A Manual of the Malay language / With an Introductory Sketch of the Sanskrit Element in Malay

by Sir William Edward Maxwell

The few astronomical terms known to the Malays have been borrowed either from Sanskrit or Arabic, the former supplying the following:—

English.	Malay.	Sanskrit.	Other Languages.
Eclipse	grahana	grahaṇa	J. grahana.
Firmament	udara	adhara (lower)
Celestial sphere	chakrawâla	chakra-vâla (horizon; a range of mountains supposed to encircle the earth and to be the limit of light and darkness)
Atmosphere	bumantâra	cf. dyumantara (brilliancy)	Kw. bomantara; J. jumantara.
The heavens, æther	angkasa	âkâça	Kw. and S. akasa.
The milky-way	bîmasaktî	bhîma (terrible), çakti (strength, power)	S. bimasakti; J. bimasakti, the name of a star
Pleiades	kertîka	kṛittikâ (the third of the lunar mansions)
The sign Cancer in the Zodiac	mangkâra	makara	J. mangkara, crab.
Astrology	panchalîma	panchan (five)

To these may be added Râhû (Sansk. Râhu, a deity to whom eclipses are ascribed) and Kedû (Sansk. Ketu, the mythological name of the descending node, represented as a headless demon), monsters who are supposed by the Malays to cause eclipses by swallowing the moon. To denote the points of the compass the Malays have native, Sanskrit, and Arabic terms. Utâra (uttara),[21] the north, and daḳsina (dakshiṇa), the south, are Sanskrit words; and paḳsina, the north, has evidently been coined by Malays in imitation of daḳsina.

The elephant is most generally known all over the Archipelago by its Sanskrit name gajah. Sanskrit terms are also used to signify the driver of an elephant and several articles used in connection with this animal. From these circumstances we may probably conclude, with Crawfurd, that the art of training and domesticating elephants was first learned by the Malays from natives of India.[22]

English.	Malay.	Sanskrit.	Other Languages.
Elephant	gâjah	gaja	J., S., and D. gajah; Bat. and Mak. gaja; Tag. gadia; Bis. gadya.
Elephant-driver	gambâla-gâjah	gopâla (herdsman)
Goad	ângkus, kwâsa	aṅkuça
Foot-chain	ândûwân	andu (chain)
Front part of the head	gomba, kumba	kumbha
Unbroken, vicious (of an elephant); the condition called musth	meta	mada (elephant in rut)	Kw. meta, wild elephant.
Hobbles for securing the feet	sengkăla	çṛiṅkhala (a chain)

The words of command used by elephant-drivers in the Malay peninsula appear, however, to be adapted mainly from the Siamese, and it is from this people that the Malays of the continent have acquired much of their modern knowledge of the art of capturing, subduing, and training the elephant. The names of animals, birds, &c., indicate, as might be expected, that while most of the varieties known to the Malays are indigenous, there are some species which have been imported, or which, belonging to other countries, are known by name only in the Archipelago. The word morga, (mṛiga) and satwâ (sattva),[23] both meaning “an animal,” are Sanskrit, and if the commoner word benâtang is derived, as seems possible, from the Sanskrit vana, forest, there is no purely native generic term to signify a beast or animal. While, therefore, the early Malay tribes had names for all the animals domesticated by them, as well as those which they encountered in their forests, it was not until the period of their intercourse with more civilised races from India that they learned to generalise and to comprehend the brute creation under one term. The following Sanskrit words for animals, &c., occur in Malay:—

English.	Malay.	Sanskrit.	Other Languages.
Lion	sînga	siṃha	J. and S. singa and singha; Mak. and D. singa.
Jackal	srîgâla	cṛigâla	Bat. sorigala; J. segawon, a dog.
Camel	onta	ushṭra (a camel)	J. and Mak. unta; S. onta.
Wild bull	ândâka	dhâka	Kw. daka and andaka.
Ichneumon	charpalei	sarpâri (sarpa, a snake)
A small yellow snake, about a span long	chintâ-mani	chintâ-maṇi (a fabulous gem, the possessor of which gets all he wishes for)
Scorpion	kâla	kâla (black)	J., S., D., and Malg. kala; Bat. kala; Mak. pati-kala.
Crow	gâgak	kâka	J. and S. gayak; Bat. gak; Mak. kala; D. kak.
Peacock	mĕraḳ	barha, varha	J. and S. merak; Mak. muraka; D. marak.
Goose[24]	angsa, hangsa, gangsa	haṃsa	J. ongsa; S. gangsa.
Pigeon	mĕr-ăpâti, perapâti	pârâpatî	S. japati; Bat. darapati; Tag. palapati; Bis. salapati.
Eagle-falcon	râjawâlî	rajjuvâla (a species of bird)
Indian cuckoo (Gracula religiosa)	kokila	kokila	J. kokila.

Perhaps the Malay word harîmau (Kw. rimong; Bat. arimo, tiger-cat; D. harimaung, panther), a tiger, may have been formed from Hari (Krishna or Vishnu) and mṛiga (an animal). Words similarly compounded with mṛiga (Malay morga) are not uncommon in Sanskrit, e.g., Kṛishṇa-mṛiga (the black antelope), mahâ-mṛiga (an elephant).[25] The terms in use for “horse” and “sheep” seem to indicate that those animals were first brought to Malay countries from India. Kûda, horse (Kw. and S. kuda), is derived by Crawfurd from ghora (Hindi), by others from kudra (Tamul). Bîri-bîri (sheep) is said to be borrowed from the Hindi bher, which is itself derived from the Sanskrit bheḍa, a ram, or from bhîru (Sansk.), a goat. Certain fabulous birds and reptiles which belong to the domain of Hindu mythology have their places also in Malay folk-lore; such as garuḍa,[26] the eagle of Vishnu, and Jaṭâyu (Malay jintâyu), a fabulous vulture; chandrawâsi, a name given by Malays to a fabulous bird which is heard but never seen, is also evidently of Sanskrit origin. To these nâga, a dragon, may be added (J., S., Bat., Mak., Bu., and D. naga).

The vegetable kingdom supplies a long list of trees, plants, and flowers which are known to the Malays by Sanskrit names. Some of these are closely connected with another group of words to be noticed presently, namely, those which belong to the department of religion. The use of sweet-smelling flowers is a noticeable feature in the religious worship of the Hindus, and the fact that many flowers held by them to be sacred to the worship of particular gods are called by Malays by the same names which they bear in the temples of India, is a remarkable example of an historical lesson latent in words. It points to the fact, abundantly proved by other evidence, that Brahmanism once held sway where it has long been superseded by the faith of Islam, and that words which have no special significance for the modern Muhammadan Malay were fraught with mystic solemnity for his distant ancestors.

In many cases, indeed, the Sanskrit names have been applied by the Malays to different plants from those designated by the same expressions in India. In other cases, names unknown in classical Sanskrit, but obviously compounded of Sanskrit words, have been given by the Malays or Javanese. The common native Malay term for “flower” is bûnga; sâri (Javanese sari, Sansk. kesara) and puspa (Sansk. pushpa) have been borrowed from India.