn to be away this time. He says, fair enough, thanks for the comment, but most of all — Merdeka !
Iqhbal.
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Purba Negoro says:
I have some more funny Melayu.
I tried to hold a conversation with a Malay 2 days ago- but I burst into laughter as what he said just sounded so ridiculous- especially in that “is it, ah?” accent.From signs in Singapore IU have brought home to give to my friend:
“Tarik Alatnya”- for a Pull sign
“Layanan diri”- Self service- but in Indo means onanise yourselfUang Benar saja- Correct change only- but in Indo reads Money not incorrect only
Malay- such an ugly error-filled language. What more can I say without being censored for speaking the truth.
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Bapak Achamd,
Geordie is just one of those accidentally insensitive Brits who think the globe is mainly still tinted red.
You have to realise Empire had to be sold to the avergae Briton too- lest they question why their hard-earned taxs were paying for a land they’d never get the privilege of visiting.
So this ridiculous benevolent Britisher-Colonial imagery is part of their colonial mindset as is the “mad dog” Malays- whose skill at outsmarting, out-predating and out-savaging them still hurts.I once saw a 1950’s-1960’s Syd James sketch about Idonesian witch-doctors. at first I was annoyed-0 but I began to realise it was all part of a subtle scheme to sell their new bitch Malaysia to the public and dehumanise and paint the Indonesian as a violent savage.
Forgive them, for they knowest not what they do… said one semi-famous bule the Brits claim as their own.
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PN, from ‘faddish liberal’ to ‘insensitive (accidental or otherwise) imperialist’ in the space of a couple of weeks; I’m positively schizophrenic aren’t I? Those are labels you’ve chosen for me and whilst I don’t find labels particularly helpful, especially such doametrically opposed ones, if you see me as being so hopelessly conflicted then so be it.
My question to you though is as follows: does being either a liberal or imperialst weaken the point I was making?
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I’ll say Yes just to bait you.
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Touche PN, in asking a closed question I deserved that.
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More silly Malay:
Rumah Sikat Perempuan Korban LelakiInnocuously- Women’s Birthing Hospital (for childbirth)
But it’s actually: Hospital for Women Victims of Men/Males
Indonesian is:
Rumah Sakit Perempuan Bersalin- bersalin is a prose Indonesian word for birth. Actually from Javanese.Can anyone see the “empu” root of perempuan? Empu= Poet, master, guru, artisan, master smith
Proof again Indonesians love, idolise and treasure their women
Also proof again boso melayu is a rude crude idiotic gibberish.
Sampun? Pareng, ya? -
For timdog:
ageng gede- very definitely Javanese with “raya” etc obviously Sanskrita.
besar- I have heard Indian and arab people use it- I am not aware of exact origins- but it seems very likely Arabic.
cilik= Javanese for small
kecil- maybe Betawi or Sunda? -
One more:
“dugong”- An Australian woman.
No- a sea cow actuallyfrom dugeng: Javanese, which morphed into dugung and probably read from a Dutch transliteration wrongly or perhaps regional accent.
“djoegoeng”
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Another yada yada from kiddo that accessible to internet… purba oh purba.. come and be the savior of javanese girls that willingly selling their pantat to bangladeshi workers in KL.
Comment on “Malay Loan Words in English”.
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some commonly malay words that are spoken in malaysia (peninsular) but not in indonesia inlcudes tapau, ping and my tan (cantonese for take away, ice and bill). If you go further, Raja/perdana menteri/garuda is similar whether in the thai language or malay, thanks to the influence of sanskrit.