A History of Southeast Asia

A – Arabic; B – Bama; C – Chinese; D – Dutch; I – Indonesian; J – Javanese; Jp – Japanese; M – Malay; P – Portuguese; S – Spanish; Sk – Sanskrit; Tag – Tagalog; Th – Thai; V – Vietnamese.

áo dài (V): modernized (1920s) form of Vietnamese female dress
bangsa (M/I): modern race or nation, from older descent or caste
bangsawan (M): modern staged theater in Malay, on Indian model
belacan (M): garnish of fermented shrimp or other seafood
bissu (Bugis): transsexual shamanic priest
blijver (D): stayer (migrants), as opposed to transient sojourners
bungkus (M): lit. “bundle”; home-made cigarettes with maize-leaf wrapper
casado (P): locally domiciled [Portuguese with family]
cash: base Chinese-style coin with square hole for stringing. Anglicization of Portuguese caixa
chao (Th): lord of a muang
chat (Th): race or nation
cultuurstelsel (D): [forced] cultivation system, of export crops primarily in Java
dalang (J): puppeteer-narrator
Ðàng Trong (V): “the inner region”; Cochin-China or southern Viet Nam
dharma (Sk/Pali): cosmic law or order; in Buddhism, the teaching, way, or duty
Đôi Mới (V): “new change”, Viet Nam reform program from 1986
Han (C/V): common self-identification of Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese having adopted “civilized” norms (of the Han and other dynasties)
hát bội (V): Chinese-derived classical Viet Nam theater
hui (C): (Chinese) association or society
ilustrado (S): enlightened, in particular of elite Spanish-educated Filipinos
Indië (D): India (the Indies, Indonesia)
Jawi (A): Southeast Asian Muslim
kadi (M/I): Islamic judge
kaum muda (M/I): young group
kebaya (M): light female upper garment; blouse
keroncong (I): hybrid musical style featuring a ukelele-like instrument
kiwi (M): traveling merchant, or crew with share in cargo
komedi (M): commercial popular performance (from French comédie)
kongsi (C/M): a partnership or cooperative association, particularly for business or mutual support (pinyin gongsi)
kretek (I): clove cigarette (onomatopoeic)
kris (M/J): wavy-bladed dagger
lingga (Sk): symbolic male phallus, particularly emblematic of Shiva, often paired with female yoni
lukjin (Th): Sino-Thai, typically with Chinese father and Thai or local mother
mestizo (S): mixed, creole, particularly of Chinese-Filipino hybridity
Minh Hương (V): “Ming exiles”; long-settled or hybridized Chinese in Viet Nam
muang (Th): autonomous polity based on a single irrigated rice area
nagara (Sk): town, city, Indic-style state
nakhoda (M): supercargo or commander of a ship
Nanyang (C): South Seas; Southeast Asia
nat (B): unseen spirits, ubiquitous in Burma
negeri (M): settlement, trade center, river-mouth state
nôm (V): hybrid Viet-Chinese script (from chữ nôm = southern characters)
Nusantara (M): The island world comprising today’s Indonesia and Malaysia (from Malay nusa = islands; antara = between)
orang laut (M): sea people
orangkaya (M): merchant aristocrat (lit. rich person)
padi (M/I): bunded rice field, flooded during growing season
parian (Tag): Chinese quarter (of Manila)
peranakan (M): local-born (of foreign fathers), particularly of hybridized Chinese Indonesians
pongyi (B): (Theravada Buddhist) monk
raja (M/Sk): king, ruler
rantau (M): migrate, frontier of migration
romusha (Jp): volunteer, the term used for forced laborers deployed by the Japanese
sangha (Pali): the brotherhood of monks in Hinayana Buddhism
sarsuela (Tag): light opera, musical romance (from Spanish zarzuela)
sarung (M): wrap-around lower garment
sawah (M/I): bunded and flooded rice field
sawbwa (B): Shan hereditary chiefs of muang (from Shan Saopha)
seishin (Jap): spirit
shari’a (A): Islamic law
siwilai (Th): civilized, or civilization
tarekat (M/I): a mystical order with similar ritual practice, from Tariqah (A: way, method)
Tatmadaw (B): National Armed Forces
totok (C): China-born, or by extension Europe-born for Europeans
trepang (M/I): sea-cucumber or bêche de mer, an echinoderm living on the sea floor.
ulama (A/M): scholar and teacher of Islamic texts (plural of ‘alim, though used also as singular in Southeast Asia)
uleebalang (Aceh): hereditary territorial chief in Aceh
Volksraad (D): “People’s Council,” legislative assembly of Netherlands India, 1918–41
wayang (J/M): theater
wayang kulit (J/M): “leather theater”; Javanese shadow puppet theater
wujuddiyah (A): a monist strain of Sufi mystical belief
yoni (Sk): symbolic vagina, representing female procreative energy and matching male lingga
zhang (C): miasma; diseases attributed to dangerous atmosphere of tropics