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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Where Malay words come from

I am writing an article about Jawi and the Malay Language when I came across this list of words. I did not realise that Bomba was a Portuguese word (what are we doing with a Portuguese language?) and that katil was a Tamil word.

aksi - action (from Dutch actie)
almari - cupboard (from Portuguese armário)
anggur - grape (from Persian انگور/angur)
bahasa - language (from Sanskrit bhāshā)
bandar - town (from Persian بندر/bandr)
bangku - stool (from Portuguese banco)
bendera - flag (from Portuguese bandeira)
bihun - rice vermicelli (from Hokkien bi-hun)
biola - violin (from Portuguese viola)
biskut - biscuit (from English)
bomba - fire brigade (from Portuguese bomba, "pump", or bombeiro, "fireman", lit. "pumper")
boneka - doll (from Portuguese boneca)
buat - do (from Sanskrit wuat)
buku - book (from Dutch boek)
bumi - earth (from Sanskrit bhumi)
cawan - cup (from Mandarin cháwǎn)
dakwah - sermon (from Arabic da3wah)
dewan - hall (from Persian دیوان/diwan)
duka - sadness (from Sanskrit duhkha)
dunia - world (from Arabic dunyā)
falsafah - philosophy (from Arabic falsafah)
gandum - wheat (from Persian گندمGandm)
garfu - fork (from Portuguese garfo)
gereja - church (from Portuguese igreja)
gratis - for free (from Portuguese)
guru - teacher (from Sanskrit)
had - limit (from Arabic hadd)
huruf - word character/letter (from Arabic ḥurūf)
ini - this (from Persian این)
jawab - to answer (from Arabic jawāb)
jendela - window (from Portuguese janela)
Khamis - Thursday (Arabic al-khamis)
kamus - dictionary (from Arabic qāmūs)
kapal - ship (from Tamil கப்பல் /kappal)
katil - bed (from Tamil கட்டில் /kattil)
kaunter - counter or desk (from English)
keju - cheese (from Portuguese queijo)
kemeja - shirt (from Portuguese camisa)
kepala - head (from Sanskrit kapala "skull")
kereta - carriage, car (from Portuguese carreta)
komputer - computer (from English)
kongsi - share (from Hokkien kong-si 公司)
kuda - horse (from Hindi kudh)
kuil - temple (from Tamil கோவில் /kovil)
kurma - date (from Persian خرما/Khurma)
lif - lift, elevator (from English))
limau - lemon/orange (from Portuguese limão "lemon")
lori - lorry, truck (from English)
maaf - sorry (from Hindi māf "forgiveness")/(from Arabic Ma3fu
maha - great (from Sanskrit)
makmal - laboratory Arabic
mangga - mango (from Portuguese manga)
manusia - human being (from Sanskrit manuṣya)
mentega - butter (from Portuguese manteiga)
mee/mi - noodles (from Hokkien miᴺ)
meja - table (from Portuguese mesa)
misai - moustache (from Tamil மீசை/meesai)
miskin - poor (from Arabic miskiin)
muflis - bankrupt (from Arabic muflis)
nujum - astrologer (from Arabic al-nujum)
nanas/nenas - pineapple (from Portuguese or Arabic ananás)
paderi - priest (Christian) (from Portuguese padre)
pau - bun (from Hokkien pau 包)
pesta - party (from Portuguese festa)
pita - tape (from Portuguese fita)
putera - prince (from Sanskrit putra "son")
raja - king (from Sanskrit rāja)
roda - wheel (from Portuguese roda)
roti - bread (from Sanskrit roṭi)
sabun - soap (from Arabic) sàbuun
sains - science (from English)
sama - same (from Sanskrit)
sama-sama - together (derived from sama via reduplication)
sekolah - school (from Portuguese escola)
sengsara - suffering (from Sanskrit saṃsara)
sepatu - shoe (from Portuguese sapato)
soldadu - soldier (from Portuguese soldado)
syariah - Islamic law (from Arabic shāri`ah)
syurga - Heaven (from Tamil சொர்கம் /sorgam)
syukur - thankful (from Arabic shukr)
singahsana - location (from Sanskrit singahsanam)
sistem - system (from English)
suka - happiness (from Sanskrit sukha)
tangki - tank (from Portuguese tanque)
tauhu - beancurd (from Hokkien tao-hu)
tarikh - date (from Arabic tārīkh)
teh - tea (from Hokkien tɛ)
teko - teapot (from Hokkien tɛ-ko)
televisyen - television (from English)
tuala - towel (from Portuguese toalha)
tukar - to exchange (from Portuguese trocar)
Agama - Religion (from Sanskrit agama)
unta - camel (from Hindi ūnṭ)
utara - north (from Sanskrit uttara)
warna - colour (from Sanskrit varnam)
waktu - time (from Arabic waqt)
wira - hero ([[from Tamil வீரா /veera]]
zirafah - giraffe (from Arabic zirāfah)

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