hampir

Indonesian

Etymology

Inherited from Malay hampir, but inconclusive.

• There is possibility that Malay hampir is a loanword from Dutch amper (“scarcely, barely”) as its high and almost universal usage in Flemish, in turn derived from Middle Dutch amper (“sour”), which had similar semantic development to German sehr (“very”) or Alemannic German rüüdig (“very”) and are cognates of Swedish amper and German Ampfer.
• Alternatively, it could possibly originate from Proto-Malayic *(h)ampɪŋ (“close to”). Thus, doublet of samping.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈhampir/ [ˈham.pɪr]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ampir
• Syllabification: ham‧pir

Adverb

hampir

1. almost (very close to)

   Synonym: nyaris

Derived terms

• berhampiran
• hampir-hampir
• hampiran
• hampirkan
• menghampiri
• menghampirkan

Further reading

• “hampir”, 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

Inconclusive.

• There is possibility that it is a loanword from Dutch amper (“scarcely, barely”) as its high and almost universal usage in Flemish, in turn derived from Middle Dutch amper (“sour”), which had similar semantic development to German sehr (“very”) or Alemannic German rüüdig (“very”) and are cognates of Swedish amper and German Ampfer.
• Alternatively, it can originate from Proto-Malayic *(h)ampɪŋ (“close to”). Thus, doublet of samping.

Pronunciation

• (schwa-variety) IPA^(key): /ˈhampe(r)/ [ˈham.pe(r)]
  • Rhymes: -e(r)
• (Standard Literary) IPA^(key): /ˈhampir/ [ˈham.pir]
  • Rhymes: -ir
• Hyphenation: ham‧pir

Adverb

hampir (Jawi spelling همڤير)

1. almost
   1. very close or near to (physical distance)

      Synonyms: dekat, rapat, berdekatan

   2. probability and degree

      Synonyms: nyaris, sikit lagi (colloquial), cemas

      Hampir patah joran ku bila menangkap ikan patin yang beratnya melebihi 60lbs.

      My rod (fishing) almost broke while catching a Pangasius weighing over 60lbs.

   3. time (soon)

      Synonyms: menjelang, suntuk

Derived terms

Affixations

• hampiran (“a location that is nearby”)

Descendants

• > Indonesian: hampir (inherited)

Further reading

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