Language Matter

Kuala Lumpur, May 11  2010

I stepped down QZ7696 and immediately felt my first heat of Kuala Lumpur. It's no much different to Jakarta. However, I was surprise that in LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) we had to walk a long alley in open air (no air condition) to get into the airport building.

Before I continue, may I mind you that I'm going to babble about language matters. If you aren't interested in words and such, this will be boring.

As an Indonesian, the signs written in Malayan were fascinating, because our language are so close and yet some of those Malayan expression would sound funny if it were Indonesian, or "bahasa" as some foreigners use to say. These are few of them.

"Balai" in Indonesian would give an impression as a place to hold a meeting. If written at the airport, it would give the impression that those who have arrived will have to gather in a hall to discuss about something.

We Indonesians, do use the word "tiba" which also means "to arrive". We also have the prefix of "ke" and suffix of "an" to form a noun from a verb. However, we never put "ke" and "an" together with "tiba". Instead, we use the other word "datang" which also means "to arrive" but is actually closer to the meaning of "to come".

I suddenly realized that not all verbs in Indonesian would sound natural if combined with "ke" and "an". This sign also made me think, since the word "datang" which we use in Indonesian is actually closer to the meaning of "to come", we should actually use "ketibaan" instead of "kedatangan".

I remember in college my professor of Indonesian Linguistic said that a loan word should sound as close as possible to the pronunciation of the original word. Now, the Malayan loan word for "immigration" is "imigresen" and in Indonesian it is "imigrasi". I think, "imigresen" sounds closer to the pronunciation of "immigration" than "imigrasi".

So is it with the word "quarantine". In Indonesian we say "karantina". "Kuarantin" should be better.

 On the contrary, the word for "international" in Malayan is "antarbangsa" whereas in Indonesian we say "internasional".

And now, this is really funny for an Indonesian. "Laluan Kecemasan" in Malayan means "Emergency Route". But, "kecemasan" in Indonesian means "worry". So, if you feel worried, you have to follow this route. That can be worried about having no money, about having no place to stay, about not being picked up, about getting lost, etc., etc... LOL I almost burst out into laughter when I saw this sign.

I don't remember how it's used be said in Indonesian for these 2 items: "Baggage Reclaim" and "Customs". For sure, we don't have the word "kastam" in Indonesian. For sure again, we don't use the word "tuntutan" because that will sound as if someone has taken something from you without your acknowledgment and is unwilling to return it. That's not the case of baggage kept in the cabin. The baggage weren't taken away, but you entrusted them. The airport isn't unwilling to return them either.

I understand that the translation of "to claim" in Indonesian is also "tuntut". But in Indonesian nuance the meaning will as described above.

This is another funny thing for me. "Penyeluk" We don't have this word in our vocabulary, although we have the root word of "seluk" and have the prefix of "pe". We just never combine them together. We have a more simple word for "pick pockets" which is "copet".

The word "bilik" used in this matter must be unique for an Indonesian. In Indonesia, when you say "bilik", the impression goes to a hut made of bamboo. If you say someone's house is made of "bilik", we will get the impression that that someone is poor. A "bilik" inside an international airport like this would beyond an Indonesian's imagination.

This is a shot inside a subway. It's telling that the seats below this sign is especially for the elders, pregnant women, and disabled. This is interesting. "Disabled" in Malayan is "Golongan Kurang Upaya". In Indonesian this will mean "those who take less effort". On the contrary, disabled people are just disabled. It's not that don't want to make the effort. They just cannot.

More interestingly is the sentence: "Tidakkah kita prihatin?" It means: "Don't we care?" I like this. In Indonesia's busway there are seats for people with special needs and a sign above the seats as well. However, people sometimes don't pay much attention to it. I think, a big sign like this should be put in Indonesia's busways. "Tidakkah kita prihatin?" "Don't we care?"