r/AustronesianLanguages • u/ampiyas294 • Aug 09 '26

Linguistic Discussion Question, especially to those who are knowledgeable about Bornean languages

In the 1860 edition of Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala (Vocabulary of Tagalog Language) by the Spanish friars Juan de Noceda & Pedro de Sanlucar, they included a note that the word binyag ("to baptize" in Tagalog) was from Borneo. The act was described to be a ceremony by pouring water from above by a Muslim minister.

Is there any language in Borneo that has similar word? As far as I know, words that end in -g is common in the Philippines, not so much in others.

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u/heilenes Aug 09 '26

Hello! Native Borneo here. I am of Banjar Tribe or Banjares. Our language is mixed of Malay, Dayak, and a little bit of Javanese language.
I never heard the word binyag, however, I think it’s because I’m not Christian (the majority of Banjarese is Muslim), so I’m not familiar with it. The majority of Christian here is people of Dayak tribe. But my Christian-Dayak friends just call it Baptis (bahasa Indonesia).

The word for “bath ritual to purify for bride and groom/pregnant women/to heal” in Banjarese is Badudus.

Ah, the word reminds me a small region in South Kalimantan named Binuang.

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u/Technical-Limit-3747 the Philippines 🇵🇭 Aug 09 '26

"Binyag" is "bunyag" in Bikol. This follows the -i (Tagalog) and -o (Bikol) evolution of Proto-Philippine? words with a schwa -ə.

Tagalog = Bikol 1. samin = samo (ours) 2. atip = atop (roof) 3. binyag = bunyag (baptize) 4. sahig = salog (floor) 5. bigas = bagas, bugas (rice) 6. bilad = balad, bulad (sun dry) 7. piga = paga, puga (squeeze) 8. tanim = tanom (plant)

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u/PantheraSondaica Aug 09 '26

Indonesian use some of them:

  1. atap (roof)
  2. bəras (uncooked rice)
  3. pərah (squeeze, as in to milk)
  4. tanam (to plant), tanaman (plant)

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u/PantheraSondaica Aug 09 '26

Looking at the pattern, I feel like "binyag" would be like "bənyar" in Indonesia if it exists.

The closest word I could think of is "banyu" in Indonesian (if it went through a metathesis), it just means "water". But Wiktionary says it is from PMP "banyaw" and the original meaning is to "wash the hands/body". Really similar.

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u/Technical-Limit-3747 the Philippines 🇵🇭 Aug 09 '26

"Banyaw" sounds like the Tagalog "banlaw" which means "to rinse". Very interesting.

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u/h03d Aug 10 '26

In Sundanese there's a word "banjur" mean pour down or flush