# Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society/Volume 65/Baba Malay

Baba Malay.
An Introduction to the Language of the Straits-born Chinese.
By Rev. W. G. Shellabear, D.D.
The terms High and Low Malay, which appear to have originated with the Dutch, have given rise to a great deal of controversy, and to some confusion and misunderstanding. As used in Java and other parts of the Netherlands Indies the term
HIGH MALAY
means the language of Malay literature, and as the classical literature of the Malays was written when Malacca and Acheen were the great centres of Malay power and learning, it is not surprising to find that the language of Malay literature is the language which is spoken to-day all along the sea coast on both sides of the Straits of Malacca, with only this difference, namely that a few words of foreign origin used in the classical literature never became assimilated in the spoken language, and therefore continue to be purely literary words, and are not understood by the common people. It is a remarkable fact that the Malay language in the Straits of Malacca has remained practically the same for centuries. The English of the time of Queen Elizabeth is now almost unintelligible to those who have not made the literature of that time a special study; but the letters written from the court of Acheen to Queen Elizabeth and King James I. of England could to-day be read and thoroughly understood by any 4th standard boy in the Malay vernacular schools of the Straits Settlements. In the Dutch Indies, however, the only parts where this language is now spoken are the Riouw-Lingga Archipelago and the East coast of Sumatra; hence to the vast majority of Dutch residents in the East the Malay of the Straits of Malacca is an unknown tongue, and those who have studied for the most part know it only as the language of Malay literature, and look upon it as being practically a dead language, whereas it is really a very live language in those parts of the Archipelago where it is spoken.
On the other hand the term
LOW MALAY
is used in the Netherlands Indies to describe the language employed by Europeans, Eurasians, Chinese, and other foreigners in Java as a common means of communication between themselves and the Javanese, Sundanese and other inhabitants of that most populous ​of all the islands of Malaysia, which contains probably more than three-fourths of the entire population of the Archipelago. The immense numerical preponderance of the Javanese and Sundanese has resulted in the admixture of a very large proportion of the words of those two languages in the "Low Malay" of Java, so that the Malays of the Straits of Malacca have difficulty in understanding it. On the island of Java there are very few people of the Malay race properly so called, and the "Low Malay" of Java is not the spoken language of the Malays at all, but merely a jargon concocted by the mixed multitude of various tongues who live together in that island, and must necessarily have a common language as a means of communication. Having been made the official language of the Dutch government, Low Malay is fostered by the strong arm of the law, newspapers are published in this bastard dialect, and it promises to be the permanent colloquial language of the southern part of the Archipelago.
In the British possessions on the Malay Peninsula the linguistic conditions are entirely different. Here the strongest native race numerically is the Malay, and there is absolutely no other native language to compete with the Malay language for the ascendancy. There are, however, two very distinct dialects of the Malay language spoken on the Malay Peninsula, namely, (1) The pure Malay as it is spoken by the Malays among themselves, with its peculiarly terse idiom, its grammar of prefixes and suffixes, and its immensely rich vocabulary of words of pure Malay origin; and (2) The so-called colloquial Malay of the Settlements, the common means of communication between Europeans, Chinese, Tamils, Malays, and all the other nationalities of these great trading centres, which has comparatively a very small vocabulary, and makes but little use of those grammatical changes in the form of words which make the pure Malay language so expressive.
Of these two dialects we will first deal with
THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE OF THE PURE MALAYS.
As already stated above in our remarks on what the Dutch call High Malay, "the spoken language of the Peninsula Malays is in fact the language of Malay literature, and has undergone practically no change whatever in the past three centuries. This is due very largely to the fact that the Malays hold themselves almost entirely aloof from the peoples of other races who come here to trade and to develop the natural resources of the country, leaving the heavy manual labour of the mines and plantations, and all the wholesale and retail trade to be done by the Chinese. The only important changes which have taken place in the spoken lan- guage of the Malays in the past 300 years appear to have been through the addition of those Arabic words required to express the religious ideas which have come to them through the teachings of Mohamedanism. Even when the Malays are in the closest pro​ximity to the busy life of our great trade centres their speech is only very slightly affected, so little do they come in contact with people of other nationalities; hence it comes that the Malay lan- guage is spoken with practically the same purity at Telok Blanga, or in any of the other outlying villages of Singapore as it is in the villages of the interior of Malacca or Johor. Those who have dealings with the Malays, and desire to speak their language correctly, as they themselves speak it, must study Malay literature, and especially such modern works as the writings of the famous Munshi Abdullah, or the recently published Riddles written by Guru Sleiman of the Malay College at Malacca, which are in an excellent conversational style.
From what has just been said, it is plain that throughout our British possessions the pure Malay language is the language of the villages. On the other hand the language of the great Settlements and large towns and of the markets and shops everywhere, in fact the business language of the Malay Peninsula, is
BABA MALAY,
that is to say, Malay as it is spoken by the Malay-speaking Chinese. This is quite a distinct dialect, the prevailing characteristic of which is its tendency to follow the Chinese rather than the Malay idiom. It is true that the number of Chinese words which have become assimilated with this dialect is not very large, and that many words have been borrowed from English, Portuguese, Dutch and Tamil, and from other neighbouring tongues, but it is rightly called "Baba Malay," for it is largely the creation of the Baba Chinese, and is their mother tongue, so that it belongs to them in a sense that no other people can or do claim it as their own. In this respect it differs greatly from the so-called "Low Malay" of Java, for though those Chinese who are born and live in the Dutch Indies all speak that language, yet they have not by any means had the strongest influence in its formation, for "Low Malay" has a very much stronger affinity with Javanese and Sundanese than it has with Chinese, and has not been so much affected by the Chinese idiom as the Baba Malay of the Malay Peninsula, the Chinese in the Dutch Indies having always been few in number as compared with the natives of the country. In the British Settlements, on the other hand, the Chinese have always had a commanding influence in all business affairs, and in a proportionate degree have left their impress upon the language in which the business of the Settlements has always been transacted, and in which it will probably continue to be carried on long after the present generation has passed away. The fact that Baba Malay is now, and is likely to be for an indefinite period, the business language of Singapore, Penang, and the Federated Malay States, would in itself be a sufficient reason why it should be studied as a distinct dialect; but a still more weighty reason is found in the fact that it is the ​mother-tongue of the majority of the Chinese women and children in the Straits Settlements, and of a considerable and increasing number in the Federated Malay States. It is the language of the homes of the Straits-born Chinese—the most highly educated and the most influential section of the Chinese community in the British possessions, and therefore it is the language in which the women and children of this important class can most readily and most successfully be educated. The pure Malay language, as the Malays themselves speak it, the Babas will never learn, for they despise it, calling it Malayu hutan—the language of the jungle. Their dialect—Baba Malay—they look upon as the language of the refined and wealthy class of Malay-speaking Chinese. That being the case it is hopeless to try and force upon them what others consider to be "Classical Malay," however much superior it may be from the view-point of the scholar and the historian. Baba Malay is the language of the man of the street; it is a strong and virile tongue, more easily acquired than the pure Malay, and sufficiently expressive for all ordinary purposes; moreover it has a remarkable capacity for borrowing and assimilating such words as it needs from other languages. It is sure to live. When the principles of its grammatical construction are better understood, when those who speak it are able also to read and write it correctly, and when it has a literature of its own, Baba Malay will prove itself to be an adequate medium for conveying thought and for imparting instruction.
THE EVOLUTION OF BABA MALAY.
Malacca, being the oldest foreign settlement in Malaysia, is the most favourable place to study the history of Chinese immi- gration to this part of the world, and the origin of the dialect which they now speak. It is now nearly 400 years since Europeans first made their appearance at Malacca, but the Chinese were there some time before that. Bukit China, the burial ground of the Chinese from time immemorial, was so called before the time when the Malay history "Sjarah Malayu" was written, which is more than 300 years ago. The first immigrants were probably from Amoy, for nearly all the words of Chinese origin which have come into the Malay language approach more closely to the sounds of the Hok-kien than to those of any other dialect, and the Babas of all the old families claim to be Hok-kiens. There is also very little doubt that the Chinese who came to this part of the world in the early days were exclusively males, that they married Malay women, but brought up their children as Chinese. Even to the present day the marriage customs of the Baba Chinese approximate more closely to those of the Malays than to those of the natives of China, but intermarriage between the Babas and the Malays has entirely ceased, and probably for hundreds of years past the Babas have married exclusively amongst their own people. ​The Baba community, however, is still growing by the same process which must have been going on for centuries, something after the following manner:—An immigrant comes from China, and as soon as he has saved up enough money he opens a small shop in a Malay village, where he soon learns to make himself understood. in the Malay language. When he is able to support a wife, he looks out for a girl from some of the poorer Baba families, or perhaps a daughter of one of the numerous concubines to be found in the homes of the wealthy. Baba women of this class are to be found to-day in all the villages of Malacca, married to small shopkeepers, who were born in China, and speak Malay very imperfectly; their children, however, are Babas pure and simple, and in many cases know nothing whatever of the Chinese language. They have learnt the Malay language from their mothers, and from constant association with Malay children in the village where they live; in fact they know much more Malay than they are generally given credit for. Nevertheless there is a marked difference between the Malay spoken by these Chinese children and that spoken by the Malay children with whom they seem to mix so freely; but this is of course easily accounted for by the influence of the Chinese parents upon the language spoken by their children, for however intimately the children of different nationalities may be thrown together in their games, the language of the home must necessarily have the strongest influence upon them. As time went by and the Babas became more numerous, they would begin to form a community by themselves and would not come so much into contact with the Malays; this would be especially the case in the town of Malacca rather than in the villages, in fact it is noticeable even at the present day that the Babas in the villages speak much more like the Malays themselves than those who live in the town. As the Babas in the town ceased to associate with the Malays, their peculiarities of idiom would tend to become fixed, and their speech would be influenced less and less by the Malay standards of pronunciation, grammar or the use of words. The Malays have had a literature of their own for hundreds of years, and a considerable proportion of the population have been able to read and write for probably at least 300 years, and their literature has undoubtedly tended to maintain the purity of their spoken language; the Babas on the other hand have never learned to read and write Malay, hence their knowledge of the language has always been purely colloquial, and therefore the more liable to be corrupted.
The differences between the Malay language as spoken by the Babas and the colloquial language of the Malays themselves are principally as follows:—(1) They have introduced a number of words of Chinese origin most of which are wholly unknown to the Malays; (2) They are entirely unacquainted with a large number of Malay words which are in common use among the Malays themselves; (3) They mispronounce many Malay words, and in some ​cases have altered the pronunciation so much that the word is almost unrecognisable; and (4) to a great extent they use the Chinese idiom rather than the Malay, putting their sentences together in a way which is quite different from the colloquial language of the Malays. We will consider these different points one by one.
(1) Words of Chinese origin.
In dealing with the question of the Chinese words used by the Babas it must first be remarked that their pronunciation of such words is Malay rather than Chinese. The Hok-kien Chinese in the pronunciation of their words use seven very clearly defined "tones," and the meaning of a word depends entirely upon the tone of voice in which it is pronounced. Of the use of these tones the Babas for the most part know absolutely nothing, and if they ever pronounce a Chinese word correctly as far as the tone is concerned, it is by accident rather than by design. I am referring of course to those Chinese words which have become incorporated with the Baba Malay language; many of the Babas can speak Hok-kien Chinese with some fluency, and when doing so must of necessity use the tones, though usually very imperfectly, yet when speaking Malay they use Chinese words without attempting to give the correct tones, and in some cases Chinese words have been so much corrupted that it is difficult to recognise their derivation. This we will illustrate later on.
The Chinese words which are most frequently used in Baba Malay are undoubtedly the pronouns goa, "I," and lu, "you." In speaking among themselves the Babas never use the Malay pronouns aku and angkau, but curiously enough for the pronouns of the 3rd person singular and 1st person plural they invariably use the Malay dia and kita, and never use the Chinese equivalents. It is well known that in polite conversation the Malays avoid the use of pronouns as far as possible, whereas the Chinese use pronouns with much greater freedom; in this respect the Babas conform to Malay usage. Children would never think of using the pronoun lu to their parents, and in conversation with their seniors the greatest care is taken to use the proper form of address, so that all the little children know the proper titles to be given to all their relations; it is a remarkable thing, however, that these relationships are expressed by Chinese and not by Malay words, exceptions to this rule being the words for mother (mak) and younger brother or sister (adek) and elder brother (abang). The Chinese words for the various relationships have in most cases the prefix ńg which is used by the Chinese in addressing relatives, but this is corrupted sometimes to n or m by the Babas: for instance for father the Babas do not use the ordinary Hok-kien word pẽ or lāu-pẽ, but the more unusual word tia-tia in the form ’ntia; for grandfather, kong has become ’ngkong; elder sister, tõa-chí has become tachi; father's elder brother, peh, is ’mpek; father's younger ​brother, chek, is ’nchek; sister's husband, chiá-hu, is chau; and so forth.
Another very large class of words which the Babas have borrowed from the Chinese language are those relating to household affairs. The construction of their houses is Chinese in plan rather than Malay, and they have given Chinese names to the different parts of the house—the front room or hall where the idols are placed is called the tiaⁿ (Chinese thiaⁿ); the central court open to the sky is chimchi (chhim-chíⁿ); the upper floor is loteng (lâu-téng); the inside balcony is langkan (Chinese làng-khang, open space); bedroom is pangkeng (pâng-keng); the outer balcony open to the sky is la-peⁿ (? lâu-pîⁿ); a lamp is teng or tanglong (teng-liông); a carpet or rug is tanak (thán-à); paint is chat (chhat); and even a cockroach is kachuak (ka-tsoâh). Kitchen utensils are called by Malay names, but anything peculiar to the Chinese receives a Chinese name, as, tea pot, tekuan (tê-koàn); soup spoon, tngsi (thng-si); kettle, teko (tê-kó͘); chopsticks however are known as sumpit, presumably a corruption of the Malay spit; the table at which they eat their meals is invariably known by the Chinese name toh; to cook by steaming is known by the Chinese name tim (tīm), but Malay words are used for all other cooking operations; many kinds of food are known by Chinese names, such as, bami (bah-mī), tauyu (tāu-iû), kiamchai (kiâm-chhài), kuchai (ku-chhài), pe-chai (peh-chhài), chaipo (chhài-pó͘), kueh chang (ké-chàng), kueh tiau (ké-tiâu), etc. Several articles of clothing have names of Chinese origin, that which is most familiar being of course the queue, tauchang (thâu-tsang); also we have Chinese mourning, toaha (toà-hà); a child's binder, oto (io-tó͘); a man's purse, opau (io-pau); a woman’s purse, kotoa (khó͘-toà); stockings, boek (bèh); to adorn one's self, chngkan diri (tsng); and we might here mention the flat-iron, utau (ut-táu).
As might be expected, nearly everything connected with the religious ceremonies of the Babas is known by names of Chinese origin: the Chinese temple is bio (biō), the Buddhist priest is hoe-sio (hê-siūⁿ); the idol is topekong (tōa-peh-kong), sio-hio (sio-hiuⁿ) is to burn incense, kui (kūi) is to kneel, and teyan (tôe-iên) is to give a subscription.
Business affairs, medicine, and games (gambling) also contribute a number of words of Chinese origin, such as, toko (thô͘-khò͘) for shop, kongsi (kong-si) association or company, taukeh (thâu-ke) head of a firm, jiho (jī-hō) shop sign; koyok (ko-io̍h) plaster, po'ho (po̍h-hô) peppermint, pekak (poeh-kak-hiuⁿ) aniseed, sinse (sien-siⁿ) teacher; and the following games, pakau (phah-káu), susek (sù-sek), chki (chit-ki), kau (kau), tan (tán), etc.
The Babas also use a good many words of Chinese origin to express abstract ideas, but not always to express the same meaning that the word conveys to the Hok-kien chinaman. For instance, for ungrateful the Babas use bo-jin-cheng (bô-jin-chêng), for a ​sarcastic or ironical remark they use siaupi (sau-phî), to be satisfied kam-guan (kam-guān), nice, homia (hó-miâ), etc.
It should be remembered that for nearly all the ideas and objects mentioned above the Malays have their own proper words, which they would use among themselves. Those Malays who come frequently into contact with the Chinese are of course well acquainted with such words as goa and lu, loteng, tekuan, kuchai, pechai, toaha, taukeh, and so forth, but with many of the words of Chinese origin given above even the Malays in the town of Malacca are quite unfamiliar. Similarly the Babas are utterly unacquainted with the Malay equivalents of nearly all these words.
2. Malay words which are unknown to the Babas.
From what has been said above it is evident that the Babas are unfamiliar with those Malay words of which they are accustomed to use the Chinese equivalents, but there are also a large number of other words in common use among the Malays of which the Babas are entirely ignorant. It is of course well known in European countries that those who cannot read their own language use but a very small number of words in ordinary conversation; we can only hope to acquire a large vocabulary in our own language by constant reading. With few exceptions the Babas read absolutely nothing in the Malay language, and consequently their knowledge of Malay words is very limited. The Malay language is rich in synonyms, and has words to express the finest shades of meaning; but where a number of words have somewhat similar meanings, the Baba uses only one or two to express them all. For instance, for looking and seeing the Malays use the words lihat, pandang, tengok, nampak, tampak, tngadah, mnoleh, tilek, belek, etc.; but the Babas hardly ever use any of these except tengok and nampak, and occasionally lihat and pandang. Similarly they make the one word taroh serve the purpose where the Malays use taroh, buboh and ltak; and the word angkat is used by them where the Malays would say pikul, kelek, tatang, kandong, kendong, junjong, dokong. Many of the Babas would know some of these words if they heard a Malay use them, but they for the most part do not know the exact shades of meaning which they express, and consequently they do not attempt to use them. Where the Malays use two words of somewhat similar meaning, the Babas generally use one to the entire exclusion of the other, for instance they use berjumpa and not bertmu, tuang and not churah, pegang (for pgang) and not chapai, tngkar and not bantah; spak and not tampar, kosong and not hampa, panas and not hangat. Of the formation of derived words from roots by means of prefixes and suffixes the Babas as a rule know nothing whatever; in many cases however they use derived words, but do not seem to understand their connection with the root word: as for instance the word pnyapu, broom, is well known, but they would not understand its connection with sapu, ​to sweep and if one use the form mnyapu they would probably not know what was meant. In some cases they use only the derived form, and do not know the root at all: mnangis, to weep, and mnari to dance, are of course in common use, but the root words tangis and tari are utterly unknown. On the other hand if a Baba knows the root word it does not at all follow that he will understand the derivative, he knows suroh, but knows nothing about pnyuroh; tunggu he uses, but pnunggu is practically unknown. All the prefixes and suffixes are used by the Babas in connection with certain words, but not with others, in fact they use them without knowing why or how they should be used. The suffix i, however, which forms transitive verbs, is practically never used, and in the one word mula'i in which they do use it, they have no idea that they have a derivative from the well-known word mula, for they pronounce it simply mulai, and then go so far as to make it a transitive verb over again by adding the other similar suffix -kan, making the extraordinary combination mulaikan. In the same way the Babas make other derivatives of their own manu- facture which are never used by the Malays, and sound to them exceedingly barbarous; for instance I have actually seen in print such forms as kbersehan, bharukan for bharui, mmbikinkan, etc. Even some of the simple prepositions are never used by the Babas: instead of k-, to a place, they always use di, which properly means "at;" bagi, for, is almost unknown, and dngan, with, is very little used, sama being made to do duty where the Malays use dngan, pada and even akan. Such words as are used in the polite phraseology of the Malays are never used by the Babas, and few of them would even know the meaning of such words if they were to hear them; I refer particularly to such words as bonda, adinda, kakanda, which the Malays of all classes use in their private cor- respondence, and also to forms of address to persons of superior rank, and pronouns used by inferiors to superiors, the various words for speaking, such as, firman of God, titah of a king, sabda of a prophet or person of high rank, kata of equals, smbah of in- feriors addressing a royal person. This whole system of phrase- ology is practically unknown to the Babas, and so is also the great bulk of the religious phraseology of the Malays. It is however unnecessary to go further in these matters, for enough has been said to show very plainly how much of the Malay language is a sealed book to the Babas.
3. Malay words mispronounced by the Babas.
The Babas have no difficulty in pronouncing every letter in the Malay language. In this respect they are entirely different from the immigrant Chinese, who find it utterly impossible to sound the letter r or d, and who always change final s into t, and make sundry other changes to suit their own peculiarities of speech, The Babas mispronounce Malay words either because they find ​their own way easier, or because they think it more elegant. They have no difficulty in sounding the letters b and l, but instead of ambil they say ambek or even amek, and for tinggal one sometimes hears tinggek. Final ai is always toned down to e and au to o, as sunge and pulo for sungai and pulau. Final h is never sounded at all, so that rumah becomes ruma, bodoh is bodo, and boleh is bole; thus they make no distinction between the sound of final ai and eh, both being e to the Baba. On the other hand final a is generally sounded as ak, and sometimes final i becomes ik: thus instead of bapa, bawa and pula, we have bapak, bawak and pulak. These corruptions of the sounds of the final letters cause a great deal of confusion in some words; for instance the Babas always pronounce chari as charik or charek, and have no idea that this is quite a different word, and means to tear; there is also a similar confusion between bawa, to bring, and bawah, below. The Babas also frequently drop the h in the middle of a word, as baru for bharu, saja for sahaja, saya for sahya; and they have a slight tendency to drop the h at the beginning of a word, as in the words hati, hanyut, etc. The Malays sometimes fail to sound initial h, but they never fail to sound the final h, and sometimes go so far as to carry the over to the beginning of the next word, as rumah horang, tlah hada, etc. Other corruptions can hardly be class- ified, so it is best to give a few examples at random, for instance, bergitu for bgitu, ktawa for tertawa, rti for arti, kreja for kerja, piara for plihara, pegang for pgang, sumpit for spit (chopsticks), mnimpi for mimpi, kmantin for pngantin, smunyit for smbunyi. Words of Arabic origin are generally corrupted more than pure Malay words, for example, pe'da for fa'idah, jerki for rzki, akérat for ákhirat, masohor or mersohor for mashhur.
4. The Baba idiom is Chinese rather than Malay.
Perhaps the most striking peculiarity in the way that the Babas make up their sentences is the very frequent use of the pos- sessive particle punya, which they use precisely as the Hok-kiens use the particle ê; but punya being a longer word is much more cumbersome, and produces awkward sentences, thus, "Dia punya mak-bapa ada dudok makan di sblah punya meja." Such phrases as "tiga bulan punya lama," "sperti macham itu punya kreta," are in constant use, and sound ludicrous to a Malay. These senten- ces are all taken from the writings of the Babas themselves. Here is another typical sentence, "Ini macha m punya orang fikir apa yang banyak salah ta'patut buat, dan apa yang sdikit salah boleh buat. Apa punya bodoh satu fikiran ini?" The redundancy of the "punya" is not, however, the only peculiarity of this sentence, the writer of which, though he is unable to speak Chinese, has given us a very close approximation to the Chinese idiom, and the whole sentence is absolutely unlike anything that a Malay would say. In the first place such expressions as ini macham and apa ​yang are never used by Malays; instead of ini macham punya orang fikir, a Malay would say pada fikiran orang yang dmkian; and instead of apa yang banyak salah, a Malay would say ksalahan yang bsar; a Malay would probably say the whole sentence somewhat as follows:—Pada fikiran orang yang dmkian, ksalahan yang bsar tiada patut di-perbuat, dan kesalahan yarg sdikit boleh di-perbuat. The last clause "Apa punja bodoh satu fikiran ini?" is even more utterly foreign to Malay idiom. It will be noticed that in the above sentence as reconstructed in the Malay idiom, the passive form di-perbuat is used; the Malays of course make a great deal of use of this construction both in writing and in conversation, but the Babas hardly ever use it at all. Another peculiar of the Babas is that they almost always make the adjectival pronouns itu and ini, that and this, precede the noun which they qualify instead of following it, as it should be according to Malay idiom. Again the Babas use the verb "to be" quite differently from the Malay idiom; take such sentences as, "Ini ada btul salah;" "ini macham punya orang ada bodoh"—no Malay would ever use ada in such a connection at all. They also follow the English idiom of placing the verb "to be" at the end of a sentence, thus, "brapa chantek dia-orang ada," "how beautiful they are." Another Chinese idiom is the use of datang for "here" or "hither," as the Chinese use lâi, as, "knapa t'ada bawa dia datang?" and "Kalau lu jalan datang." Pernah is used in the sense "at some time," as opposed to ta'pernah, "never," in the same way that the Hok-kiens used bat and m̄-bat, as, "kuda yang sudah pernah tanggorg seksa," "a horse which has suffered at some time;" "kuda yang sudah pernah jatoh," " a horse which at some time has fallen;" these quotations are from the translation of "Black Beauty" by Mr. Goh Hood Keng, who speaks very little Chinese. The following may also be given as examples of phrases which are distinctly Chinese—"Di-piarakan sampai mnjadi orary," "taken care of until he grew up" = Chinese chiâⁿ-lâng; tengok rengan, instead of the Malay pandang mudah = khoàⁿ-khin; "orang yang kna dia pukol," "the man who was beaten by him" = hō͘ i phah.
The following list of words, though not by any means complete, will be useful for reference.
WORDS PECULIAR TO THE BABAS.
Being principally corruptions of Malay and Chinese words.
| Baba. | Chinese. | Malay. | English. |
| Ajat | | ajak | to incite |
| Amek | | ambil | to fetch |
| Baik | | | in good health |
| Balek | | on the contrary |
| Bio | biō | | temple ​ |
| Bami | bah-mī | | maccaroni and pork |
| Ba'sat | ba̍t-sat | | bed-bug |
| Bikin | | | to make |
| Boek | be̍h | | stocking |
| Bo-jin-cheng | bô-jîn-chêng | | ungrateful |
| Buntut | | ekor | tail |
| Busa | | bueh | foam |
| Cha | chhá | | fry |
| Chat | chhat | | paint |
| Chau | chiá-hu | | sister's husband |
| Changkir | | | small cup |
| Chaipo | chhài-pó͘ | | turnips salted and dried |
| Chek-m | chek-’m | | brother's mother-in-law |
| Chek-m-po | chek-’m-pô | | uncle's mother-in-law |
| Chiang | chiāng | | ride a horse |
| Chimchi | chhim-chíⁿ | | central court in a house |
| Chinchu | tsûn-tsú | | supercargo |
| Chin-ke | chhin-ke | | relation between parents of husband and wife |
| Chio | chiò | | taoist rites |
| Chki | chit-ki | | a card game |
| Chikeweh | chit-ke-ê | | family |
| Chngkan diri | tsng | | to adorn one's self |
| Cho | cheng-tsó͘-bú | | great grandmother |
| Chokin | chho͘-kun | | bathing cloth |
| Chongpo | tsóng-phò͘ | | cook |
| Datok | kong | berhala | idol, god |
| Dlaki | | laki-laki | male |
| Feshen | | | fashion |
| Goa | goá | | I |
| Gumpal | | gumol | wrestle |
| Hia | hiaⁿ | | elder brother |
| Hio-soa | hiuⁿ-soàⁿ | | incense stick |
| Hoe-sio | hê-siūⁿ | | Bhuddist priest |
| Homia | hó-miā | | fortunate, nice |
| Hu, kertas hu | hû | | magical charm, amulet |
| Hun | hūn | | one-tenth of an inch |
| Jamut | | nyamok | mosquito |
| Jiho | jī-hō | | sign over the door |
| Jerki | | rzki | food |
| Jijit | | ejek | tease |
| Jose | jiàuⁿ-se | | shiny silk (crape) |
| Justa | | dusta | false |
| Kachuak | kā-tsoa̍h | | cockroach |
| Kalot | | | reprove |
| Kamguan | kam-goān | | willing |
| Kau | káu | | a game ​ |
| Kaudu | | | malicious |
| Kek-ki | keh-khí | | irritate |
| Kek-sim | ke̍k-sim | | broken-hearted |
| Kiam-chai | kiâm-chhài | | salt vegetables |
| Kiasai | sin-kiáⁿ-sài | | bridegroom |
| Kichiak | khit-chia̍h | | beggar |
| Kimpo | kīm-pô | | wife of maternal grandmother's brother |
| Kimpocho | kim-pô-tsó͘ | | ancestors of above |
| Kionghi | kiong-hí | | congratulations |
| Kitang | kí-tāng (?) | | tea cup |
| Kmantin | | pngantin | bride or bridegroom |
| Ko | ko͘ | | father's sister |
| Komba (Port.) | | | dove |
| Kongsi | kong-si | | company, firm |
| Kopo | ko͘-pô | | great paternal aunt |
| Kotoa | khò͘ toà | | woman's purse |
| Koyok | ko-io̍h | | medicinal plaster |
| Ksiat | | khasiat | power, virtue |
| Ksian | | kasehan | pity |
| Kuchai | kú-chhài | | leeks |
| Kueh tiau | ké-tiâu | | vermicelli |
| Kueh chang | ké-tsàng | | rice in bamboo leaves |
| Kui | kūi | | to kneel |
| Kuli po | ku-lí-pô | | female servant |
| Kuntau | kun-thâu | | boxing |
| Kuping | | tlinga | ear |
| Kusin | ku-sîn | | aphis |
| Lanchak | | anchak | offerings to spirits |
| Langkan | làng-khang | | space round chimche |
| Lapeⁿ | lâu-pîⁿ | | terrace roof |
| Lngkat | | lkat | to stick |
| Locheng | lô, cheng | | bell (in Chinese two kinds of gong) |
| Lo'chuan | liok-chhoàn | | a silk fabric |
| Loki | ló͘-kí | | Cantonese prostitute |
| Loteng | lâu-téng | | upstairs |
| Lsing | | ali-ali | sling |
| Lu | lú | | thou |
| Mek | me̍hⁿ | nadi | pulse |
| Mertua | | mntua | father-in-law, mother-in-law |
| Mingkin | | makin | more |
| Mnimpi | | mimpi | dream |
| Mnjela | | jndela | window |
| 'Mpek | ng-peh | | father |
| Ng-chek | ńg-chek | | uncle ​ |
| Ng-chim | in-chim | | uncle's wife |
| Ng-kim | in-kim | | elder brother's wife |
| Ng-ko | ńg-ko | | elder brother |
| Ng-koa | ńg-koaⁿ | | father-in-law |
| Ng-korg | ńg-kong | | grandfather |
| Ng-ku | ńg-kū | | mother's brother |
| Ng-so | hiaⁿ-só | | brother's wife |
| Nio | niû (lady) | | mother-in-law |
| N-tia | ńg-tia | | father |
| N-tio | î-tiūⁿ | | aunt's husband |
| O-pau | io-pau | | man's purse |
| O-to | io-tó͘ | | child's binder |
| Pakau | phah-háu | | a game |
| Paksui | phah-sng | | think, consult |
| Pale | | bla | nourish children |
| Pangkeng | pâng-keng | | bedroom |
| Pechai | pe̍h-chhài | | white cabbage |
| Pekak | poeh-kak-hiuⁿ | | aniseed |
| Pegang | | pgang | hold |
| Pinjak | | pijak, injak | tread |
| Po'ho | po̍h-hô | | peppermint |
| Pongkis | pùn-ki | | basket with handles |
| Popi | pó-pì | | protect (of idols.) |
| Popia | po̍h-piáⁿ | | thin cakes |
| Po-poe | pó-pòe | | jewel |
| Puntau | pùn-táu | | dust pan |
| Put-hau | put-hàu | | unfilial |
| Rabek | | rabit | torn |
| Ruhsia | | rahsia | secret |
| Sam-kai | sam-kài | | three idols—heaven, earth, water |
| Sampan | sam-pán | | boat |
| Samseng | - | | ruffian |
| Saupi | sau-phî | | ironical scolding |
| Siau | siau | | to digest |
| Siaupi | sau-phî | | ironical scolding |
| Siet-siet | siet-siet | | deceptive |
| Singkek | sin-kheh | | new arrival |
| Sinse | sien-siⁿ | | teacher |
| Sio-hio | sio-hiuⁿ | | to burn incense |
| Smpoa | sng-poáⁿ | | abacus |
| Soja | chhiùⁿ-jiā | | to bow in worship |
| Sumpit | | spit | chopsticks |
| Susek | sù-sek | | a game |
| Tachi | toā-chí | | elder sister |
| Taching | | chaching | worm |
| Taiko | thài-ko | | leprosy ​ |
| Tan | tán | | a game |
| Tanak | thán-á | | carpet |
| Tanglong | teng-liông | | lamp |
| Tangsi | thâng-si | | catgut |
| Taugek | tāu-gê | | bean sprouts |
| Tauchang | thâu-tsang | | queue |
| Tauyu | tāu-iû | | bean sauce |
| Tebien | thé-biēn | | influence, prestige |
| Teh | tê | | tea |
| Teko | tê-kó͘ | | kettle |
| Tekoan | tê-koàn | | tea-pot |
| Teng | teng | | lamp |
| Teyan | tôe-iên | | subscription |
| Tiaⁿ | thiaⁿ | | front hall |
| Tim | tīm | | cook in a double boiler |
| Tngsi | thng-sî | | a large spoon |
| Toaha | toà-hà | | mourning |
| Toak | thoah | | a drawer |
| Tochang | thâu-tsang | | queue |
| Toh | toh | | table |
| Topekong | toā-peh-kong | | idol |
| Usut | | asut | incite |
| Ut-tau | ut-táu | | flat iron |