ENGLISH WORDS IN TERENGGANU SPEAK
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Terengganu`s great² grandparent was very clever in adopt and adapting english words for terengganu people use, and till now we still using those wording. Maybe kak tirana needs some explanation on a few words but you have Bayu Pagi what....seek help from her ok?hehehe.
"Acu cuba tra test" fascinated me for a long time. It is one whole complete sentence consisting of different words with each sharing the same meaning. "Test" is of course English and so is the original tra which came from the word "try".There are a lot of words in Terengganuspeak borrowed from English. Most are automobile -related. We didn't invent the automobile. I am not sure if we even invented the kereta keruba (the ox cart). Hence, we do not have words for them.Step into any workshop (that's what Terengganu people call the place where they repair your car) and you will hear the pomeng (original: foreman, now it means a mechanic) talk about spana or minyok selendar (spanner and cylinder oil). If your jalopy is diagnosed as "tok rok tarik body" (not enough power to drag itself) or "jalang tige selendar" (limping on only 3 cylinders and your car has 4) the pomeng might suggest that you grengba (grind the valves) to rejuvenate the engine.
Gears or gia in Terengganuspeak is not a mechanical term but what we call the stick-shift. Even the auto T-bar is gia. That's what you push to move the vehicle. Since cars in Terengganu cannot move sideways yet, moving involves only two directions. Gohed and gostang. Gohed, from the English "Go ahead" means go forward. Sometimes, In Terenganu, it can also means "to start". Gostang is to reverse, from the English "go astern". So there you go with your Po' (the o as in load) Gheghe, an old Ford rattler, on your way to raoong bando (go round the town).Raoong is both a verb and a noun but never an adjective in Terengganuspeak.
It is advisable not to smoke roko' segeret (cigarette) in the car lest you burn the koseng (cushion, the car seat). If evening is nigh, make sure your headlights have working bol (bulb) and you have already cah (charged) the beteri (battery). Strangely, batteries for the torchlight are not called batteries but obat lapu.There are also borrowed words pertaining to legal matters. Offhand I can think of samang from "summons" and also loyar from "lawyer". Peguam is hardly used. Loyar gave rise to some idioms like loyar burok (someone who talks nonsense) or beloyar (to tell tall tales).
As far as food is concerned there are a few English words used in Terengganu. Cakes or pastries bigger than kuih semperit not native to Terengganu are collectively called kek or kuih kek. Biscuits became sekkut. Ever heard of makang sekkut pat seggi atah sejjid? They are talking about eating square biscuits (cream crackers, actually) inside the mosque.
Oh yes, there is another theory on why we call Europeans etc. "Mat Salleh". It seems that once upon a time in Kuala Terenganu many English sailors came ashore and got gloriously drunk. Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that. A few of the British officers then tried to apologize by telling the locals that those inebriated visitors were "mad sailors". So, not being able to pronounce or remember "mad sailors", they replaced it with the nearest equivalent that they know, which is Mat Salleh.
Hehe, well...?Got a few Terengganu`s word? Unik kang base terengganung ning ke guane...?
"Acu cuba tra test" fascinated me for a long time. It is one whole complete sentence consisting of different words with each sharing the same meaning. "Test" is of course English and so is the original tra which came from the word "try".There are a lot of words in Terengganuspeak borrowed from English. Most are automobile -related. We didn't invent the automobile. I am not sure if we even invented the kereta keruba (the ox cart). Hence, we do not have words for them.Step into any workshop (that's what Terengganu people call the place where they repair your car) and you will hear the pomeng (original: foreman, now it means a mechanic) talk about spana or minyok selendar (spanner and cylinder oil). If your jalopy is diagnosed as "tok rok tarik body" (not enough power to drag itself) or "jalang tige selendar" (limping on only 3 cylinders and your car has 4) the pomeng might suggest that you grengba (grind the valves) to rejuvenate the engine.
Gears or gia in Terengganuspeak is not a mechanical term but what we call the stick-shift. Even the auto T-bar is gia. That's what you push to move the vehicle. Since cars in Terengganu cannot move sideways yet, moving involves only two directions. Gohed and gostang. Gohed, from the English "Go ahead" means go forward. Sometimes, In Terenganu, it can also means "to start". Gostang is to reverse, from the English "go astern". So there you go with your Po' (the o as in load) Gheghe, an old Ford rattler, on your way to raoong bando (go round the town).Raoong is both a verb and a noun but never an adjective in Terengganuspeak.
It is advisable not to smoke roko' segeret (cigarette) in the car lest you burn the koseng (cushion, the car seat). If evening is nigh, make sure your headlights have working bol (bulb) and you have already cah (charged) the beteri (battery). Strangely, batteries for the torchlight are not called batteries but obat lapu.There are also borrowed words pertaining to legal matters. Offhand I can think of samang from "summons" and also loyar from "lawyer". Peguam is hardly used. Loyar gave rise to some idioms like loyar burok (someone who talks nonsense) or beloyar (to tell tall tales).
As far as food is concerned there are a few English words used in Terengganu. Cakes or pastries bigger than kuih semperit not native to Terengganu are collectively called kek or kuih kek. Biscuits became sekkut. Ever heard of makang sekkut pat seggi atah sejjid? They are talking about eating square biscuits (cream crackers, actually) inside the mosque.
Oh yes, there is another theory on why we call Europeans etc. "Mat Salleh". It seems that once upon a time in Kuala Terenganu many English sailors came ashore and got gloriously drunk. Mad dogs and Englishmen and all that. A few of the British officers then tried to apologize by telling the locals that those inebriated visitors were "mad sailors". So, not being able to pronounce or remember "mad sailors", they replaced it with the nearest equivalent that they know, which is Mat Salleh.
Hehe, well...?Got a few Terengganu`s word? Unik kang base terengganung ning ke guane...?
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