Bahasa Indonesia: An evolving language

Here are some more:

Pesta (party)- Spanish: Fiesta
Wanita (women) - Spanish: Juanita
Pria (man) - Hindi/Sanscrit
Raja (king) - Hindi & Sanscrit
Ratu (queen) - Hindi/Sanscrit
Maha (colossal) - Hindi/Sanscrit
Polisi (police) - english/latin
Roda (wheel) - Portuguese: Rhoda
Kambing (goat) - Tagalok
Buaya (crocodile) - Tagalok
Anak (child) - Tagalok
Mahal (expensive) - Tagalok
Murah (cheap) - Tagalok
Korupsi (corruption) - English
Koruptor (corrupt person) - English
coklat (brown) - Dutch

Hi Tom,

Good selection mate. It’s amazing just how much the Indo language compromises of languages from around the world.

http://www.planetmole.org
http://wombatwanderings.blogspot.com

Actually Tom I think Pesta comes from Portuguese and not Spanish. In Portuguese it’s Festa and there are a lot of words in Indonesia that are still from Portuguese origins. I’m not sure, but I don’t recall Spanish having any insignificant presence in this part of the world, this was Portuguese, English and Dutch territory.

Hi Tom,

I think you will find that Godinho is correct there with regards to ‘pesta’. However, it is worth looking into eh.

http://www.planetmole.org
http://wombatwanderings.blogspot.com

I leave some examples of words that come derive from Portuguese (Indonesian; (Portuguese); English):
sabun, (sabao) soap
meja, (mesa) table
jendela, (janela) window
mentega, (manteiga) butter
tenda, (tenda) tent
gereja, (igreja) church
And of course the island Flores which means flowers that was given by the Portuguese sailors that first arrived to the island.

Bus from Latin [omnibus] via English.
Apotek from Greek via English.
Don’t know if via is used in Bali, but that’s Latin too, as is versus.
Restaurant and cafe are French.
Beer is English.
I suppose we could go on for ever.

Here is an interesting one that I could never have figured it out myself.

Meja = Table
Ke = To

Ke Meja = [Go] To Table

but it can also mean:

Ke Meja = Men’s Shirt

The two words (though the same) must have two different origins.

Hi Tom,

I am trying to help you out lil bit.

Kemeja (without space) is men’s shirt.

Ke meja is go to the table.

Adjective and object in Bahasa are in reverse order. It’s just like in Spanish.

Merah = Red
Moto = Motorbike

Moto Merah = Red Motorbike

Note the reverse order. instead of Merah Moto as it would be in English.

(Thanks to Intan for the previous tips)

Active and Passive Verbs in Bahasa.

Beli = Buy

Mem Beli = to Buy

Di Beli = to be Bought

for example:

I [Mem Beli = buy] the book.
The book [Di Beli = is bought] by me.

First Person, Second Person, and Third Person Pronouns.

1. First person is the person speaking:
Saya, Aku = I, me
Kami, Kita = we, us

Add the word “punya” to personal pronouns to turn them into posesive pronouns.

Saya punya = my, mine
Kami punya, Kita punya = our, ours

2. Second person is the person spoken to:
Kamu = you
Kamu punya = your, yours

3. Third person is the person or thing spoken about:
Dia = he, she, it, her, him
Mereka = they, them
Dia punya = his, her, hers, its
Mereka punya = their, theirs