gawai

Iban

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *gaway (“religious feast; festivity”). Doublet of gawa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡawai̯]
• Hyphenation: ga‧wai

Noun

gawai

1. festive, celebration

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay gawai from Old Javanese gawe, gaway (“work, task, occupation; work, product; feast, celebration; use, purpose”), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *gaway (“religious feast; festivity”), either learned from Javanese ꦒꦮꦺ (gawé, “work, use”) or via precursor Malay dialects.

• The sense “gadget” is a semantic loan from English gadget.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡawai̯]
• Hyphenation: ga‧wai

Noun

gawai (plural gawai-gawai, first-person possessive gawaiku, second-person possessive gawaimu, third-person possessive gawainya)

1. gadget (electronics product)
2. (archaic) work, job

   Synonyms: kerja, pekerjaan

3. (obsolete) tool, equipment.

   Synonyms: alat, perkakas

Derived terms

• pegawai

 

Further reading

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

Malay

Etymology

From Old Javanese gaway (“work, task, occupation; work, product; feast, celebration; use, purpose”), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *gaway (“religious feast; festivity”). Compare with Javanese ꦒꦮꦺ (gawé, “work, use”), Iban gawa plus Tagalog gaway (“witchcraft”) and gawa (“work”).

• Sense “gadget” is a semantic loan from English gadget via Indonesian.
• Sense of celebration influenced by dialect contact with Iban gawai in Borneo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡawai̯]
• Hyphenation: ga‧wai

Noun

gawai (Jawi spelling ݢاواي, plural gawai-gawai, informal 1st possessive gawaiku, 2nd possessive gawaimu, 3rd possessive gawainya)

1. (archaic) work, job, task

   Synonyms: kerja, pekerjaan

2. (Riau) gadget, tool, equipment.

   Synonyms: alat, peranti, perkakas

3. (Sarawak) celebration, particularly of the Iban harvest festival.

Derived terms

• pegawai

 

References

• Pijnappel, Jan (1875) “ݢاوي gawei”, in Maleisch-Hollandsch woordenboek, John Enschede en Zonen, Frederik Muller, page 100
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901) “ݢاوي gawai”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 96
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) “gawai”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume I, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 332

Further reading

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