Before revision: Modern dictionaries, however, agree that it was in fact borrowed by Portuguese from the Malay menteri (in Jawi: , ) which ultimately came from the Sanskrit mantri (Devanagari: , meaning counselor or minister – etymologically linked to mantra).Mandarin, Online Etymology DictionaryMandarin Merriam-Webster"mandarin", According to Malaysian scholar Ungku Abdul Aziz, the term had its origin when the Portuguese living in Malacca during the Malacca Sultanate traveled to meet with higher officials in China and referred to them with the familiar term "menteri ", but pronounced with Old Portuguese phonology, , where the vowel ending was nasalized and later interpreted to have ended with "n" due to the nasalized pronunciation of the Portuguese.
After revision: Modern dictionaries, however, agree that it was in fact borrowed by Portuguese from the Malay menteri (in Jawi: , ) which ultimately came from the Sanskrit mantri (Devanagari: , meaning counselor or minister – etymologically linked to mantra).Mandarin, Online Etymology DictionaryMandarin Merriam-Webster"mandarin", According to Malaysian scholar Ungku Abdul Aziz, the term had its origin when the Portuguese living in Malacca during the Malacca Sultanate traveled to meet with higher officials in China and referred to them with the familiar term from Malay menteri (in Jawi: , ), but pronounced by the Portuguese with Old Portuguese phonology, , where the vowel ending was nasalized and later misinterpretedand initially spelt in Old Portuguese as mandarin then in modern Portuguese as mandarim, to have ended with "n" due to the nasalized pronunciation of the Portuguese.