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)

1. homeland; fatherland; motherland.

See also

• air tanah

 

Further reading

• “tanah air” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — 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)

1. 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.