beliau
Indonesian
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bəˈli.au̯/
- Rhymes: -iau̯
- Hyphenation: be‧li‧au
Pronoun
bêliau (third-person singular pronoun)
- (honorific) he, she; him, her (referring to someone highly respected, of higher status or older)
- (honorific) his, her
Derived terms
- beliau-beliau
See also
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person exclusive | regular | aku, saya1 |
kami |
| enclitic | -ku | - | |
| proclitic | ku- | - | |
| 1st person inclusive | - | kita | |
| 2nd person | regular | kamu, Anda2, kau3 |
kalian, Anda2, Anda sekalian2, Anda semua2 |
| enclitic | -mu | - | |
| 3rd person | regular | dia, beliau4, ia3 |
mereka |
| enclitic | -nya | - | |
| reflexive | diri5, diri sendiri | ||
| emphatic | sendiri | ||
2 Formal.
3 Now mostly literary.
4 Respectful.
5 Sometimes used as an emphatic marker instead of being reflexive.
- This table only shows personal pronouns that are commonly used in the standard language.
- The second person pronouns are often replaced by kinship terms, titles, or the like.
- The enclitics are only used obliquely (object or possessor), while the proclitic is only used as a subject.
Further reading
- “beliau” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.
Malay
Etymology
Uncertain, probably from Malay belia (“young”), from Sanskrit बाल्य (bālya, “relating to children”).
- Originally used to refer to someone who the speaker did not want to name. The word undergoes amelioration, but the reduplicated form (beliau-beliau) for plural pronoun still preserved the original meaning of "undesirable third persons" used as pejoration.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bə.liau̯/
- Rhymes: -iau̯, -jau̯, -au̯
Pronoun
beliau (Jawi spelling بلياو)
Descendants
- Indonesian: beliau
See also
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | standard |
saya / ساي |
kami / کامي (exclusive) |
| royal | |||
| 2nd person | standard | ||
|
engkau / اڠکاو, kau- / كاوـ (informal/poetic/towards God) |
anda semua / اندا سموا (formal) | ||
| royal |
tuanku / توانكو | ||
| 3rd person | standard |
dia / دي |
|
| royal |
baginda / بݢيندا | ||
Further reading
- “beliau” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
- "beliau" in Kamus Dewan, Fourth Edition, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, →ISBN, 2005.