tanah air
Indonesian
Etymology
A dvandva compound of tanah (“land”) + air (“water”), literally “land (and) water”, from Malay tanah air. A similar conjoining pattern can be found with palu arit.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈt̪anah ˈaʔir]
Noun
tanah air (first-person possessive tanah airku, second-person possessive tanah airmu, third-person possessive tanah airnya)
- homeland; fatherland; motherland.
See also
- air tanah
Further reading
- “tanah air” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
Malay
Etymology
From tanah (“land”) + air (“water”), literally “land (and) water”.
Noun
tanah air (Jawi spelling تانه اءير, plural tanah-tanah air, informal 1st possessive tanah airku, 2nd possessive tanah airmu, 3rd possessive tanah airnya)
- homeland; fatherland; motherland.
Descendants
- Indonesian: tanah air
Further reading
- “tanah air” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.