She told the Dewan Rakyat that “Bahasa Melayu is a living language and its vocabulary keeps expanding”.
The language was versatile, having absorbed words from regional dialects and other languages, she said while winding up the debate on the 2025 budget.
The use of new words drew attention recently, especially when they appeared in speeches by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, leading to questions raised on social media over such loan words being given prominence in the national language.
Fadhlina said “maha kaya” means the “extreme greatness and supremacy of Allah”, or “great or highly elevated” when referring to a person.
She cited “ketimbang” (comparison) and “peluncuran” (launching) as loan words from Indonesian which she said are now commonly used alongside more traditional Malay terms.
Others included in the dictionary are
- “intiha” (ending or conclusion)
- “mahsul” (yield or harvest)
- “purbasangka” (prejudice)
- “tatanan” (systems or rules agreed upon collectively)
- “taakul” (reasoning or logical evaluation)
- “kesenjangan” (inequality)
- “tiwikrama” (a significant change through effort)
- “walhasil” (as a result of)
- “kebinekaan” (diversity); and
- “tatakelola” (effective administration).
Fadhlina said: “Whether we realise it or not, many regional words from the Malay archipelago have been added to our language,” which showed the continued growth and evolution of the language while staying connected to its cultural roots.
Some words used often in the past are now considered classic, she said.
“For instance, where ‘tetuang udara’ was previously used, we now say ‘radio’. The classic word ‘ujana’ is now widely used to refer to ‘gardens’ of books or knowledge,” she said.
When Anwar used new loan words
Anwar used “ketimbang” in his budget speech in October, when comparing economic indicators such as gross national income per capita in 2020 and 2022, and referred to the ultra-rich as “maha kaya” when discussing wealth inequality.
The launch of the Bumiputera economic agenda in August prominently featured the word “peluncuran”, borrowed from Bahasa Indonesia, with social media users questioning why it was preferred to the familiar Malay word “pelancaran”.
Anwar’s use of ‘maha kaya” met objection from Jasin MP Zulkifli Ismail of PAS last week, who said use of the word could amount to blasphemy. However, Anwar has in the past defended the use of “maha” as a prefix, citing the examples of mahasiswa (graduates), mahaguru (master trainer), and also Malay names such as Mahathir.