Compound Nouns

Sometimes the components of a compound noun seem to hard to understand.

Malay has lots of compounds. For example, matahari ('sun') is derived from mata ('eye') + hari ('day'), which is easy enough to explain.

Others are a bit more difficult. For instance, kakitangan ('employees', 'staff') is derived from kaki ('feet') + tangan ('hands'). This is a little more obscure, but still the imagery is just about decipherable.

However, there are some where I can't work out the logic. For example, sampah sarap ('general rubbish') is tough. The first part sampah ('rubbish') is OK; but then the second part sarap ('breakfast') seems strange. When I first saw this compound, I thought it referred to discarded breakfast garbage, but in fact there is nothing to do with breakfast in the meaning.

Another one is gaji pokok ('basic wage'). Again, the first part is fine, as gaji means 'wage'. But then pokok means 'tree', and I don't see the link between trees and basic wages.

But in fact, it is not always possible to determine the origin of words and phrases, in English just as much as in Malay. In his delightful website called World Wide Words (here), Micael Quinion discusses the origins of phrases and words, and sometimes he has to admit that we just don't know the origins of some of them. For example, despite plenty of research, he cannot be certain why there is a kangaroo in kangaroo court (here) or a monkey in monkey wrench (here).

Sometimes we just have to accept that some things will probably always remain a mystery.