tengah

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay tengah (“center”), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *təŋaq.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [təˈŋah]
• Hyphenation: tê‧ngah

Noun

têngah (first-person possessive tengahku, second-person possessive tengahmu, third-person possessive tengahnya)

1. middle
2. centre, center

   Synonym: pusat

3. half

   Synonyms: paruh, perdua

Derived terms

• diketengahi
• diketengahkan
• ditengahi
• menengah
• menengahi
• mengetengahi
• mengetengahkan
• penengah
• pertengahan
• setengah
• setengah-setengah
• tengahan

 

• ke tengah
• tengah hari
• tengah kanan
• tengah kiri
• tengah malam
• tengah naik
• tengah pusat
• tengah tahunan

 

• garis tengah
• jari tengah

 

Conjunction

têngah

1. while: during the same time that.

   Synonyms: ketika, sementara

Adverb

têngah

1. (auxiliary) progressive aspect without necessarily a final perspective.

   Synonym: sedang

Further reading

• “tengah” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Javanese

Etymology

From Old Javanese tĕngah.

Noun

tengah

1. middle
2. center
3. navel

Malay

Alternative forms

• tgah, tgh (SMS slang)

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *təŋaq. Cognate with Balinese tengah, Cebuano tunga; and distantly with Maori tonga (“south”), Samoan toga (“south”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /təŋah/
• (Johor-Selangor) IPA^(key): /təŋäh/
• (Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /təŋah/
• Rhymes: -ŋah, -ah

Adverb

tengah (Jawi spelling تڠه‎)

1. (colloquial) in the middle of doing, currently

   Kak Tam tengah buat apa, sekarang?

   What is Kak Tam doing right now?

   Synonym: sedang

   • 2005 [1849], Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir, Amin Sweeney, editor, Hikayat Abdullah (Karya Lengkap Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir Munsyi; 3)‎^[1], Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, →ISBN, page 427:

     Maka pada masa itu aku tengah mengajar seorang2 saudagar di rumah Tuan John Morgan.

     Still at that time I was in the middle of teaching a merchant at the house of Lord John Morgan.

Noun

tengah (Jawi spelling تڠه‎, informal 1st possessive tengahku, 2nd possessive tengahmu, 3rd possessive tengahnya)

1. middle, midst, centre

   Ada seekor beruang di tengah padang itu.

   There's a bear in the middle of the field.

Derived terms

Affixed terms and other derivations

Regular affixed derivations:

• setengah [comparability] (se-)
• pertengah [causative passive] (peR-)
• pertengahan [causative passive + resultative / locative / collective / variety / verbal noun / fruit] (peR- + -an)
• menengah [agent focus] (meN-)
• tengah-tengah [reduplication] (redup)

See also

• pusat

Further reading

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