teka-teki

Inherited from Malay teka-teki, from reduplication of teka (“to guess, suspect”).

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /təˌka təˈki/ [t̪əˌka t̪əˈki]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: te‧ka-te‧ki

têka-têki (plural teka-teki)

1. riddle (a verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature)
2. (figurative) puzzle (anything that is difficult to understand or make sense of)

• “teka-teki” 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.

• tĕka-tĕki (1924-1972)

Reduplication of teka (“to guess, suspect”).

• (Baku) IPA^(key): /təˈka təˈki/ [t̪əˈka t̪əˈki]

• (Johor-Riau) IPA^(key): /ˈtəkə təˈki/ [ˈt̪ə.kə t̪əˈki]
• Rhymes: -i
• Hyphenation: te‧ka-te‧ki

teka-teki

1. riddle^[1] (a verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature)

   Synonym: keteki (obsolete)

2. (figurative) puzzle (anything that is difficult to understand or make sense of)

• Indonesian: teka-teki

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