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Malay has words like “bas”, “teksi” and “komputer”. But borrowing goes both ways, English uses Malay words too.
If you’ve sat on a rattan chair, visited an orangutan or heard someone say “run amok”, you’ve already encountered them.
So, how did these words travel into English, and how have they influenced EN: influence Kuasa untuk membentuk atau mengubah sesuatu. BM: pengaruh it?
Words travel with people
When people trade, travel and live together, their languages exchange words.
These are called loanwords EN: loanword Perkataan yang diambil daripada bahasa lain dan digunakan dalam bahasa sendiri. BM: kata pinjaman .
Malay was widely used for trade across the Malay Archipelago.
European traders picked up local words for unfamiliar animals, materials and places.
Some entered English directly, others passed through languages such as Dutch or Portuguese.
Familiar words with Malay roots
Rattan — from “rotan”
The flexible climbing palm used to make chairs, baskets and other woven products.
Amok — from “amuk”
In English, “run amok” means to behave wildly or without control.
Compound — linked to “kampung”
An embassy compound is an enclosed area containing buildings. This meaning is linked to kampung.
The other meaning of “compound”, such as a chemical compound, has a different origin.
Orangutan — from “orang” and “hutan”
The name literally means “person of the forest”.
Cockatoo — from “kakatua”
The word reached English through Dutch, which helps explain its different spelling.
From a unit of weight to a tea box
Here’s a less obvious one: tea caddy, a container for storing tea.
“Caddy” comes from kati, a traditional unit of weight used in trade.
Over time, the name of the measurement became associated with the container.
But this is different from a golf caddie, which has another origin.
What about ketchup?
This one has a more complicated history.
“Ketchup” is often linked to Chinese sauce terms, sometimes through Malay words such as kicap. Its exact route into English is debated.
Early ketchup wasn’t necessarily made from tomatoes. The tomato version familiar today developed later.
So, it’s better to say ketchup has Asian linguistic roots than to call it definitely a Malay invention.
Languages borrow EN: borrow Mengambil dan menggunakan perkataan daripada bahasa lain. BM: meminjam because people connect. A borrowed word can carry a little piece of that shared history.