benua

Baba Malay

Etymology

From Malay benua, from Old Malay vanua, from Proto-Malayic *bənua, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *banua, from Proto-Austronesian *banua.

Adjective

benua

1. awed

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay benua, from Old Malay vanua, from Proto-Malayic *bənua, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *banua, from Proto-Austronesian *banua. Doublet of banua and wanua.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bəˈnua̯]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bê‧nua

Noun

bênua (first-person possessive benuaku, second-person possessive benuamu, third-person possessive benuanya)

1. (geography) continent

   Synonym: kontinen

2. (archaic) land, country

   Synonyms: kerajaan, negeri

Related terms

• banua
• kawanua
• wanua

 

Further reading

• “benua” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Etymology

From Proto-Malayic *bənua, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *banua, from Proto-Austronesian *banua. Cognate with Iban menua and Maori whenua.

First attested in the Kedukan Bukit inscription, 683 AD, as Old Malay [script needed] (vanua).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bənua/
  • (Johor-Riau) IPA^(key): [bənuə]
• Rhymes: -ua, -a
• Hyphenation: be‧nu‧a

Noun

benua (Jawi spelling بنوا, plural benua-benua, informal 1st possessive benuaku, 2nd possessive benuamu, 3rd possessive benuanya)

1. (geography) continent (each of main land-masses on earth's surface)

   Synonym: tanah raya (rare)

   benua Afrika ― the African continent

2. (Classical Malay) land, country

   Synonyms: tanah, negara, negeri

   benua China ― the country of China

Affixations

• kebenuaan (relating to continents)

 

Descendants

• Baba Malay: benua
• Indonesian: benua

Further reading

• “benua” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Nias

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *banua (“inhabited land”), from Proto-Austronesian *banua. Doublet of banua.

Noun

benua (mutated form mbenua)

1. fallow (uncultivated land)

References

• Sundermann, Heinrich. 1905. Niassisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Moers: Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, p. 33.