beliau

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay beliau.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˈli.au̯/
• Rhymes: -iau̯
• Hyphenation: be‧li‧au

Pronoun

bêliau (third-person singular pronoun)

1. (honorific) he, she; him, her (referring to someone highly respected, of higher status or older)
2. (honorific) his, her

Derived terms

• beliau-beliau

See also

Indonesian personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person exclusive	regular	aku, saya1	kami
	enclitic	-ku	-
	proclitic	ku-	-
1st person inclusive		-	kita
2nd person	regular	kamu, Anda2, kau3	kalian, Anda2, Anda sekalian2, Anda semua2
	enclitic	-mu	-
3rd person	regular	dia, beliau4, ia3	mereka
	enclitic	-nya	-
reflexive		diri5, diri sendiri
emphatic		sendiri

¹ Polite.
² Formal.
³ Now mostly literary.
⁴ Respectful.

⁵ Sometimes used as an emphatic marker instead of being reflexive.

Notes:

• This table only shows personal pronouns that are commonly used in the standard language.
• The second person pronouns are often replaced by kinship terms, titles, or the like.
• The enclitics are only used obliquely (object or possessor), while the proclitic is only used as a subject.

See each entry for more information.

Further reading

• “beliau”, 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

Malay

Etymology

Uncertain, probably from Malay belia (“young”), from Sanskrit बाल्य (bālya, “relating to children”).

• Originally used to refer to someone who the speaker did not want to name. The word undergoes amelioration, but the reduplicated form (beliau-beliau) for plural pronoun still preserved the original meaning of "undesirable third persons" used as pejoration.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bə.liau̯/
• Rhymes: -iau̯, -jau̯, -au̯

Pronoun

beliau (Jawi spelling بلياو)

1. (honorific) he, she (someone highly respected or of high status)

Descendants

• Indonesian: beliau

See also

Malay personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person	standard	saya / ساي aku / اکو, ku- / كوـ (informal/towards God) -ku / ـكو (poetic possessive) hamba / همبا (dated) daku / داکو (poetic)	kami / کامي (exclusive) kita orang / كيت اورڠ (informal exclusive) kita / کيت (inclusive)
	royal	beta / بيتا
2nd person	standard	kamu / کامو
		engkau / اڠکاو, kau- / كاوـ (informal/poetic/towards God) kau / كاو (informal) awak / اوق (friendly/older towards younger) anda / اندا (formal) awda / اءودا (Brunei, formal) -mu / ـمو (poetic possessive) dikau / ديکاو (poetic)	anda semua / اندا سموا (formal) awak semua / اوق سموا kamu semua / كامو سموا kalian / کالين (archaic) kau orang / كاو اورڠ (informal)
	royal	tuanku / توانكو
3rd person	standard	dia / دي ia / اي beliau / بلياو (honorific) -nya / ـڽ (possessive)	mereka / مريک dia orang / دي اورڠ (informal)
	royal	baginda / بݢيندا

Further reading

• “beliau”, in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu [Malay Literary Reference Centre] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017
• “beliau”, in Kamus Dewan [The Institute Dictionary] (in Malay), Fourth edition, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2005, →ISBN