Vocabulary
A modern dialect of Malay, Indonesian has also borrowed from other languages, including Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese and Austronesian languages. It is estimated that there are some 750 Sanskrit loanwords in modern Indonesian, 1,000 Arabic loans, some of Persian and Hebrew origin, some 125 words of Portuguese (also Spanish and Italian) origin and 10,000 loanwords from Dutch The vast majority of Indonesian words, however, come from the root lexical stock of its Austronesian (incl. Old Malay) heritage. There are also words derived from Javanese, e.g. aku (meaning I/ me (informal) and its derivative form, mengaku (to admit or confess).
Read more about this topic: Indonesian Language
Famous quotes containing the word vocabulary:
“One forgets words as one forgets names. One’s vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“A new talker will often call her caregiver “mommy,” which makes parents worry that the child is confused about who is who. She isn’t. This is a case of limited vocabulary rather than mixed-up identities. When a child has only one word for the female person who takes care of her, calling both of them “mommy” is understandable.”
—Amy Laura Dombro (20th century)
“The vocabulary of pleasure depends on the imagery of pain.”
—Marina Warner (b. 1946)