abah-abah

Indonesian

Etymology

Reduplication of abah, inherited from Malay abah-abah, from Javanese ꦲꦧꦃꦲꦧꦃ (abah-abah, “tool, instrument”), from Old Javanese abah-abah (“harness”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

abah-abah (plural abah-abah)

1. ropes, rig
2. gear, equipment
3. (Java) decorated cloth

Adjective

abah-abah (comparative lebih abah-abah, superlative paling abah-abah)

1. (Java) very wide, spacious

Further reading

• “abah-abah”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Javanese

Romanization

abah-abah

1. romanization of ꦲꦧꦃꦲꦧꦃ

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Javanese ꦲꦧꦃꦲꦧꦃ (abah-abah, “tool, instrument”), from Old Javanese abah-abah (“harness”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a.bah.ʔa.bah]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -bah, -ah

Noun

abah-abah (Jawi spelling ابه٢, uncountable)

1. ropes, rig
2. gear, equipment

Compounds

• abah-abah kuda
• abah-abah perahu
• abah-abah tenun

Descendants

• Indonesian: abah-abah

References

• “abah-abah”, in Kamus Dewan Perdana (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2020, →ISBN, page 2

Further reading

• "abah-abah" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Old Javanese

Etymology

Reduplication of abah.

Noun

abah-abah

1. harness

Descendants

• Javanese: ꦲꦧꦃꦲꦧꦃ (abah-abah)
  • → Betawi: aba-aba
  • → Indonesian: abah-abah (semantic loan)
  • >? Malay: abah-abah
    • Indonesian: abah-abah
  • >? Sundanese: ᮃᮘᮂ-ᮃᮘᮂ (abah-abah)

Further reading

• "abah-abah" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.

Sundanese

Noun

abah-abah (Sundanese script ᮃᮘᮂ-ᮃᮘᮂ)

1. goods, chattels, effects; gear, tackle

References

• “Abah-abah” in Jonathan Rigg, A Dictionary of the Sunda language (1862), page 1.