Sarawakians call bread as Roti Paun and in melanau it is called Rutik Paun. Not many knows that the word PAUN is actually originated from the word for Bread "pão" in Portuguese.
The word pão is pronounce similar to PA-UN.
The eastern seaboard of Borneo was charted, though not settled, by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. The area of Sarawak was known to Portuguese cartographers as Cerava.
Bread may be introduced in sarawak by the portuguese or indian traders since the word for bread in Hindi पाव (pāv) and in Gujarati is પાઉં (paauun).
Written by Learn Melanau
Learn Melanau by Nativeglot.com provides insider information about melanau unique cultures and language
bread in Gujerati is pā'unrōṭī.The early Indian traders that came to the shores of Sarawak were from Gujerat.
ReplyDeletewow. thanks for the info. That may also explain how the word ROTI came from
ReplyDeleteSuka ko keman ruti paun eh. Mun paun teng semenanjung, kuih pau putik dun. :)
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ.The local Malay "paun" may be derived from "pound abbreviated as lb".Lb is a measurement used in UK and later found in our Malay dialect.The earliest English bread was only a pound in weight,so the term "roti paun".Now a bread is weighed in grammes.But the Malay did not change "roti paun" to "roti gram"!
ReplyDeleteIn our daily encounter too we hear of "omo" to refer to detergent of all brands (Omo brand was one of the few early popular brand for detergent),same goes to "colgate" for any toothpaste.The old generation knew the origins of certain common items though at times a bit funny.In some communities "sardine" may refer to any tinned food stuff.Even a "corned beef" is "sardin".That's the uniqueness of our local dialects.
Good work admin.
ReplyDeletethe pound theory also make sense. The japanese also use the word PAUN in past too. Melanau are traders and this is shown how fluid their society is in adapting foreign culture :) Thanks for commenting and your support!
ReplyDeleteThere are more foreign loan word in melanau you can find here-
ReplyDeletehttp://learn-melanau.blogspot.de/2012/06/10-foreign-words-you-thought-were.html
any academic research done to prove the claim? if no, i wont buy this story
ReplyDelete