1. Prologue

Gopek and cepek are two words we frequently hear from Betawi speakers. According to Muhadjir, the two words prove that Betawi language, as a Malay dialect, has adopted Chinese words. This kind of adoption is common as a form of influence of a certain language on another.

2. Chinese Influence

Tracing back the history of Malay language often means looking for foreign languages influences on it. There are others (i.e. Sanskrit, Arabic, and a few European languages) that deserve investigation but here we will focus on Chinese influence.

Somehow, we cannot forget that the word Malay was found for the first time in a Chinese report. Albeit not exactly equivalent in terms of phonology, many experts (historians especially) believe that the word Mo-lo-yue found in a Chinese report refers to a kingdom in Sumatra. The fact that it is inscribed in Chinese letters hints that there had been a long-lasting relationship between Chinese and Malay people. As noted, the report comes from the year of 644 and 645 CE.

By the year of 1560 CE, Yang Lin completed his list of Malay words supposed to have been borrowed from Chinese language. The Chinese royal office clerk managed to compile no less than 500 words. Those words were used dominantly in the field of economy. Names of many fancy imported goods were simply taken into Malay language.

Because Malay language is not a close relative of Chinese, it can be assumed that Malay words that resemble (or exist in) Chinese are borrowed. Malay language borrowed the words from Chinese and adopted them.

Edwards and Blagden (1930-1932) in Collins (2005) listed a number of words suspected to have been taken from Chinese of Ming Dynasty. Here are they:

Modern	Malay	English
chia pu erh	kamper	Camphor
ko lo ma	kurma	date fruit
chen chieh	cengkih	Clove
pa wan lam	pualam	Marble
ka mo ku su	kemukus	Cubeb
yin tan	intan	diamond

3. Malay and Chinese: A Plain Comparison

To find similarities between Chinese and Malay languages is not easy. But it takes less hard work if one seeks for differences.

Phonologically, Chinese and Malay is dissimilar. There are lots of Chinese pronunciations that are nonexistent in Malay language and vice versa. In Chinese, speaking tones do matter significantly while it is not the case with Malay. Chinese has /zh/, /ch/, and /sh/ consonants while Malay does not. On the other hand, Malay has the /r/ consonant as well as the /l/ while Chinese only possesses the latter.

Below are few examples of how tones matter in Chinese.

Chinese word	Malay	Meaning	Tone
(mā)	ibu	mama	High
(má)	lamban	slow	high and up
(mǎ)	kuda	horse	low, down and up
(mà)	“kata makian”	“cursing word"	high and down
(ma)	“partikel interogatif”	“interrogative particle”	middle tone

The difference is not only in the phonology and tone; it is also there in the syllabic system. In general, a Chinese word constitutes only one syllable or one vocal phoneme with various diphthong variations. We can take a look again at the above example. The Malay word kuda (horse) is made of two syllables ku + da while the Chinese mǎ is of only one. Chinese is a monosyllabic language. This condition is in contrast with Malay language, which is bisyllabic.

From the view point of linguistic typology, Chinese is a tonic language while Malay is not as complicated. Tones, in Malay language, are not even so important that they can barely alter the meaning of a word.

Given these differences, experts conclude that Malay is not a direct relative of Chinese. Malay language falls into Austronesian language family while Chinese into Chinese-Tibetan language family.

Because Malay language originates from a family different to that of Chinese, there is only one possible explanation for Malay words that resemble Chinese words: Malay has borrowed those from Chinese, especially Ming Dynasty Chinese.

4. Creativity in Malay Language

Observing the borrowed words above, we know that Malay does not take Chinese words unmodified. Instead, Malay people changed the words to adjust to their own gramatical system.

5. Chinese Influence on Modern Indonesian Malay

People may assume that the examples of Chinese influence on Betawi Malay at the prologue section are not the standard language. We then need to ask whether the Indonesian standard language is affected.

Wikipedia.com has noted and answered the question. There are indeed a number of words in standard Indonesian that are taken from Chinese. It also mentions that most of the original words are used in a particular Chinese community, i.e. Hokkien in Fujian Province, China. It is believed to be the origin of the majority of Chinese merchants that came to Indonesiean Archipelago.

Categorically, the words are used more in some fields than others, like in culinary, such as the (tea), tahu (tofu), kecap (soybean sauce), bakmi (noodle), bakso (meatball), soto (soup), and sate (satay) and in culture, such as imlek (Chinese New Year), hongshui (Chinese topographic knowledge), shio (Chinese astrology), etc. Meanwhile, there are no words related to firearms.

6. Conclusion

Chinese influence on Malay language has been existent since the 15th century and can still be perceived until today, especially in some certain Malay dialects. In receiving the Chinese influence, Malay language made some adjustments, especially in phonological, morphological aspects, because the linguistic structure of those languages are different. Consequently, it is difficult to etymologically trace back the original forms of some of those words.

(SR/bhs/44/09-07)

Translation by Reza Daffi

Sources

Anonymous. 2000-2005. http://www.ethnologue.com, retrieved on September 17th, 2007.

Anonymoys. no date. Chinese Language. http://en.wikipedia.org, retrieved on September 17th, 2007.

Basyarsyah II, Tuanku Lukman Sinar & Wan Sayifuddin. 2002. Kebudayaan Melayu Sumatera Timur. Medan: USU Press.

Collins, James T. 2005. Bahasa Melayu Bahasa Dunia Sejarah Singkat (translation by Evita Elmanar). Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia.

David K. Jordan. 2007. The Chinese Language(s). http://weber.ucsd.edu, retrieved on September 17th, 2007.

Lubis, A. Hamid Hasan. 1988. Glosarium Bahasa dan Sastra. Bandung: Penerbit Angkasa.

Muhadjir. 2000. Bahasa Betawi: Sejarah dan Perkembangannya. Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia.

Poedjosoedarmo, Soepomo. 2006. Perubahan Tata Bahasa: Penyebab, Proses, dan Akibatnya (speech in professorial inauguration). Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Jacques, Guillaume. 2006. Introduction to Chinese Historical Phonology. http://xiang.free.fr, retrieved on September 18th, 2007.

A List of Some of Borrwed Chinese Words in Indonesian

Borrowed Chinese Words	English
amah or amoy	Chinese girl/woman
angkin or angkong	belt
anglo	brazier
angpao	a red envelope containing money as a gift
bakmi	noodle
bakpia	small cake made of flour
barongsai	lion dance
cici	older sister
dim sum	porridge
doku	money
gin coa or gincu	lipstick
ginkang or giwang	Earring
hoki	luck
kungfu	Kungfu
lunpia or lumpia	egg roll

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