Lessons in Malay
I love the fact that when travelling to different states and countries, we often are welcomed with regional vocabularies which adds unique words to our daily conversations. It happened this time too. We picked up many words from Malay (Bahasa Melay), the most prominent language of Malaysia, and added them to our regular references. A few of them have fascinating stories behind them.
Kopi meaning coffee, is my favourite. I found this word really adorable, sounding like a toddler asking for a coffee. We have started using Kopi for our daily coffee conversations now. Sometimes people around us get confused as to why we are mispronouncing coffee!
Denda, Malay word for fine or penalty, is the second word we have been using the most since our Malaysian adventures. There’s a fun story behind this word making its entrance in our lives, which needs its own chapter. Mixing this word in our Hindi conversations is very comical since it resonates with word the danda, loosely used for beating or punishment given by parents to their kids. So, whenever any of us does something undesirable, that person gets the denda.
Making our way avoiding denda, one of the days, I was confused about which coffee to order while trying to decipher the abbreviations beside the Kopi. It became really hilarious when P got back to me telling the meanings of those. Apparently Kopi S meant Kopi Susu, meaning coffee with milk. We burst out laughing because of the Hindi slang reference.
After more than a week, it was finally time for us to take Keluar from Malaysia. You see, another Malay word which is stuck in our usual sentences. Keluar means exit. We came across this word multiple times a day at each and every exit door at all places.
Besides these, the words that stuck with us were Tuntunan Bagasi (baggage reclaim at airport), Bas (bus), Jalan (street), Pantai (beach), Menara (tower), Pintu (door). We don’t use that often but they were most observed words across various signages. Adding several words in our glossary, filled with inside jokes, we look forward to continue bringing in the Malay culture and blend it in our daily routine.
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Kopi Susu made me smile too.
Indian kingdoms and south eastern asian countries are well connected since 1st century AD. Many of the sanskrit words are absorbed by bahasa languages (Malaysia, Indonesir) like Bhumi (earth), putra (son), putri (daughter), laxmana (commandar), kedai (shop in Tamil – Kadai), Kuala Lumpur -ends with ur – which is place like Tarapur. Many north Indian friends who visit these piece of lands, burst into laugh at Kopi Susu. funny!