Differences between Malay and Indonesian
Encyclopedia
The differences between Malaysian
(Bahasa Malaysia) or Malay
(Bahasa Melayu) and Indonesian
(Bahasa Indonesia) are significantly greater than those between British English
and American English
. They are roughly mutually intelligible
, but with differences in spelling, pronunciation and vocabulary.
To non-native speakers of the two languages, Malaysian (Malay) and Indonesian, may seem identical, but to native speakers, the differences are very noticeable through diction and accent. These differences often lead to incomprehension when used in formal conversation or written communication. These differences also affect broadcasting business in relation to foreign language subtitling, for example DVD movies or TV cable subscriptions. In order to reach out to a wider audience, sometimes both Indonesian and Malaysian subtitles are displayed in a movie side by side with other language subtitles.
matter, the Malay language
in Malaysia and Indonesia
also differs in recognition and general perception
by the people and government of both countries. This matter is almost unknown to foreigners
and nescience may result in misconceptions
.
The term "Malay language
" (Bahasa Melayu) in Indonesia and Malaysia invites different perceptions. To Malaysians, the Malay language is generally the national language
of Malaysia. "Malaysian language
" (Bahasa Malaysia) is the Malaysian standardized form of Malay, besides serving a function to make the Malay language sounds more national (more Malaysia). Therefore, there is virtually no clear distinction between the Malay (Bahasa Melayu) and Malaysian (Bahasa Malaysia).
In Indonesia
, however, there is a clean cut between the "Malay language" (Bahasa Melayu) and the "Indonesian language
" (Bahasa Indonesia). Indonesian language is the national language
which serves as the unifying language
in Indonesia. It is derived from Malay, but it is not necessarily the Malay language. The term "Malay language" is exclusively reserved for the language indigenous to and spoken by Malay people. Thus, Malay is "legally" a regional language
in Indonesia, enjoying the same status with Javanese
, Bataknese, Sundanese
, Buginese
, Balinese
and many others. Moreover, to Indonesians, the term "Malay language" often sounds more associated to Malaysia and/or, in this case, the Malaysian language.
Misconceptions
often emerges in foreigners. The term "Indonesian Malay" and "Malaysian Malay" is sometimes treated parallel. There is no issues regarding the term "Malaysian Malay", but the term "Indonesian Malay" frequently invites a fallacy
. "Indonesian Malay" should never be understood as "the Indonesian variant of Malay". It actually means "the Malay spoken by Malay people
in Indonesia" or "Malay as a regional language
in Indonesia". It is quite rare though to use the term "Indonesian Malay". "Bahasa Indonesia" is almost always only referred to as "Indonesian" in English and other languages, whereas "Bahasa Malaysia" or "Malaysian" term is quite newer than the terms "Bahasa Melayu" or "Malay".
known as Jawi. After the 20th century, Malay written with Roman letters, known as Rumi, has almost completely replaced Jawi in everyday life. The romanisations originally used in Malaya
(now part of Malaysia) and the Dutch East Indies
(now Indonesia
) reflected their positions as British and Dutch possessions respectively.
In Indonesia, the vowel in the English word 'moon' was formerly represented in Indonesian as oe, as in Dutch
, and the official spelling of this sound was changed to u in 1947.
Similarly, until 1972, the initial consonant of the English 'chin' was represented in Malaysia as ch, whereas in Indonesia, it continued to follow Dutch and used tj. Hence the word for 'grandchild' used to be written as chuchu in Malaysia and tjoetjoe in Indonesia, until a unified spelling system was introduced in 1972 (known in Indonesia as Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan or the 'Perfected Spelling') which removed most differences between the two varieties: Malaysian ch and Indonesian tj became c: hence cucu.
Indonesia abandoned the spelling dj (for the consonant at the beginning of the word 'Jakarta') to conform to the j already in use in Malaysia, while the old Indonesian j for the semivowel at the beginning of the English 'young', was replaced with y as in Malaysia. Likewise, the velar fricative
which occurs in many Arabic loanwords, which used to be written 'ch' in Indonesian, became kh in both languages.
However, oe was retained in some proper names, such as the name of the first President, Sukarno
(written as Soekarno), and his successor Suharto, (written as Soeharto). The ch and dj letter combinations are still encountered in names such as Achmad and Djojo , although the post-1972 spelling is now favoured.
Although the representations of speech sounds are now largely identical in the Indonesian and Malaysian varieties, a number of minor spelling differences remain, usually for historical reasons. For instance, the word for 'money' is written as wang in Malaysia, but uang in Indonesia, the word for 'try' is written as cuba in Malaysia, but coba in Indonesia, the word for 'because' is written as kerana in Malaysia, but karena in Indonesia, while the word for 'cake' is written as kuih in Malaysia, but kue in Indonesia.
s.
Speakers of Malaysian Standard Malay in Peninsular Malaysia
tend to speak at a more flowing pace, while words that end with the letter "a" often come out as a schwa
(/ə/). Indonesian speakers speak in clipped staccato tones, their "r"s are more markedly trilled (rolled r), and all words are pronounced exactly as they are spelled.
and Dutch origin, although Indonesian is based on Malay in Riau (islands) (Bahasa Melayu Riau). For example, the word for 'post office' in Malaysia is "pejabat pos" (in Indonesia this means 'post officer'), whereas in Indonesia it is "kantor pos", from the Dutch word for office, kantoor. There are also some Portuguese
influences: in Indonesia, Christmas
is known as "Natal", whereas Malaysia uses "Krismas", derived from English (or in some rare cases also "Natal", due to Indonesian influence). The loanwords pronunciation Malaysian version follows English, while Indonesian follows Dutch, for example Malaysian "televisyen" (from English: television) and Indonesian "televisi" (from Dutch: televisie), the "-syen" and "-si" also prevail in other words, such as "eksyen" and "aksi" for 'action'. There are also instances where the Malaysian version derives from English pronunciation while the Indonesian version takes its cue from Latin
. The Latin preference of the (older) Indonesian intellectuals in these instances may be ascribed to the influence of their classical-oriented education when Gymnasium
schools were established during the Dutch colonial period : compare Malaysian kualiti, kuantiti, majoriti, minoriti and universiti with Indonesian kualitas, kuantitas, mayoritas, minoritas and universitas.
Some words which are spelt the same in both languages may even carry entirely different meanings in the other language, potentially leading to humorous or embarrassing situations: while baja means "steel" in Indonesian, in Malay it means "manure". Also, whereas the Indonesian word butuh means "requirement" or "need", in Malaysia it is a vulgar slang term equivalent to "cunt/cock". Conversely, where the word "banci" seems innocuous enough in Malaysia ("census"), in Indonesia it is a derogatory term for "transvestite".
The relatively large share of Islamic (Arabic or Persian) loan words shared by Malay and Indonesian often poses no difficulty in comprehension and usage, although some forms may have developed a (slightly) different meaning or have become obsolete either in Malaysian or in Indonesian, e.g. khidmat, wakil (see below).
aliansi, beside sekutu (alliance), eksis, beside ada (exist), kandidat, beside calon (candidate), konklusi, beside kesimpulan (conclusion) kontaminasi, beside pencemaran (contamination), opini, beside pendapat (opinion) and opsi, beside pilihan (option). On the other hand, in absorbing the numerous xenisms or loan words from English, Malaysian Malay has shown a remarkable resilience, despite being the former colony of British empire
.
Some in Indonesia view this trend of excessive borrowings as "language dynamism", while some Malay
linguists called it mass "language pollution", and lack of creativity in creating new terms.
The same text rendered in Malaysian:
English translation:
Indonesian language is a dynamic language evolving continuously and vigorously. The spearhead of its evolution today is the Indonesian youth through Indonesian slang, influenced heavily by Betawi language
; the regional language of capital city Jakarta
, and English. Never considered as a standard and formal Indonesian — Indonesian slang — the language of Indonesian youth, are widespread within Indonesian popular culture; music
, cinema
and TV drama. Indonesian youth is at its most creative and dynamic when dealing with subjects such as social life, relationships, love and sex. The way young Indonesians communicate with each other is vibrant, creative, dynamic and, above all, fun. Young people in Indonesia practise and propagate the youth style of Indonesian as an expression of their identity and as a means to build solidarity with their peers. Indonesian slang had gave another complexity and depth to understand popular language and culture of Indonesia, thus add another differences and rift with Malay language. Nevertheless the standard Indonesian are always expected to be used in formal occasions, by government, academic communities and medias.
The Malay language in Malaysia is not pervasively used in all spheres of life compared to Indonesia. Competition from the English language, the emotional attachment of Malaysian Malays to the language and the desire by non-Malays to preserve the use of their native languages are probably the reasons for this state of affairs. As a result, the Malay language in Malaysia is not as dynamic as Indonesian in Indonesia (note that the Malay language in Indonesia is considered as a regional language) in the introduction of new words through adaptation from other languages especially English. Many Malays are adverse to adopting English words. They rather prefer to find obscure Malay words or words from the Malay archipelago that are equivalent to the English term.
Malaysian text sample: Ensiklopedia, atau kadangkala dieja sebagai ensaiklopedia, merupakan koleksi maklumat atau himpunan fakta mengenai setiap cabang ilmu pengetahuan yang tersusun menurut abjad atau menurut kategori secara singkat dan padat.
Approximate English equivalent
), Malaysian satirists Instant Cafe Theatre Company lampooned a government broadcast in which "Malaysians are reminded that reformasi is an Indonesian word, which has no equivalent in Malaysian language." This "soft propaganda" is no doubt a deliberate attempt by the Malaysian government to suppress the oppositions in Malaysia and to prevent any reformasi-inspired movements from happening in Malaysia.
Malaysian language
Malaysian or Standard Malay is the official language of Malaysia and a standardized form of the Malay language of the Austronesian family. It is over 80% cognate with Indonesian and is spoken natively by over 10 million people...
(Bahasa Malaysia) or Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
(Bahasa Melayu) and Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
(Bahasa Indonesia) are significantly greater than those between British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
and American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
. They are roughly mutually intelligible
Mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand each other without intentional study or extraordinary effort...
, but with differences in spelling, pronunciation and vocabulary.
To non-native speakers of the two languages, Malaysian (Malay) and Indonesian, may seem identical, but to native speakers, the differences are very noticeable through diction and accent. These differences often lead to incomprehension when used in formal conversation or written communication. These differences also affect broadcasting business in relation to foreign language subtitling, for example DVD movies or TV cable subscriptions. In order to reach out to a wider audience, sometimes both Indonesian and Malaysian subtitles are displayed in a movie side by side with other language subtitles.
Perception
Besides differing in linguisticsLinguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
matter, the Malay language
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
in Malaysia and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
also differs in recognition and general perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
by the people and government of both countries. This matter is almost unknown to foreigners
Alien (law)
In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...
and nescience may result in misconceptions
Misconceptions
Misconceptions is an American sitcom television series for The WB Network for the 2005-2006 season that never aired. It featured Jane Leeves and French Stewart. Six episodes were ordered at the time of the show's announcement...
.
The term "Malay language
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
" (Bahasa Melayu) in Indonesia and Malaysia invites different perceptions. To Malaysians, the Malay language is generally the national language
National language
A national language is a language which has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a people and perhaps by extension the territory they occupy. The term is used variously. A national language may for instance represent the national identity of a nation or country...
of Malaysia. "Malaysian language
Malaysian language
Malaysian or Standard Malay is the official language of Malaysia and a standardized form of the Malay language of the Austronesian family. It is over 80% cognate with Indonesian and is spoken natively by over 10 million people...
" (Bahasa Malaysia) is the Malaysian standardized form of Malay, besides serving a function to make the Malay language sounds more national (more Malaysia). Therefore, there is virtually no clear distinction between the Malay (Bahasa Melayu) and Malaysian (Bahasa Malaysia).
In Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, however, there is a clean cut between the "Malay language" (Bahasa Melayu) and the "Indonesian language
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
" (Bahasa Indonesia). Indonesian language is the national language
National language
A national language is a language which has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a people and perhaps by extension the territory they occupy. The term is used variously. A national language may for instance represent the national identity of a nation or country...
which serves as the unifying language
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
in Indonesia. It is derived from Malay, but it is not necessarily the Malay language. The term "Malay language" is exclusively reserved for the language indigenous to and spoken by Malay people. Thus, Malay is "legally" a regional language
Regional language
A regional language is a language spoken in an area of a nation state, whether it be a small area, a federal state or province, or some wider area....
in Indonesia, enjoying the same status with Javanese
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
, Bataknese, Sundanese
Sundanese language
Sundanese is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population....
, Buginese
Buginese language
Buginese is the language spoken by about four million people mainly in the southern part of Sulawesi, Indonesia.-History:The word Buginese derives from the word Bahasa Bugis in Malay. In Buginese, it is called while the Bugis people are called...
, Balinese
Balinese language
Balinese or simply Bali is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by 3.3 million people on the Indonesian island of Bali, as well as northern Nusa Penida, western Lombok and eastern Java...
and many others. Moreover, to Indonesians, the term "Malay language" often sounds more associated to Malaysia and/or, in this case, the Malaysian language.
Misconceptions
Misconceptions
Misconceptions is an American sitcom television series for The WB Network for the 2005-2006 season that never aired. It featured Jane Leeves and French Stewart. Six episodes were ordered at the time of the show's announcement...
often emerges in foreigners. The term "Indonesian Malay" and "Malaysian Malay" is sometimes treated parallel. There is no issues regarding the term "Malaysian Malay", but the term "Indonesian Malay" frequently invites a fallacy
Fallacy
In logic and rhetoric, a fallacy is usually an incorrect argumentation in reasoning resulting in a misconception or presumption. By accident or design, fallacies may exploit emotional triggers in the listener or interlocutor , or take advantage of social relationships between people...
. "Indonesian Malay" should never be understood as "the Indonesian variant of Malay". It actually means "the Malay spoken by Malay people
Malay people
Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...
in Indonesia" or "Malay as a regional language
Regional language
A regional language is a language spoken in an area of a nation state, whether it be a small area, a federal state or province, or some wider area....
in Indonesia". It is quite rare though to use the term "Indonesian Malay". "Bahasa Indonesia" is almost always only referred to as "Indonesian" in English and other languages, whereas "Bahasa Malaysia" or "Malaysian" term is quite newer than the terms "Bahasa Melayu" or "Malay".
Orthography
Before the 20th century, Malay was written in a modified form of the Arabic alphabetArabic alphabet
The Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.-Consonants:The Arabic alphabet has...
known as Jawi. After the 20th century, Malay written with Roman letters, known as Rumi, has almost completely replaced Jawi in everyday life. The romanisations originally used in Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
(now part of Malaysia) and the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
(now Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
) reflected their positions as British and Dutch possessions respectively.
In Indonesia, the vowel in the English word 'moon' was formerly represented in Indonesian as oe, as in Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, and the official spelling of this sound was changed to u in 1947.
Similarly, until 1972, the initial consonant of the English 'chin' was represented in Malaysia as ch, whereas in Indonesia, it continued to follow Dutch and used tj. Hence the word for 'grandchild' used to be written as chuchu in Malaysia and tjoetjoe in Indonesia, until a unified spelling system was introduced in 1972 (known in Indonesia as Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan or the 'Perfected Spelling') which removed most differences between the two varieties: Malaysian ch and Indonesian tj became c: hence cucu.
Indonesia abandoned the spelling dj (for the consonant at the beginning of the word 'Jakarta') to conform to the j already in use in Malaysia, while the old Indonesian j for the semivowel at the beginning of the English 'young', was replaced with y as in Malaysia. Likewise, the velar fricative
Voiceless velar fricative
The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The sound was part of the consonant inventory of Old English and can still be found in some dialects of English, most notably in Scottish English....
which occurs in many Arabic loanwords, which used to be written 'ch' in Indonesian, became kh in both languages.
However, oe was retained in some proper names, such as the name of the first President, Sukarno
Sukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
(written as Soekarno), and his successor Suharto, (written as Soeharto). The ch and dj letter combinations are still encountered in names such as Achmad and Djojo , although the post-1972 spelling is now favoured.
Although the representations of speech sounds are now largely identical in the Indonesian and Malaysian varieties, a number of minor spelling differences remain, usually for historical reasons. For instance, the word for 'money' is written as wang in Malaysia, but uang in Indonesia, the word for 'try' is written as cuba in Malaysia, but coba in Indonesia, the word for 'because' is written as kerana in Malaysia, but karena in Indonesia, while the word for 'cake' is written as kuih in Malaysia, but kue in Indonesia.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation also tends to be very different, with East Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia speaking a dialect called Bahasa Baku, where the words are pronounced as spelt and enunciation tends to be clipped, staccato and faster than the Malay spoken in the Malay Peninsula, which is spoken at a more languorous pace. Many vowels are pronounced (and were formerly spelt) differently in Peninsular Malaysia: tujuh is pronounced (and was spelt) tujoh, pilih as pileh, etc., and many final as tend to be pronounced as schwaSchwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
s.
Speakers of Malaysian Standard Malay in Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia , also known as West Malaysia , is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula. Its area is . It shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Across the Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of Sumatra...
tend to speak at a more flowing pace, while words that end with the letter "a" often come out as a schwa
Schwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
(/ə/). Indonesian speakers speak in clipped staccato tones, their "r"s are more markedly trilled (rolled r), and all words are pronounced exactly as they are spelled.
Vocabulary differences
Indonesian differs from Malaysian (Malay) in having words of JavaneseJavanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
and Dutch origin, although Indonesian is based on Malay in Riau (islands) (Bahasa Melayu Riau). For example, the word for 'post office' in Malaysia is "pejabat pos" (in Indonesia this means 'post officer'), whereas in Indonesia it is "kantor pos", from the Dutch word for office, kantoor. There are also some Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
influences: in Indonesia, Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
is known as "Natal", whereas Malaysia uses "Krismas", derived from English (or in some rare cases also "Natal", due to Indonesian influence). The loanwords pronunciation Malaysian version follows English, while Indonesian follows Dutch, for example Malaysian "televisyen" (from English: television) and Indonesian "televisi" (from Dutch: televisie), the "-syen" and "-si" also prevail in other words, such as "eksyen" and "aksi" for 'action'. There are also instances where the Malaysian version derives from English pronunciation while the Indonesian version takes its cue from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
. The Latin preference of the (older) Indonesian intellectuals in these instances may be ascribed to the influence of their classical-oriented education when Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
schools were established during the Dutch colonial period : compare Malaysian kualiti, kuantiti, majoriti, minoriti and universiti with Indonesian kualitas, kuantitas, mayoritas, minoritas and universitas.
Some words which are spelt the same in both languages may even carry entirely different meanings in the other language, potentially leading to humorous or embarrassing situations: while baja means "steel" in Indonesian, in Malay it means "manure". Also, whereas the Indonesian word butuh means "requirement" or "need", in Malaysia it is a vulgar slang term equivalent to "cunt/cock". Conversely, where the word "banci" seems innocuous enough in Malaysia ("census"), in Indonesia it is a derogatory term for "transvestite".
The relatively large share of Islamic (Arabic or Persian) loan words shared by Malay and Indonesian often poses no difficulty in comprehension and usage, although some forms may have developed a (slightly) different meaning or have become obsolete either in Malaysian or in Indonesian, e.g. khidmat, wakil (see below).
| English | Malaysian | Indonesian |
|---|---|---|
| abroad | luar negara | luar negeri |
| account (bank, bills) | akaun | rekening (from Dutch) |
| accountant | akauntan | akuntan |
| advertisement | iklan (also used in Indonesian) | reklame (from Dutch) |
| after | selepas | lepas, setelah (also used in Malay to indicate consecutive actions) |
| afternoon | tengah hari | sore (can also refer to the evening); petang (less frequent) |
| agent | ejen, agen (in science term) | agen |
| airport | lapangan terbang (lit. field/expanse + to fly) |
bandara (from bandar udara, lit. port+air), lapangan terbang |
| apartment | pangsapuri, rumah pangsa, rumah kondo (only for 'condominium') | apartemen, rumah susun |
| archive | arkib | arsip (from Dutch archief) |
| assets | aset | aktiva (from Dutch activa), aset |
| auction | lelong | lelang |
| August | Ogos | Agustus (from Dutch augustus) |
| auntie | makcik (also used in bahasa Melayu Riau, Indonesia) | tante (from Dutch), bibi |
| autobiography | autobiografi (also used in Indonesian) | otobiografi (derived from the Dutch pronunciation of autobiografie, with au pronounced as French [o]) |
| automatic | automatik (formerly otomatik) | otomatis (derived from the Dutch pronunciation of automatisch) |
| autonomy | autonomi | otonomi |
| awkward | kekok | kikuk |
| balcony | serambi, beranda,from Bengali, Portuguese or English verandah Verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed opened gallery or porch. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure... ; (also used in Indonesia but less common) |
serambi, balkon from Portuguese balcão or Dutch balkon |
| bag | beg | Tas (from Dutch tas lit. bag) |
| basin | besen | wastafel (from Dutch), baskom (from Dutch waskom) |
| because | kerana, sebab | karena, sebab |
| bed | katil | ranjang, kasur, tempat tidur |
| Belgium | Belgium | Belgia (from Dutch België) |
| bicycle | basikal | sepeda (from French velocipede) |
| billion | bilion | miliar, milyar (from Dutch miljard) |
| bishop | biskop, bisyop | uskup |
| bonnet, hood (of car) | bonet, bumbung, hud | kap (from Dutch) |
| boot, trunk (of car) | but | koper, kopor (from Dutch koffer) |
| breast | buah dada, payudara, tetek (slang) | payudara, buah dada, susu (slang), tetek (vulgar slang), toket (popular slang now) |
| Britain | Britain | Inggris (from Japanese igirisu), Britania |
| bucket; pail | baldi | ember (from Dutch emmer) |
| bus | bas | bus, bis (Dutch pronunciation of bus, bis) |
| bus station | stesen bas | terminal bis |
| bus stop | perhentian bas | halte bus, halte bis (from Dutch bushalte) |
| Cairo | Kaherah (from Arabic) | Kairo |
| campaign | kempen | kampanye (similar to the pronunciation of the Dutch word campagne) |
| can (to be able) | boleh (used in Indonesia in the sense of "may be allow"ed to), dapat | bisa, dapat |
| cancer | kanser, barah | kanker (from Dutch) |
| car | kereta (means carriage in Indonesian, commonly used as a short hand for kereta api which means train. Malaysia followed english derivation of car which was a contraction of horseless carriage) |
mobil, oto - from Dutch auto |
| card | kad | kartu (from Dutch kaart) |
| carrot | lobak merah | wortel (from Dutch) |
| case | kes | kasus, hal |
| cash | wang tunai | uang tunai, kas |
| cashier | juruwang | kasir (from Dutch kassier), pemegang kas |
| census | banci (means "transsexual" or "effeminate male" in Indonesian) | sensus |
| centipede | lipan (also infrequently used in Indonesian) | kelabang |
| chilli | cili, lada, cabai (used in the northern states of Malaysia) | cabai, cabe |
| China | China (More widely used now), Negara Cina | China (More widely used now), Republik Rakyat Cina/China, Tiongkok rarely used/old spelling (country) |
| Christmas | Krismas, Natal | Natal |
| cinema | panggung wayang bergambar (or more popularly when contracted, pawagam), panggung wayang | sinema, bioskop (from Dutch bioscoop) |
| civic | sivik, bersifat kewarganegaraan | bersifat kewarganegaraan |
| civil | sivil | sipil |
| city | bandar (means "port" in Indonesian), bandaraya (city as opposed to a town), kota | kota |
| club (association) | kelab | perkumpulan, majelis, klub, klab, yayasan (Arabic: used for charitable clubs) |
| coat | kot | jas (from Dutch jas) |
| cockroach | lipas | kecoak (from the Chinese Hokkien dialect ka chuah) |
| college | kolej, maktab | perguruan tinggi, kampus, kolese, perkuliahan |
| Commonwealth of Nations | Negara-Negara Komanwel | Negara-Negara Persemakmuran |
| company | syarikat | perusahaan, firma, maskapai (from Dutch maatschappij) |
| constitution of country | perlembagaan | undang-undang dasar, konstitusi (from Dutch constitutie) |
| counter | kaunter | loket (from Dutch loket), konter |
| country, nation | negara | negara, negeri (in Malay, negeri solely refers into a state within a country) |
| court | mahkamah (in Indonesia mahkamah may refer to Mahkamah Agung (Supreme Court) or Mahkamah Konstitusi (Constitution Court)) | pengadilan |
| cracker | keropok | krupuk |
| Croatia | Croatia | Kroasia |
| cupboard | almari (from Portuguese armário) | lemari (also from Portuguese) |
| current (topical) | semasa (also used in Indonesian) | aktual (from Dutch actueel) |
| current affairs | peristiwa semasa (also used in Indonesian) | aktualitas (from Dutch actualiteit) |
| curtain | langsir, tirai | tirai, korden (from Dutch gordijn), hordeng |
| customs (department) | kastam | bea cukai, pabean, duane (from Dutch douane but this word is never used in contemporary Indonesian) |
| cute | comel | imut |
| Cyprus | Cyprus | Siprus (similar to the Dutch pronunciation) |
| Czech Republic | Republik Czech | Ceko, Republik Ceko, Ceska, Republik Ceska |
| dandruff | kelemumur | ketombe |
| degree (temperature) | darjah | derajat |
| delicious, tasty | lazat | lezat |
| democratic | demokratik | demokratis (similar to the Dutch pronunciation of democratisch) |
| department | jabatan | departemen |
| difference | perbezaan | perbedaan |
| diocese | kawasan uskup, keuskupan | keuskupan |
| director | pengarah | direktur (from Dutch directeur), sutradara (Sanskrit-Javanese, film director) |
| directory | buku panduan, direktori | buku petunjuk |
| discount | diskaun, potongan (harga), rebat | korting (from Dutch), diskon (less frequently used), rabat, potongan (harga) |
| driver | pemandu | supir (from French, through Dutch: chauffeur), sopir (slang), pengemudi (formal) |
| driving licence | lesen memandu | ribewis (from Dutch rijbewijs) (slang), surat ijin mengemudi (SIM) now more widely used |
| December | Disember | Desember |
| duty (tariff) | duti, cukai (also used in Indonesian) | bea |
| Easter | Easter | Paskah (from Portuguese Pascoa) |
| editor | penyunting rarely used in Indonesian | editor, redaktur (from French-Dutch redacteur) |
| effectiveness | keberkesanan | efektivitas, (from Dutch effectiviteit) , kemanjuran |
| Eid ul-Fitr | Hari Raya Aidilfitri | Idul Fitri, Lebaran (from Javanese) |
| eight | lapan (also the Indonesian slang word) | delapan (used in Malaysia before the spelling reform) |
| electricity | tenaga elektrik (literally "electric energy") | listrik |
| emergency | kecemasan | darurat (from Arabic, also used in Malaysia to mean a state of emergency) |
| emperor | maharaja | kaisar (from Dutch keizer), maharaja (Sanskrit-Javanese, Majestic King) |
| empire | empayar | kekaisaran, kemaharajaan |
| engine | enjin | mesin (from Dutch machine, also used to refer to what translates into machine in English) |
| eraser | getah pemadam | karet penghapus |
| extinct | pupus | padam (of flames or lights), punah (of animate objects- i.e. species) |
| export | eksport | ekspor |
| factory | kilang (Indonesian word for mill or factory for processing or refining natural products, e.g. kilang minyak ('oil refinery') |
pabrik (from Dutch fabriek) |
| faction (political) | puak (tribe) | fraksi (from Dutch fractie) |
| February | Februari | Februari, Pebruari (slang) |
| federal | persekutuan | federal |
| federation | persekutuan | federasi (from Dutch federatie) |
| fermented rice | tapai | tape, tapai (Sumatera variation) |
| financial | kewangan | keuangan, finansial |
| Finland | Finland | Finlandia |
| firefighter squad | bomba (means pump in Indonesian) | pemadam kebakaran (lit. means fire extinguisher), branwir/blanwir (informal, from Dutch brandweer) |
| floor (as in "the 2nd floor") | tingkat (also used in Indonesian- though it means floor as in a store or office e.g. "Fourth floor" ) | lantai (means "floor"- ground surface in Malay) |
| France | Perancis | Prancis, Perancis |
| football | bola, bola sepak | sepak bola |
| free of charge | percuma (in Indonesia means "worthless") | gratis (from Dutch 'free of charge')), cuma-cuma |
| furniture | perabot rumah, perkakas rumah (also used in Indonesian) | mebel (from Dutch meubel) |
| garrison | garison | garnisun (from Dutch garnizoen) |
| gangster | samseng | preman (from the Dutch vrijman or free man), gengster (from English) |
| general (military) | jeneral | jenderal |
| ginger | halia | jahe |
| golf club (stick) | kayu golf | pemukul golf, tongkat golf |
| government | kerajaan (derived from raja or "king") - Indonesian word for "kingdom" | pemerintahan (used in Singapore to refer to government. In Malaysia and Brunei understood but less frequently used) |
| governor | gabenor, yang di-pertua negeri/negara (in Malaysian state) | gubernur (from Dutch gouverneur) |
| graduate | siswazah, sarjana | lulusan, sarjana |
| grandfather | datuk | kakek, opa (from Dutch) |
| Greece | Greece | Yunani (from Arabic Yūnān يونان) |
| head office | ibu pejabat (in Indonesia means "female officer" or "mother of an officer") | kantor pusat (from Dutch) |
| headscarf | tudung | kerudung, jilbab |
| healthy | sihat | sehat |
| herb | herba | jamu (in Malay and another definition in Indonesian, means "to treat, to entertain guests") |
| hospital | hospital | rumah sakit (literally means "sick house", from Dutch ziekenhuis. The word is still used in Brunei to refer to hospital but in Malaysia, the term 'hospital' is more prevalent since the mid-sixties)) |
| maternity hospital | hospital bersalin | rumah sakit bersalin |
| I | saya, aku | saya, aku, gue (slang, informal) |
| Hungary | Hungary | Hongaria (influenced by Dutch Hongarije) |
| ice | ais | es |
| ice cream | ais krim | es krim |
| Iceland | Iceland | Islandia |
| illegal drugs | dadah | narkoba -an acronym for NARKotika dan OBat-obatan terlArang (narcotics and illegal drugs), napza -an acronym for NArkotika, Psikotropika dan Zat-zat Adiktif (narcotics, psychotropics, and addictive chemical substances) |
| image | citra (also used in Indonesian), imej, gambar | citra (as in Borrman image or corporate image), gambar (pictorial image), foto (photographic image) |
| immigration | imigresen | imigrasi (from Dutch immigratie) |
| import | import | impor |
| impotence | mati pucuk, impotensi, lemah syahwat | impotensi (from Dutch impotentie), lemah syahwat |
| ink | dakwat (from Arabic) | tinta (from Dutch tinte) |
| installment (payment) | ansuran | angsuran, cicilan |
| insurance | insurans | asuransi (from Dutch assurantie) |
| international | antarabangsa | internasional, antarbangsa |
| internet cafe | kafe internet, kafe cyber | warnet (short for "warung internet", "warung" is from Dutch "waroeng") |
| Ireland | Ireland | Irlandia |
| Italy | Itali | Italia |
| Japan | Jepun | Jepang |
| Jordan | Jordan | Yordania (from Dutch Jordanië) |
| journalist | wartawan | wartawan, jurnalis |
| June | Jun | Juni (from Dutch juni) |
| July | Julai | Juli (from Dutch juli) |
| late; a title refers to a respected person who had passed away | allahyarham (male); allahyarhamah (female) | almarhum (male); almarhumah (female) (used in Malaysia for royalty), mendiang (both sexes, usually used for non-Muslim), anumerta (from Sanskrit; usually reserved for hero, high-ranked military officer and royalty) |
| lane (roads/highway) | lorong | jalur lalu lintas (traffic) -modified version of jalur (track), (lajur is understood but not frequently used in Malaysia while jalur is used in Malaysia to mean stripe or band. e.g. broadband = jalur-lebar) |
| lawyer | peguam | pengacara (used in Malay to mean 'master of ceremony'), advokat (from Dutch advocaat) |
| Lebanon | Lubnan | Lebanon |
| lemon | lemon, limau | jeruk limun ('jeruk' used in Malay to mean 'pickle') |
| liabilities | liabiliti | pasiva (from Latino-Dutch passiva), kewajiban |
| licence | lesen | izin, lisensi (from Dutch licentie) |
| lift, elevator | lif | lift |
| lime (fruit) | limau | jeruk limau (not to be confused with jeruk nipis- the tiny lime for sambal) |
| Lisbon | Lisbon | Lisabon (as in Dutch Lissabon), Lisboa (as in Portuguese), Lisbon |
| Lithuania | Lithuania | Lituania |
| local | tempatan | setempat, lokal |
| magistrate | majistret | hakim (from Arabic حكم, used in Malay to mean judge) |
| male | lelaki, laki-laki, jantan (for animals, sometimes used as a derogatory term on men) | pria, lelaki, laki-laki, cowok (colloquial), jantan (plants-animals only) |
| malfunction | rosak, mati, tak berfungsi | malfungsi, kegagalan pemakaian (failed inner workings), rusak, mati, tak berfungsi |
| March | Mac | Maret (from Dutch maart) |
| mattress | tilam | kasur, matras |
| mathematics | matematik, ilmu hisab | matematika |
| mean verb | bererti | berarti |
| medication | ubat | obat |
| minibus | bas mini | mikrolet, angkot (short for angkutan kota), minibis (Dutch pronunciation) |
| minute | minit | menit |
| Mrs (married woman) | puan | Ibu, nyonya (from Dutch), puan (less frequent now) |
| mobile phone, cellphone | telefon bimbit, telefon tangan | telepon selular (ponsel), telepon genggam, hand-phone (HP) (colloquial, pronounced Ha-pey) |
| Monday | Isnin | Senin |
| money | wang, duit | uang, dana (used in Malay to mean 'funding'. In Indonesian, the actual meaning of 'dana' is 'fund' but it may also refer to 'money'), duit (slang, from Dutch duit) |
| mortgage | gadai janji | hipotik (from Dutch hypotheek) |
| motorcycle | motosikal | motor, sepeda motor (literally "motor bicycle", as in Dutch motorfiets) |
| music | muzik | musik |
| naked | bogel (means "short" in some local Indonesian dialect- it is a common Javanese word), telanjang | telanjang, bugil (slang, from Javanese) |
| national | kebangsaan (used in Indonesian to mean "nationality"), nasional | nasional, kebangsaan(e.g.,'lagu kebangsaan' means 'national anthem') |
| natural | semulajadi | alami |
| newspaper | surat khabar (coined from two Arabic words, ṣūrat - صورة / صورت 'form, appearance' and khabar خبر 'news') | koran, surat kabar (more formal) |
| New Zealand | New Zealand | Selandia Baru |
| noisy | bising, kecoh, memekak | berisik, ramai, bising (also means "buzzing"), ribut |
| Norway | Norway | Norwegia (influenced by Dutch Noorwegen) |
| not | tidak, tak (informal), endak (sabah language) | tidak, tak (rarely used - usually for the same usage as non-), nggak (slang), gak (slang - chat word) |
| number | nombor | nomor, nomer (from Dutch nummer) |
| nurse | jururawat | perawat, suster (from Dutch) |
| office | pejabat | kantor (from Dutch kantoor) |
| officer | kaki tangan (hands and leg in Indonesian) | pejabat |
| official (adj.) | rasmi | resmi (from Arabo-Persian rasmi رسمي) |
| orange (fruit) | oren, limau | jeruk, limau |
| orange (colour) | jingga, oren | jingga, oranye (from Dutch oranje) |
| order | order, perintah | order (from Dutch), perintah |
| Palestine | Palestin | Palestina |
| papaya | (buah) betik | (buah) pepaya |
| parliament | parlimen | parlemen (from Franco-Dutch parlement) |
| party (political) | parti | partai (from Dutch partij) |
| passport | pasport | paspor |
| pavement, sidewalk | jalan pinggir, jalur jalan untuk pejalan kaki, laluan jalan kaki, kaki lima | trotoar (from Franco-Dutch trottoir) |
| penis | zakar (from Arabic ذكر "male"- this word is extremely vulgar in Indonesian), batang lelaki, konek (slang) | alat kelamin laki-laki, kemaluan lelaki, burung (vulgar), titit (children's slang like "pee-pee"), kontol (slang, vulgar) |
| percent | peratus | persen, per seratus |
| pharmacy | farmasi | apotek (from Dutch apotheek), farmasi (usually for medicine manufacturers) |
| photograph | gambar, foto | foto, potret (from Dutch, means "portrait" in English) |
| pickpocketnoun | penyeluk saku | copet (contraction of colong dompet- wallet thief), pencopet |
| pirate (maritime) | lanun | bajak laut, perompak (means "robber" in Malay) |
| pipe | paip | pipa |
| platform (train) | platform | peron (from Franco-Dutch perron) |
| Poland | Poland | Polandia |
| police | polis | polisi (from Dutch politie) |
| post code | poskod | kode pos |
| prayer (Islam) | solat, sembahyang | salat, shalat, sholat (from Arabic, 'sh' is usually pronounced as 's'), sembahyang |
| prayer room (Islam) | surau | surau, musala, mushollah (from Arabic, 'sh' is usually pronounced as 's') |
| pregnant | mengandung, hamil (formal, from Arabic حامل), berbadan dua | mengandung, hamil, berbadan dua, bunting (informal) |
| press | media massa, surat khabar (see above) | pers (from Dutch), media massa |
| Private Limited Company | Sendirian Berhad abbreviated as Sdn Bhd (suffix) |
Perseroan Terbatas abbreviated as PT(prefix) |
| prostitute | pelacur | pelacur, Wanita Tuna Susila (WTS) (Sanskrit, pronounced 'way-tay-es', i.e. "moral-less women"), Pekerja Seks Komersial (PSK) (formal, pronounced 'pay-es-ka' (commercial sex workers)), perek (slang) |
| province | wilayah (used in Indonesian to mean 'region'), daerah | propinsi, provinsi (from Dutch provincie) |
| push, to (door) | tolak (used less primarily in Indonesian to mean 'subtract', it also means 'to refuse/reject', also common meaning in Malay when used in arithmetics) | dorong (means "to push" in Malay, but often used to mean "to support") |
| rabbit | arnab (from Arabic) | kelinci |
| rape | rogol | perkosa |
| raspberry | rasberi | frambus, frambosen (from Dutch framboos) |
| receipt | resit, penerimaan | kuitansi, kwitansi (from Dutch kwitantie), struk |
| refrigerator | peti sejuk (rarely used in Indonesian) | lemari es, lemari pendingin, kulkas (from Dutch koelkast) |
| religion | ugama | agama |
| restaurant | kedai makan, restoran | restoran, rumah makan, kedai makan (rarely used now) |
| rob | rompak (Indonesian for "to commit piracy") | rampok, rampas |
| room | bilik (usually used to mean "compartment" in Indonesian), kamar(formal), also used in Indonesian | kamar (from Dutch "kamer"), ruang (Javanese, for storage areas etc.) |
| roundabout (traffic) | bulatan e.g. Bulatan DBP in Kuala Lumpur pusing keliling (in Brunei) |
bundaran e.g. Bundaran HI in Jakarta |
| rubber | getah | karet |
| sauce | sos | saos, saus (ultimately from French sauce), bumbu |
| salty | masin | asin |
| school (Islamic) | pondok | pesantren, pondok pesantren |
| science | sains | sains, ilmu (from Arabic 'ilm), iptek (an acronym for "Ilmu Pengetahuan dan Teknologi", which literally means "science and technology") |
| Scotland | Scotland | Skotlandia |
| secret | rahsia | rahasia |
| secretary | setiausaha | sekretaris |
| session | sesyen | sesi |
| sewer | saluran najis, saluran kumbahan | selokan, parit (means 'ditch' in Malay), got, saluran air/pembuangan |
| shampoo | syampu (from Anglo-Indian / Hindustani chāmpo, the imperative form of (Hindi) चाँपना chāmpnā 'to smear, knead the muscles, massage') | sampo (via Dutch) |
| shirt | baju (also in Indonesian but more generally refers to clothes) | hem, kaos, kemeja (from Portuguese camisa) |
| shoe | kasut | sepatu (understood but less frequently used in Malaysia, from Portuguese sapato) |
| shop | kedai (less common in Indonesia) | toko |
| Slovakia | Slovakia | Slowakia |
| snow | salji | salju (from Arabic 'thalj') |
| sodomy | liwath (from Arabic) | sodomi |
| sour | masam | asam, masam (obsolete, usually used in connotative expression: bermuka masam: sour faced (unsatisfied/unhappy expression)) |
| soya beans | kacang soya | kacang kedelai |
| speak/talk | berbicara, bercakap (means 'to chat' in Indonesian), bersembang, berborak | berbicara, ngomong (Javanese ngoko, colloquial) |
| Spain | Sepanyol | Spanyol |
| spoon | sudu | sendok |
| sport | sukan | olahraga (means "athletics" in Sanskrit and Malay) |
| stadium | stadium | stadion (from Dutch "stadion") |
| station | stesen | stasiun (formerly spelled "setasiun") |
| state within country | negeri | negara bagian |
| stop (verb) | berhenti | stop, berhenti |
| strawberry | strawberi | stroberi, arbei (from Dutch aardbei) |
| stupid | bodoh, bengap, tolol, bongok (slang) | bodoh, dungu, tolol, goblok (slang), geblek (slang), bego (slang) |
| Sunday | ahad (rarely used in Indonesia) | hari minggu (from Portuguese Domingo (Lord's Day) (minggu is used for week i.e. 7 days) |
| Sweden | Sweden | Swedia |
| Switzerland | Switzerland | Swiss |
| tapioca | ubi kayu | tapioka, tepung singkong |
| tap water | air paip | air keran, air ledeng (from Dutch leiding, "ledeng" also means "plumbing") |
| taxi | teksi | taksi |
| teacher | cikgu, guru | guru (from Sanskrit) |
| teacher (religious, Islam) | ustaz, ustad (ultimately from Persian استاد) | ustad |
| telephone | telefon (formerly talipon) | telepon, telpon, telfon |
| terrorist | pengganas | teroris (from Franco-Dutch terrorist) |
| testicles | buah zakar, testis, buah keranjut | biji kemaluan, buah zakar (slang, vulgar), kanjut (slang, vulgar) |
| traffic jam | kesesakan lalulintas, jam (slang) | macet |
| turn | pusing (means to spin in Indonesian, commonly used to mean dizzy as a short form of kepala pusing), belok | belok, putar |
| television | televisyen, TV | televisi (from Dutch televisie) , TV |
| tofu | tauhu | tahu |
| toilet | bilik air, tandas | kamar kecil, toilet, WC for watercloset) |
| towel | tuala (from Portuguese toalha) | handuk (from Dutch handdoek) |
| Thailand | Negara Thai, Siam, Thailand | Thailand, Siam, Muangthai used in old scripts |
| ticket | tiket | tiket, karcis (from Dutch kaartje) |
| tyre | tayar | ban (from Dutch "[auto]band") |
| train | keretapi, tren | kereta, kereta api, kereta rel listrik (KRL) (commuter train) |
| transsexual | pondan, bapok, transseksual | transseksual, waria (polite), bencong, banci |
| tree | pokok, pohon | pohon |
| try | cuba | coba |
| turkey (bird) | ayam belanda | ayam kalkun, kalkun from Dutch kalkoen |
| ugly | hodoh, buruk | jelek, buruk |
| Ukraine | Ukraine | Ukraina |
| uncle | pakcik | paman, oom or om (derived from Dutch, pronounced and sometimes spelt as oom) |
| university | universiti | universitas |
| until | sehingga, sampai | hingga, sampai |
| United States of America (USA) also the United States (US) | Amerika Syarikat | Amerika Serikat (AS), Amrik (acronymic slang) |
| vagina | faraj (from Arabic, in Indonesian means vulva), pepek/pepet (slang) | alat kelamin wanita, liang pernakan, vagina, farji, memek (slang, vulgar), pepek (slang, vulgar) |
| very | sangat, amat, sekali | sangat, amat, sekali, banget (from Javanese ngoko) |
| vice president | naib presiden | wakil presiden ('wapres') |
| victim | mangsa | korban |
| virgin | (anak) dara, (anak) gadis | perawan (formal), gadis, (anak) dara |
| voucher | baucer | vocer |
| want | mahu | mau |
| warden | warden, penjaga penjara | sipir penjara (from Dutch cipier) |
| website | laman web | situs web |
| weekend | hujung minggu | akhir pekan, akhir minggu |
| well (water hole) | perigi | sumur, perigi (rarely used) |
| when | bila, apabila, ketika | kapan, bilamana, bila, ketika |
| window | tingkap (also used in Indonesian but less common), jendela | jendela (from Portuguese janela) |
| wire | dawai, wayar | kawat (e.g. copper wire), kabel (e.g. electrical wire, cable) |
| you | anda (very formal), awak, kamu, kau | Anda (everyday formal), kamu (for very familiar people only), engkau ('kau) (prose), elu/loe (very vulgar Betawi slang) |
| zoo | zoo, taman haiwan (kebun binatang was also frequently used in Malaysia before the mid-sixties) | kebun binatang (derived from Dutch dierentuin (animal garden), taman margasatwa (more formal form for zoological park) |
False friends
Besides vocabulary differences, there are also a number of false friends in both languages. As these words are in quite common use in either or both of the languages, misunderstandings can arise.| Word | Malaysian meaning | Indonesian meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ahli | a member (of a group) (when the word is used by itself) (from Arabo-Persian Persian language Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence... "ahli" اهلی 'belonging to a group, people, indigenous or sim.'), expert in a field (from Arabo-Persian Persian language Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence... "'aqli" عقلی 'belonging to the intellect or mind, intellectual') |
expert in a field |
| akta (from Latino-Dutch acta) | act (= law) | act (= written legal document) |
| awak | you (casual) | shipper |
| baja | fertilizer | steel Malaysian: besi waja |
| banci | census | effeminate, transvestite homosexual |
| bandar | city | port |
| bapa | father (male parent) | specific to 'Father' (God) in religious context (Christianity) our Father which art in Heaven = Bapa kami yang di surga . Father in Indonesian is bapak (with an additional 'k' letter') |
| belanja | to treat, giving something for free | to shop (note: also carries this meaning in Malay, though in a context more akin to "spend".) |
| berbual | to chat | to tell a lie |
| bercinta | in (the essence of) love | make love, have sexual intercourse |
| beredar | From the root word "edar" which can means; to oscillate (planets only), to leave, or to distribute | distributed |
| biji | seed | seed, testicles ("balls", offensive) |
| bila | when | if, when (older version, almost obsolete) |
| bisa | venom | can/able (same as "boleh" in Malay), venom |
| bontot/buntut | buttock | tail ('ekor' as commonly used in Malay) |
| budak | kid | slave |
| butoh/butuh | male genitals, an offensive reference | need |
| cadangan | suggestion, opinion, proposal (example: peti cadangan = suggestion box) | reserve, spare (example: ban cadangan = spare tire) |
| comel | cute, pretty | (to call) someone who can not keep a secret (example: mulutnya comel= her mouth can't keep a secret) |
| daripada | A preposition that carries 5 meanings; 1. from (to explain the origin of something) 2.than (to do comparison) 3.from (to protect from, to avoid from ) 4. from (to state the sender of something) 5. from (to state the differences) | than (comparison)(example: Kamus ini lebih baik daripada yang itu= This dictionary is better than that one) |
| doktor | doctor (paramedic); doctorate (educational title) | doctorate (educational title) In Indonesian, the equivalent for paramedic doctor is dokter |
| duduk | to sit, a place to live on (only used informally) | to sit |
| electronic mail (recently changed to "emel") | enamel | |
| gampang | bastard from 'anak gampang' lit. easy child |
easy (non negative meaning) |
| getah | rubber, plant sap | plant sap |
| hemat | moral excellence | frugal, pennywise, save money or something e.g. electricity, gas or water usage |
| jabatan | department | position |
| jawatan | position | department |
| jemput | invite, pick up | pick up |
| jeruk | pickles/preserved fruits or vegetables | oranges |
| jimat | frugal, pennywise, save money or something e.g. electricity | amulet (the Malaysian equivalent is azimat) |
| kacak | handsome | ber-kacak pinggang (stands with hands on your hips) The Malaysian equivalent is bercekak-pinggang, a phrase to mean that a person is being bossy |
| kakak | elder sister | elder sibling (either elder brother or sister) |
| kakitangan | employee | subordinate (with negative meaning) |
| kapan | or kafan: Muslim burial shroud (kain kafan/kapan) | when (kapan mau pulang?= when do you want to go home?) |
| karya | work of art (karyawan=artists) | work (karyawan= workers) |
| kerajaan | government (historical association, most Malay states were governed by monarchs, from Raja = King, now refers to any kind of government) |
kingdom |
| keranjang | 'bola keranjang' = basketball (no other use than for basketball) | basket |
| kereta | car | train |
| khidmat | service | fully concentrate |
| koneksi | 'konek' = dick (slang/vulgar) | connection |
| konfeksi | A soft solid made by incorporating a medicinal substance or substances with sugar, sirup, or honey | clothing industry, any fancy or luxurious women's clothes (Dutch: confectie. A non-standard spelling sometimes used is: "konveksi") |
| lucu | funny | funny, cute (slang) |
| mangsa | victim | prey for animal |
| operasi | mathematic operational symbol, tactical operation | mathematic operational symbol, police operation, operation/surgery (as in Dutch) |
| pajak | to mortgage, pawn | tax |
| paket | packet | packet, package (normally used for promotion purposes, as in Dutch) |
| pantas | speedily | appropriate, 'no wonder' |
| pantat | buttock (Sabahan Malay meaning), vagina/pussy (slang/vulgar) | buttock |
| pelan | plan (associated with architectural work, site map etc. only) |
slow (perlahan in Malay) |
| pejabat | office | high-rank officer/officials (those who hold office, Malay (pegawai)) |
| pemerintah | ruler | government |
| pengajian | studies | mass recitation of Qur'an |
| percuma | free of charge percuma can also mean free of charge in Indonesian, but its usage has become obsolete, replaced by cuma-cuma |
useless, not needed |
| peti sejuk | refrigerator | cold Coffin |
| piawai | standard; correct bahasa piawai = standard language |
expert; skillful (on something) |
| pijat | bugs (software bugs i.e. Year 2000 bug and also commonly referring to the bed bugs) |
massage Javanese pijet |
| pohon | tree, to plea or to beg (from basic word: "mohon") | tree |
| pokok | tree | essential, basic, main kebutuhan pokok = essential necessities |
| polis | police | (insurance) policy (as in Dutch) |
| polisi | policy | police (as in Dutch) |
| punggung | buttock | back |
| pupuk | to nurture | fertilizer (also means 'to nurture' in the metaphorical sense of the word) |
| pusing | to go around a place, circular in motion, to spin/rotate | dizzy, confused, headache |
| putera | prince | son |
| rambut | hair (for head only) | hair |
| tambang | fare | mine, rope, passenger, fare |
| tandas | toilet | to explain, to finish |
| senang | easy | happy, relax |
| seronok | good, enjoyable | impolite, pornography-related gambar seronok = porn picture |
| sulit | confidential, difficult | difficult |
| wakil | representative | vice (for example, 'vice chancellor' and 'vice president'), representative |
The Influence of English
One of the most important aspect in differences between Indonesian and Malaysian language is the degree of influence from English. Apart from being heavily influenced by the Dutch language, Indonesian language also adopted a significant number of English loan words in its vocabulary. There have been many changes in Indonesian language as a result of its historical development. Words have been freely borrowed from English and only partly assimilated, in many cases, to the Indonesian patterns of structure. By the late 1970s, English words pouring into the language, leading one commentator, writing in 1977, to refer to the "trend towards Indo-Saxonisation". A great many borrowings from English sometimes fulfill no communicative need, expressing concepts adequately covered by existing words. Among the examples are: akurat, beside tepat (accurate),aliansi, beside sekutu (alliance), eksis, beside ada (exist), kandidat, beside calon (candidate), konklusi, beside kesimpulan (conclusion) kontaminasi, beside pencemaran (contamination), opini, beside pendapat (opinion) and opsi, beside pilihan (option). On the other hand, in absorbing the numerous xenisms or loan words from English, Malaysian Malay has shown a remarkable resilience, despite being the former colony of British empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
Some in Indonesia view this trend of excessive borrowings as "language dynamism", while some Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
linguists called it mass "language pollution", and lack of creativity in creating new terms.
Example
The original text in Indonesian:- Apabila peraturan pakta stabilitas Eropa dihormati sampai ke detailnya, rasio utang publik dibanding produk domestik bruto pada hari krisis akan berada di posisi 10 persentase poin kurang dalam zona euro, katanya.
The same text rendered in Malaysian:
- Apabila peraturan pakatan kestabilan Eropah dihormati sehingga ke perinciannya, nisbah hutang awam berbanding keluaran dalam negara kasar pada hari krisis akan berada di kedudukan 10 titik peratusan kurang dalam kawasan euro, katanya.
English translation:
- If the European stability pact rules been respected to the details, the ratio of public debt to gross domestic product on the days of crisis would have been at the position 10 percentage points less in the eurozone, he said.
Table of comparison
| English | Indonesian | Malaysian |
|---|---|---|
| Abortion Abortion Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced... |
Aborsi, also used: Pengguguran kandungan | Pengguguran |
| Accurate | Akurat, more commonly used:Tepat | Tepat |
| Alliance | Aliansi, more commonly used:Sekutu | Sekutu |
| Alloy Alloy An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history... |
Aloi | Pancalogam |
| Administration | Administrasi | Pentadbiran |
| Apartment | Apartemen | Pangsapuri |
| Application software Application software Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with... |
Aplikasi | Perisian penggunaan |
| Architecture Architecture Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art... |
Arsitektur | Seni bina |
| Association | Asosiasi | Persatuan |
| Assumption | Asumsi | Andaian |
| Astronaut Astronaut An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft.... |
Astronot, also used Antariksawan | Angkasawan |
| Athletics (sport) | Atletik | Olahraga |
| Baseband Baseband In telecommunications and signal processing, baseband is an adjective that describes signals and systems whose range of frequencies is measured from close to 0 hertz to a cut-off frequency, a maximum bandwidth or highest signal frequency; it is sometimes used as a noun for a band of frequencies... |
Baseband | Jalur asas |
| Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... |
Basket | Bola keranjang |
| Board of directors Board of directors A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors... |
Dewan Direktur | Lembaga Pengarah |
| Binary numeral system Binary numeral system The binary numeral system, or base-2 number system, represents numeric values using two symbols, 0 and 1. More specifically, the usual base-2 system is a positional notation with a radix of 2... |
Biner | Perduaan |
| Business Business A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit... |
Bisnis | Perniagaan |
| Capacitor Capacitor A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy in an electric field. The forms of practical capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least two electrical conductors separated by a dielectric ; for example, one common construction consists of metal foils separated... |
Kapasitor | Pemuat |
| Censor | Sensor | Tapisan |
| Career Career Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work .... |
Karier | Kerjaya |
| Chaos theory Chaos theory Chaos theory is a field of study in mathematics, with applications in several disciplines including physics, economics, biology, and philosophy. Chaos theory studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, an effect which is popularly referred to as the... (math) |
Teori Chaos | Teori kekacauan |
| Cavalry Cavalry Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms... |
Kavaleri | Pasukan berkuda |
| Census Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common... |
Sensus | Banci |
| Central bank Central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is a public institution that usually issues the currency, regulates the money supply, and controls the interest rates in a country. Central banks often also oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries... |
Bank sentral | Bank pusat |
| Civil | Sipil | Awam |
| Circuit switching Circuit switching Circuit switching is a methodology of implementing a telecommunications network in which two network nodes establish a dedicated communications channel through the network before the nodes may communicate. The circuit guarantees the full bandwidth of the channel and remains connected for the... |
Circuit switching | Pensuisan litar |
| Circuit Sepang International Circuit The Sepang International Circuit is a racing circuit in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located near Kuala Lumpur International Airport, approximately 60 km south of the capital city Kuala Lumpur. It is the venue used for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix, A1 Grand Prix as well as the... |
Sirkuit | Litar |
| Claim | Klaim | Tuntutan |
| Clarification | Klarifikasi | Penjernihan |
| Committee International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president... |
Komite | Jawatankuasa |
| Commission European Commission The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union.... |
Komisi | Suruhanjaya |
| Commissioner | Komisaris | Pesuruhjaya |
| Complaint | Komplain | Aduan |
| Compiler Compiler A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language... |
Kompilator | Penyusun |
| Confirmation | Konfirmasi | Pengesahan |
| Constitution Constitution A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is... |
Konstitusi, more commonly used: Undang-Undang Dasar | Perlembagaan |
| Consumption | Konsumsi | Perbelanjaan |
| Corporation | Korporasi | Perbadanan |
| Corruption Corruption Perceptions Index Since 1995, Transparency International publishes the Corruption Perceptions Index annually ranking countries "by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys." The CPI generally defines corruption as "the misuse of public power for private... |
Korupsi | Rasuah |
| Conclusion | Konklusi, more commonly used:Kesimpulan | Kesimpulan |
| Condensation Condensation Condensation is the change of the physical state of matter from gaseous phase into liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. When the transition happens from the gaseous phase into the solid phase directly, the change is called deposition.... |
Kondensasi | Pemeluwapan |
| Conference | Konferensi | Persidangan |
| Conservation Conservation Conservation may refer to:* Conservation movement, to protect animals, fungi, plants and their habitats** Conservation biology, the science of the protection and management of biodiversity... |
Konservasi | Pemuliharaan |
| Construction Construction In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking... |
Konstruksi | Pembinaan |
| Contamination | Kontaminasi, more commonly used:Pencemaran | Pencemaran |
| Continuous function Continuous function In mathematics, a continuous function is a function for which, intuitively, "small" changes in the input result in "small" changes in the output. Otherwise, a function is said to be "discontinuous". A continuous function with a continuous inverse function is called "bicontinuous".Continuity of... |
Fungsi kontinu | Fungsi selanjar |
| Conversion | Konversi | Penukaran |
| Criminal | Kriminal, more commonly used: Penjahat | Jenayah |
| Crucial | Krusial | Genting |
| Decimal Decimal The decimal numeral system has ten as its base. It is the numerical base most widely used by modern civilizations.... |
Desimal | Perpuluhan |
| Department | Departemen, also used: Jurusan (for department in University) | Jabatan |
| Depression (psychological) | Depresi | Kemurungan |
| Detail | Detil, also used:Rinci | terperinci |
| Detection | Deteksi | Pengesanan |
| Deputy | Deputi, more commonly used: Wakil | Timbalan |
| Design Design Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan... |
Desain, also used:Rancangan | Reka bentuk |
| Discussion | Diskusi | perbincangan |
| Disinfectant | Disinfektan, also used:Sucihama | Penyahjangkit |
| Efficiency | Efisiensi, also used: Kemangkusan | Kecekapan |
| Elasticity (economy) | Elastisitas | Keanjalan |
| Embargo (political science) | Embargo | Sekatan |
| Energy Energy In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems... |
Energi, also used: Tenaga | Tenaga |
| Erosion | Erosi,more commonly used: Pengikisan | Hakisan |
| Estimation | Estimasi, more commonly used: Perkiraan and Dugaan | Jangkaan |
| Evaluation | Evaluasi, more commonly used:Penilaian | Penilaian |
| Evacuation | Evakuasi, more commonly used: Pengungsian | Pemindahan |
| Excess | Ekses, more commonly used:Berlebihan | Lebihan |
| Expose | Ekspos, more commonly used:Paparan | Pendedahan |
| Execution | Eksekusi | Hukuman mati |
| Exploration | Eksplorasi, also used: Penjelajahan | Penjelajahan |
| Facility | Fasilitas | Kemudahan |
| Federation Federation A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government... |
Federasi | Persekutuan |
| Fermentation | Fermentasi, also used:Peragian | Penapaian |
| Financial Ratio | Rasio finansial | Nisbah kewangan |
| Fungus Fungus A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria... |
Fungi | Kulat |
| Fusion | Fusi | Pelakuran |
| Global Positioning System Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites... |
Sistem Pemosisi Global | Sistem Kedudukan Sejagat |
| Governor (state) | Gubernur | Yang Dipertua Negeri |
| Gradation | Gradasi | Pemeringkatan |
| Gross domestic product Gross domestic product Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living.... |
Produk domestik bruto | Keluaran dalam negara kasar |
| Group (mathematics) Group (mathematics) In mathematics, a group is an algebraic structure consisting of a set together with an operation that combines any two of its elements to form a third element. To qualify as a group, the set and the operation must satisfy a few conditions called group axioms, namely closure, associativity, identity... |
Grup | Kumpulan |
| Hexadecimal Hexadecimal In mathematics and computer science, hexadecimal is a positional numeral system with a radix, or base, of 16. It uses sixteen distinct symbols, most often the symbols 0–9 to represent values zero to nine, and A, B, C, D, E, F to represent values ten to fifteen... |
Heksadesimal | Perenambelasan |
| Hybrid (biology) | Hibrida | Kacukan |
| Impotent | Impotensi, also used: Kemandulan | Kemandulan |
| Inductor Inductor An inductor is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy in a magnetic field. An inductor's ability to store magnetic energy is measured by its inductance, in units of henries... |
Induktor | Peraruh |
| Injection | Injeksi, more commonly used:Suntikan | Suntikan |
| Instant | Instan | Segera |
| Introspection | Introspeksi | Kaji diri |
| Intelligent | Intelijen | Risikan |
| International | Internasional | Antarabangsa |
| Intervention | Intervensi, more commonly used: Campur tangan | Campur tangan |
| Invasion | Invasi, more commonly used: Serangan | Penaklukan |
| Investment Investment Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time... |
Investasi, also used:Penanaman modal | Pelaburan |
| Irrigation Irrigation Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall... |
Irigasi | Pengairan |
| Goal Keeper | Kiper, also used: Penjaga gawang | Penjaga gol/penjaga gawang |
| Guarantee | Garansi, more commonly used:Jaminan | Jaminan |
| Incineration Incineration Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and... |
Insinerasi | Penunuan |
| Legislative | Legislatif | Perundangan |
| Liquidity (economy) | Likuiditas | Kecairan |
| Local area network Local area network A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building... (LAN) |
Local area network | Rangkaian kawasan setempat |
| Military | Militer | Ketenteraan |
| Mass Mass Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:... |
Massa, also used: Kelembaman | Jisim |
| Matter Matter Matter is a general term for the substance of which all physical objects consist. Typically, matter includes atoms and other particles which have mass. A common way of defining matter is as anything that has mass and occupies volume... |
Materi | Jirim |
| Manufacturing Manufacturing Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale... |
Manufaktur | Pengilangan |
| Mediation | Mediasi, more commonly used:Penengah | Pengantaraan |
| Mental arithmetic | Aritmetika cepat, also used: Mencongak | Congak |
| Memory card Memory card A memory card or flash card is an electronic flash memory data storage device used for storing digital information. They are commonly used in many electronic devices, including digital cameras, mobile phones, laptop computers, MP3 players, and video game consoles... |
Kartu memori | Kad ingatan |
| Malpractice | Malpraktik | Penyelewengan |
| Management | Manajemen | Pengurusan |
| Manager | Manajer | Pengurus |
| Military | Militer | Ketenteraan |
| Navigation | Navigasi | Pandu Arah |
| Negotiation | Negosiasi, more commonly used:Perundingan | Perundingan |
| Octal | Oktal | Perlapanan |
| Option | Opsi, more commonly used:Pilihan | Pilihan |
| Opposition | Oposisi | Pembangkang |
| Organization | Organisasi | Pertubuhan |
| Oscillation Oscillation Oscillation is the repetitive variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value or between two or more different states. Familiar examples include a swinging pendulum and AC power. The term vibration is sometimes used more narrowly to mean a mechanical oscillation but sometimes... |
Osilasi, also used: Ayunan | Ayunan |
| Oven | Oven | Ketuhar |
| Parallel port Parallel port A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port... |
Port paralel | Port selari |
| Patient Patient A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider.... |
Pasien | Pesakit |
| Patrol | Patroli (for police and military), Ronda (for civilian) | Ronda |
| Percent | Persen | Peratus |
| Periodic table Periodic table The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular display of the 118 known chemical elements organized by selected properties of their atomic structures. Elements are presented by increasing atomic number, the number of protons in an atom's atomic nucleus... |
Tabel periodik, also used: Tabel Berkala | Jadual berkala |
| Pollution | Polusi, more commonly used:Pencemaran | Pencemaran |
| Portion | Porsi | Sebahagian |
| Publication | Publikasi, more commonly used:Terbitan | Penerbitan |
| Precipitation (meteorology) Precipitation (meteorology) In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation... |
Presipitasi (meteorologi) | Kerpasan |
| Prediction | Prediksi, more commonly used:Ramalan | Ramalan |
| Premature | Prematur, also used: Dini | Pramatang |
| Preposition | Preposisi, also used: Kata Depan | Kata sendi nama |
| Privatization | Privatisasi | Penswastaan |
| Producer | Produsen | Pengeluar |
| Programming | Pemrograman | Pengaturcaraan |
| Property | Properti | Harta |
| Propulsion | Propulsi | Perejangan |
| Prostitution Prostitution Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of... |
Prostitusi, also used: Pelacuran | Pelacuran |
| Pulse | Pulsa | Denyut |
| Random-access memory Random-access memory Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in... (RAM) |
Random access memory | Ingatan capaian rawak |
| Ratio | Rasio, also used: Nisbah | Nisbah |
| Real estate | Realestat | Hartanah |
| Recession (economy) | Resesi | Kemelesetan |
| Read-only memory Read-only memory Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only... (ROM) |
Read only memory, also used in some textbooks: Memori Hanya Baca | Ingatan baca sahaja |
| Reclamation | Reklamasi | Tebus guna |
| Refraction Refraction Refraction is the change in direction of a wave due to a change in its speed. It is essentially a surface phenomenon . The phenomenon is mainly in governance to the law of conservation of energy. The proper explanation would be that due to change of medium, the phase velocity of the wave is changed... |
Refraksi, more commonly used: Pembiasan | Pembiasan |
| Renovation | Renovasi, also used:Perbarui | Pengubahsuaian |
| Research | Riset, more commonly used:Penelitian | Kajian |
| Retailing Retailing Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be... |
Ritel, also used: eceran | Peruncitan |
| Resistor Resistor A linear resistor is a linear, passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element.The current through a resistor is in direct proportion to the voltage across the resistor's terminals. Thus, the ratio of the voltage applied across a resistor's... |
Resistor | Perintang |
| Ring (mathematics) Ring (mathematics) In mathematics, a ring is an algebraic structure consisting of a set together with two binary operations usually called addition and multiplication, where the set is an abelian group under addition and a semigroup under multiplication such that multiplication distributes over addition... |
Ring, 'Gelanggang' is also used in some Mathematics textbook | Gelanggang |
| Rumour | Rumor, also used: Desas-desus, Kabar angin, Kabar burung | Khabar angin |
| Routing Routing Routing is the process of selecting paths in a network along which to send network traffic. Routing is performed for many kinds of networks, including the telephone network , electronic data networks , and transportation networks... |
Routing | Penghalaan |
| Router | Router | Penghala |
| Secretary Secretary A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit... |
Sekretaris | Setiausaha |
| Sensor Sensor A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated... |
Sensor | Penderia |
| Sexagesimal | Seksagesimal | Perenampuluhan |
| Site | Situs, also used: Laman | Laman |
| Sublimation (phase transition) | Sublimasi | Pemejalwapan |
| Survey | Survei | Tinjauan |
| Supervision | Supervisi, more commonly used: Pengawasan | Penyeliaan |
| Supermarket Supermarket A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments... |
Supermarket | Pasar raya |
| Solution | Solusi, also used:Pemecahan | Penyelesaian |
| Specialist doctor | Dokter spesialis | Pakar perubatan |
| Standard | Standar | Piawai |
| Tank Tank A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities... |
Tank | Kereta kebal |
| Terrorism Terrorism Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition... |
Terorisme | Pengganasan |
| Transportation | Transportasi | Pengangkutan |
| National Team Germany national football team The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900.... |
Tim Nasional (Timnas) | Pasukan Kebangsaan |
| Team | Tim | Pasukan |
| Tornado Tornado A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider... |
Tornado | Puting beliung |
| USB flash drive USB flash drive A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g... |
USB flash drive | Pemacu kilat USB |
| Verb Verb A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive... |
Verba, more commonly used:Kata Kerja | Kata kerja |
| Verification | Verifikasi | Pengesahan |
| Visit | Wisata | Pelancongan |
| Viscosity Viscosity Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear or tensile stress. In everyday terms , viscosity is "thickness" or "internal friction". Thus, water is "thin", having a lower viscosity, while honey is "thick", having a higher viscosity... |
Viskositas | Kelikatan |
| Violet (color) Violet (color) As the name of a color, violet is synonymous with a bluish purple, when the word "purple" is used in the common English language sense of any color between blue and red, not including either blue or red... |
Violet, also used: Ungu, Lembayung | Lembayung |
| Volume Volume Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains.... (math) |
Volume | Isi padu |
| Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive... |
Bola Voli | Bola tampar |
| Wide area network Wide area network A wide area network is a telecommunication network that covers a broad area . Business and government entities utilize WANs to relay data among employees, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various geographical locations... (WAN) |
Wide area network | Rangkaian kawasan luas |
Dynamic-adaptivism vs Resilience-conservatism
The Indonesian language is highly adaptive to foreign influences, in contrast to the resilience and conservatism demonstrated by the Malay language. This is due to historical formation of each of these languages; the Indonesian language, although based upon the Sumatran Riau Malay language, is actually a newly generated generic, inclusive and open language. It is constantly enriched by both Indonesian regional languages and dialects (such as Javanese, Sundanese, Batak, Minangkabau, to Betawi) and by foreign languages (such as Sanskrit, Chinese, Persian, Latin, Dutch, French and English). As a result it is common to have multiple synonyms of a word that already has its own initial Malay word. It is also possible that new specific meanings or connotations were generated for newly adopted words. For example the words pustaka (from Sanskrit), kitab (from Arabic), and buku (from Dutch) all originally mean "book", however more specific use of these synonyms developed: pustaka is more eloquent, have poetic quality and associated to culture and literature, kitab is associated with law and religious scripture, while buku is more common and neutral word for book. The same case also evident in the word gita (from Sanskrit), tembang (from Javanese), and lagu (original Malay word), all words mean "song" but each has developed specific usage. This highly adaptive nature has caused Indonesian language to evolve much more faster and vibrant than Malay language. For example the current Malay vocabulary is actually very similar to Indonesian language in mid 20th century to several decades ago.Indonesian language is a dynamic language evolving continuously and vigorously. The spearhead of its evolution today is the Indonesian youth through Indonesian slang, influenced heavily by Betawi language
Betawi language
The Betawi language is the spoken language of the Betawi people in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is the native language of about 2,700,000 people . It is a Malay-based creole, and closely related to Malay language. Betawi vocabulary have large amount of Hokkien Chinese, Arabic, and Dutch loanwords...
; the regional language of capital city Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, and English. Never considered as a standard and formal Indonesian — Indonesian slang — the language of Indonesian youth, are widespread within Indonesian popular culture; music
Music of Indonesia
The music of Indonesia demonstrates its cultural diversity, the local musical creativity, as well as subsequent foreign musical influences that shaped contemporary music scenes of Indonesia. Nearly thousands of Indonesian islands having its own cultural and artistic history and character. This...
, cinema
Cinema of Indonesia
Though the cinema of Indonesia has a long history, the industry is currently struggling and developing.-Colonial era:The first film made in Indonesia was the 1926 silent film, Loetoeng Kasaroeng, by Dutch directors G. Kruger and L. Heuveldorp...
and TV drama. Indonesian youth is at its most creative and dynamic when dealing with subjects such as social life, relationships, love and sex. The way young Indonesians communicate with each other is vibrant, creative, dynamic and, above all, fun. Young people in Indonesia practise and propagate the youth style of Indonesian as an expression of their identity and as a means to build solidarity with their peers. Indonesian slang had gave another complexity and depth to understand popular language and culture of Indonesia, thus add another differences and rift with Malay language. Nevertheless the standard Indonesian are always expected to be used in formal occasions, by government, academic communities and medias.
Convergence of vocabulary
The rift of evolution on both languages is actually based upon political nouance and the history of its formation than cultural reason, as the result there is different views on regarding each other languages among Malaysians and Indonesians. In Malaysia, the national language is Malay; in Indonesia, it is Indonesian. The Malaysians tend to assert that Malay and Indonesian are merely different varieties of the same language, while the Indonesians tend to treat them as separate — albeit related — languages. The result of this attitude is that the Indonesians feel little need to synchronise their language with Malaysia and Brunei, whereas the Malaysians are keener to coordinate the evolution of the language with the Indonesians. However both parties had realize the communication benefits of mutually comprehensive and intelligible shared languages among them, which motivated the efforts to synchronize the languages developments. The effort to synchronize both languages evolution to be more intelligible has been embarked by imposing standard rules of language, by Pusat Bahasa in Indonesian side and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka in Malaysian counterpart.The Malay language in Malaysia is not pervasively used in all spheres of life compared to Indonesia. Competition from the English language, the emotional attachment of Malaysian Malays to the language and the desire by non-Malays to preserve the use of their native languages are probably the reasons for this state of affairs. As a result, the Malay language in Malaysia is not as dynamic as Indonesian in Indonesia (note that the Malay language in Indonesia is considered as a regional language) in the introduction of new words through adaptation from other languages especially English. Many Malays are adverse to adopting English words. They rather prefer to find obscure Malay words or words from the Malay archipelago that are equivalent to the English term.
Sample
Indonesian text sample: Ensiklopedia, atau kadangkala dieja sebagai ensiklopedi, adalah sejumlah buku yang berisi penjelasan mengenai setiap cabang ilmu pengetahuan yang tersusun menurut abjad atau menurut kategori secara singkat dan padat.- Kata 'ensiklopedia' diambil dari bahasa Yunani; enkyklios paideia yang berarti kumpulan instruksi atau pengajaran yang lengkap. Maksudnya, ensiklopedia adalah sebuah sarana pendidikan lengkap yang mencakup semua bidang ilmu pengetahuan. Seringkali ensiklopedia disalahartikan sebagai kamus. Hal ini disebabkan karena ensiklopedia-ensiklopedia awal memang berkembang dari kamus-kamus.
Malaysian text sample: Ensiklopedia, atau kadangkala dieja sebagai ensaiklopedia, merupakan koleksi maklumat atau himpunan fakta mengenai setiap cabang ilmu pengetahuan yang tersusun menurut abjad atau menurut kategori secara singkat dan padat.
- Kata 'ensiklopedia' diambil daripada bahasa Yunani εγκύκλιος παιδεία, egkyklios paideia (a circle of instruction) yang bererti sebuah lingkaran atau pengajaran yang lengkap. Ini bermaksud ensiklopedia itu merupakan sebuah pendidikan sempurna yang merangkumi semua aspek ilmu pengetahuan. Seringkali ensiklopedia disalahertikan sebagai kamus. Mungkin ini kerana ensiklopedia-ensiklopedia awal memang berkembang daripada kamus.
Approximate English equivalent
- Encyclopedia, or occasionally spelled encyclopaedia, is a collection of books containing explanations and facts about all branches of science that are compiled briefly and compactly according to the alphabet or according to the category.
- The word 'encyclopedia' is derived from Greek, ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία (enkyklios paideia), which literally means a circle of instructions or a complete teaching. It means the encyclopedia is a complete educational material which includes the whole aspects of science. Encyclopedias are often confused with dictionaries. This is probably due to the fact that early encyclopedias were actually developed from dictionaries.
Trivia
During the May 1998 Reform in Indonesia, when calls for political reform (Indonesian: reformasi) culminated in the resignation of President Suharto (and thus the fall of the New Order (Orde Baru)New Order (Indonesia)
The New Order is the term coined by former Indonesian President Suharto to characterize his regime as he came to power in 1966. Suharto used this term to contrast his rule with that of his predecessor, Sukarno...
), Malaysian satirists Instant Cafe Theatre Company lampooned a government broadcast in which "Malaysians are reminded that reformasi is an Indonesian word, which has no equivalent in Malaysian language." This "soft propaganda" is no doubt a deliberate attempt by the Malaysian government to suppress the oppositions in Malaysia and to prevent any reformasi-inspired movements from happening in Malaysia.
External links
- The Malay Spelling Reform, Asmah Haji Omar, (Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society, 1989-2 pp. 9–13 later designated J11)
- The MALAY LANGUAGE in MALAYSIA and INDONESIA: from lingua franca to national language Asmah Haji Omar article in The Asianists' ASIA