helang

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay helang (“eagle”). Originated from a comment made by the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Idris: "Kau jangan lupa helang dan pipit terbang tak sama tinggi" (You better not forget that the eagle and the pipit cannot fly on the same height).(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Noun

helang (plural helangs)

1. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (Malaysia, derogatory, slang, politics) a corrupt politician or an elite person.

Bikol Central

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhelaŋ/, [ˈhe.l̪aŋ]
• IPA^(key): /ˈʔelaŋ/, [ˈʔe.l̪aŋ] (h-dropping)
• Hyphenation: he‧lang

Noun

hélang (Basahan spelling ᜑᜒᜎᜅ᜔)

1. Misspelling of hilang.

Malay

Etymology

From Austroasiatic. Compare Bahnar klang, Pacoh calang, Khmer ខ្លែង (khlaeng), Mang laːŋ¹, Central Nicobarese [Nancowry] kalâng and Chong kʰlaːˀŋ. Doublet of elang and lang.

The second sense originated from a comment made by the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Idris: "Kau jangan lupa helang dan pipit terbang tak sama tinggi" (You better not forget that the eagle and the pipit cannot fly on the same height).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /həlaŋ/
• Rhymes: -əlaŋ, -laŋ, -aŋ

Noun

helang (Jawi spelling هلڠ, plural helang-helang, informal 1st possessive helangku, 2nd possessive helangmu, 3rd possessive helangnya)

1. eagle (Any of several large carnivorous birds in the family Accipitridae)
2. (derogatory, slang, politics) a corrupt politician or an elite person.

Related terms

• elang
• lang

Descendants

• → English: helang

References

• Wilkinson, Richard James (1901) “هلڠ hĕlang”, in A Malay-English dictionary, Hong Kong: Kelly & Walsh limited, page 686
• Wilkinson, Richard James (1932) “hĕlang”, in A Malay-English dictionary (romanised), volume I, Mytilene, Greece: Salavopoulos & Kinderlis, page 403

Further reading

• “helang” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.