Notes on the meanings of some Malay words
J.A. Baker’s short note proposes corrections and additions to definitions in Wilkinson’s Malay-English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1932), based on his own usage observations and corroborating evidence from other lexicographic sources.
Summary
Baker examines seven Malay words—antah, jelantah, bernas, api-api, sidang, harus, and sědang—arguing that Wilkinson’s definitions are imperfect or incomplete. The most detailed entry concerns antah, which Baker redefines as “grains of unhusked padi which remain in the beras after pounding,” supported by a proverb, native informants, and cross-references to Favre, Van Ronkel, and Winstedt (pp. 150–151). For jelantah he adds two senses (hard grains in cooked rice; empty grains in padi), and for bernas he notes a Negri Sembilan usage meaning “well-filled grains” (p. 151). He also identifies what he considers a printer’s error in Wilkinson’s entry for api-api (conflating Avicennia with Loranthaceae), corrects sidang to mean “to stop raining” rather than “settling down to a downpour,” adds the colloquial sense “probably” for harus, and extends the definition of sědang beyond “although” to cover concessive uses where that translation fails (pp. 151–152). Baker explicitly invites readers to confirm or dispute the meanings proposed.