rakyat

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay rakyat.

Noun

rakyat (plural rakyats)

1. (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia) An ordinary citizen.
2. (Malaysia) The people or citizens of a country, as a collective.

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• ra'jat (obsolete, pre-1942)
• rakjat (obsolete, 1942-1947, 1947–1972)

Etymology

From Malay rakyat, from Classical Malay رعيت (“people”), from Arabic رَعِيَّة (raʕiyya).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈraʔjat/ [ˈraʔ.jat̪̚]
    • Rhymes: -aʔjat
  • IPA^(key): /ˈrakjat/ [ˈrak̚.jat̪̚]

    • Audio:

      (file)

    • Rhymes: -akjat
• Syllabification: rak‧yat

As the pronunciation of final-syllable ⟨k⟩ is ambiguous for many speakers of Indonesian, it triggers the spelling pronunciation with a hard /k/, which has now become the common standard realization in the media.

Noun

rakyat (plural rakyat-rakyat)

1. citizen, subject

   Rakjat Nippon jang melakoekan kedjahatan dihoekoem menoeroet oendang-oendang hoekoeman kriminil Dai Nippon. ― The Japanese citizens who committed crimes are punished according to the criminal law of Japan.

2. people, populace
3. (archaic) troop

   Synonym: pasukan

4. (archaic) subordinate

   Synonyms: anak buah, bawahan

Adjective

rakyat (comparative lebih rakyat, superlative paling rakyat)

1. folk

   cerita rakyat Indonesia ― Indonesian folk tales

Derived terms

• kerakyatan
• merakyat
• merakyatkan
• perakyatan

• rakyat biasa
• rakyat gembel
• rakyat jelata
• rakyat kebanyakan
• rakyat kecil

Further reading

• “rakyat”, 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

Alternative forms

• ra'ayat, raayat (dated)

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رَعِيَّة (raʕiyya).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [raʔ.jat]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -jat, -at
• IPA^(key): [ra.ki.at]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -iat, -at
• Hyphenation: rak‧yat

Noun

rakyat (Jawi spelling رعيت, plural rakyat-rakyat or rakyat²)

1. A citizen.

   Synonyms: warganegara, warga

   rakyat Jepun ― Japanese citizen

2. A subordinate or subject.
3. The people, the commonfolk.

   Bagaimanakah rakyat akan bertindak?

   How will the people react?

4. A battalion.
5. (informal, Pahang) The Orang Asli.

   Synonym: Orang Asli

Affixations

• kerakyatan
• merakyat
• rakyatkan

Compounds

• cerita rakyat
• dewan rakyat
• rakyat jelata / rakyat jembel / rakyat marhaen / rakyat murba
• wakil rakyat

Descendants

• Indonesian: rakyat
• → English: rakyat

Further reading

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