Since I lived two years in Malaysia, and I attended the Malay language classes, holding some specific lessons on the contamination of different languages, I have returned to be passionate about an ancient love of university days: linguistics, in fact.
It should also be added that in
recent years I have intensified the study and knowledge of Hinduism, thanks to
the attendance of the Hindu community of Bengal in Rome.
So I got the crazy idea of deepening
the study of Sanskrit, at least at the etymological level, because it's a fact
that most of the words of the Indo-Malay languages, as well as culture, art, and
partly religion of these countries are imbued with Indian and Hindu influences.
I still remember the astonishment of
the young students of the BM – Malay language – courses in the Humanities
faculty, when I made them a short list of Malay words which were, in fact,
Sanskrit words.
Sanskrit, after all, is the primary
and oldest language spoken throughout Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe: we all
come from there.
Then over the millennia it generated
Pali, Persian, Greek and Latin, Javanese, among the
ancient languages; while in modern languages it has influenced Tamil, Punjabi,
Arabic, Hebrew, Tagalog, Thai, English, French, Russian and the Indo-Malay
languages.
Obviously, over the centuries,
languages are transformed, agglomerating influences from other languages. The
Malay language, for example, derives from ancient Javanese, which was a
language related to Sanskrit.
The cradle of all these linguistic
influences are the two famous epics of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. But, to
most influence the Malay literary tradition was the “Hikayat Seri Rama”.
The Ramayana is said to have come to
Malaysia thanks to the Javanese shadow theater tradition, the Wayang Kulit.
This ancient art, however, underwent
changes due to the strong Islamic culture in Malaysia, which changed some
elements, especially hiding the Hindu substratum. The characters of the Wayang
Kulit theater, the Kelantan Dalangs, all became Muslim, in accordance with the
dominant religion.
In Malaysia the Mahabharata became
the “Hikayat Perang Pandawa Jaya” (“The Tale of the
war of the victorious Pandawa”), composed between the late 14th and
early 16th centuries, and “Hikayat Maharaja Boma”.
I am deeply fascinated by how
languages influence and change over time.
The etymologies remain a magical
place, an enchanted garden in which to stroll to learn more about our
languages.
Obviously there are words that are
evidently of Sanskrit origin which it is impossible to doubt, such as Raja, the
King in many Southeast Asian languages.
Others remain more surprising.
Babel Tower |
I have collected here a series of
words from Malay, and very similar to Indonesian, which come from or are
entirely Sanskrit words.
It is a purely subjective list, the
ones that impressed me the most and that surprised me. For some of them the
analysis of the original meaning is also very interesting.
I don't know about you, but I enjoy
playing and learning words like a child.
Therefore I offer them to you, to my
many Malaysian and Indonesian friends, who may already know them, or who did
not know their origin, sharing with you the knowledge,
amazement and love for the language.
To return to the disbelief of the
Malay language students at the university, I believe that among the most
interesting words are those relating to religion, in this case Islam.
The same word Agama (religion) is a Sanskrit word which means
“from the Vedas”, “inspired by religious texts”.
Surga (Heaven) is Svarga, and Neraka (Hell) is Narakah, obviously not in the
Christian-Islamic sense but of the heavens and the infernal places of the Hindu
tradition.
Dosa (Sin) is Dova, and
Puasa (Fasting) is Upavasa.
Cinta (Love) is also totally of Sanskrit origin, with Cinta
(Sinta in Tagalog) deriving from Cinta (“care”), while more fascinating is
Asmara, one of the most poetic terms for love—the famous song
“Asmara Bergelora” (romantic or turbulent love), a classic by Uji Rashid &
Hail Amir—well, in Sanskrit Asmara is Smara, but not
simple love but “lust”. This is one of those cases in which words are
domesticated by culture and religion to become part of the common lexicon.
While on the word Suami, husband, I
made a specific digression during that lesson, because it was surprising for me
to know its origin.
I remember hearing this word over
and over in a Hindu raga on a CD I bought in Little India, in Penang;
therefore, intrigued by why the word “husband” was repeated continuously in a
raga, I asked an Indian Hindu friend of mine and she explained that in reality
it was Swami, which in Sanskrit means God, or high priest.
Curious—and very clever, I would say—that in the Indo-Malay language this
term means today “husband”: I leave all personal considerations to you, I have
already drawn my conclusions.
And anyway, while we're at it,
Isteri is also Stri, wife, Keluarga the family is Kula-varga, the “family
residence”, and Wanita is Vanita, the woman.
You can make very clever use of the
etymologies, Pandai is said to be clever, which comes from Pandita – “learned”.
Some terms, as I said at the
beginning, are easy to understand such as Puji (praising, flattering) which is
a direct derivative of Puja, religious prayer and praise, worship; or Sastera,
Sastra, the literature deriving from Sastran, “the readings” and àstra, the
“handbook”.
Baca, reading, is Vaca, “words
with voice”, and Kata, word, is Katha, “story”, which in Bengali is Kotha;
Bicara is Vicàra, the “discussion”, and Budaya (culture) is Bahu-deya, “the
munificence, the quality or the action of being extremely generous”, a very
fascinating etymology relating to “culture”.
Some words now that I particularly
love: my beloved Cahaya, the light, which in Sanskrit is Cha-ya, the Shadow
(with much love from the Japanese Zen philosophers), Jiwa, the soul that is
such and like Jiva, “the personal soul.”
Bahagia, happiness, which comes from
Bhagya, “of good fortune”.
Warna is Varna, color, Suka (pleasure)
is Sukha, happiness, Sempurna is Sampurnatà, “Perfection”. And Saya (me) is
Swayam, “myself”.
Among the last words of this short trip, one of the most loved cannot be missing, linked to the National Day of these two countries: Merdeka! “Freedom”, which derives from Maharddhika: “prosperity”.
A separate voice deserves a word
that has instead lost a lot over the centuries, and which instead was one of
the strongest in the Hindu tradition.
Rasa, the taste or even feeling, the “feeling
strange” (rasa aneh), for example.
On this term there are entire
chapters of books on the origins of Sanskrit and the Hindu tradition.
Here I quote two books that I
recently bought and am studying, a very complex and difficult one by René
Daumal on Sanskrit.
The scholar explains that, in
relation to the distinction and classification of the arts in ancient India, Rasa
is the essence of poetry (including theater).
“Taste is the
name of the immediate perception, from the inside, of a particular moment or
state of existence, caused by the entry into action of artistic means of
expression. It's neither an object nor a feeling nor
a concept; it is an immediate evidence, a savoring of life itself.”
The other book is by the scholar
Giovanni Torcinovich, an Indologist at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice, on
Art in India and its symbolism. The book refers to
Bharata's text “Natyasastra” on dramaturgy, a cornerstone of classical Indian
arts.
Here the “theory of rasa” is
exposed, on which the whole Indian vision of art in general is based, for which
art is the semantic capacity to express, precisely through the senses. The arts
arouse emotions in humans through the senses.
There are nine rasa (navarasa), and each
of them is also associated with a color, but we will see this in a future article:
cheerfulness, hasya
compassion, karuna
anger, raudra
heroism or courage, vira
terror, bhayanaka
hatred, bibhatsya
the wonder, adbhuta
peace, shanta
This is just to say how complex the
study of this word is and how much it has lost over the centuries.
Not the simple feeling or taste of
flavors, but a mystical experience of deep communion with the world through the
arts.
I forgot, Bahasa, the language, is also a Sanskrit word: Bhasa.
I believe it is enough and I hope you may have enjoyed walking in the Ancient Garden of Words.
We know the world through the
language we learn as children, for us there is no other way to grow than to
“name things”. This is why it is important to pay due tribute to the mother of
many of our languages.
I will continue to study it and
maybe I will come back later to write about it.
A thought goes out to all the young
students I have met, and I hope that you will never stop in front of the first
closed door but will open one after the other.
Finally, I apologize for the incorrect spelling of the Sanskrit terms, which have a complex accent and not present in the keyboard.
However I am attaching an article from which I took these words so you can have fun finding others: Malay Words of Sanskrit Origin
René Daumal: “Launched by thought” (Adelphi, 2019)
“India - Art beyond forms” by Giovanni Torcinovich (VAIS – Il Cerchio,
2013)
Italian version
I only remember a bit about the roots or origin of Malay language during history lesson in secondary school. A long time ago.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a lot of knowledge to comment more.
But it is interesting to know more words from the example given.
Thanks for sharing.
Happy you like 🙏
DeleteYou done great...good digging in this writing...very interesting article.
ReplyDeleteAs for me...bahasa melayu adalah milik rumpun melayu yang mendiami seluruh kepulauan Melayu yang ada (Malay language belongs to the Malay family who live across the Malay archipelago there)
Malay absorb a lot of foreign languages... Sanskrit, English, Dutch, Javanese, Arabic,Chinese and few more.
Sanskrit have greatly influenced the Malay language when Malays at that time were all Hinduism during the Srivijaya goverment.
There are 677 words derived from Sanskrit....if I'm not mistaken.And many more from other languages...that in turn influences other languages,too.
It's fascinating know about languages 😊
DeleteDeep info and great knowledge sharing you did. Really respect Bro 🌷
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot 💪
DeleteIt is very interesting to read about the etymology of the word in Malay/Indonesian.
ReplyDeleteI have learned all this while studying at university.
About nine rasa (navarasa) has been studied at the PhD level entitled "Rasa-Fenomenologi As A Theory of Aesthetic Experience" by Sohaimi Abdul Aziz from PPIK, USM.
Thanks for sharing..
Yes, navarasa really interesting 🙏
DeleteYup. I think you should read the book too..
DeleteRasa-Fenomenologi As A Theory of Aesthetic Experience by Sohaimi Abdul Aziz from PPIK, USM.
Good for Malays especially young generation to know about this, the origin of their bahasa.🙂
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot 😊
Delete