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

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˌtanah ˈair/ [ˌt̪a.nah ˈa.ɪr]
• Rhymes: -air
• Syllabification: ta‧nah air

Noun

tanah air (plural tanah-tanah air)

1. homeland; fatherland; motherland

   Synonyms: tanah bijana, ibu pertiwi, watan, janabijana

Derived terms

• persada tanah air

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 of Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Etymology

From tanah (“land”) +‎ air (“water”), literally “land (and) water”.

Noun

tanah air (Jawi spelling تانه اءير, plural tanah-tanah air)

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.