buai

Iban

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buai̯/

Verb

buai

1. to throw away; discard

   Buai uras nya

   Throw these rubbish away

2. to waste (time)

   Jam dibuai iya beganjuh kia-kia.

   He is wasting time loafing about here and there.

3. (mathematics) subtract, deduct, remove, minus

   Synonym: tulak

   Antonym: tambah

   Buai 4 ari 5 ― 5 is subtracted from 4

Indonesian

Etymology

Inherited from Malay buai, from Proto-Malayic *buhay, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *buqay, a variant of *bui (“to swing”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbu.ai̯/
• Hyphenation: bu‧ai

Noun

buai

1. swing (the manner in which something is swung)

   Synonyms: buaian, ayunan

Verb

buai (active membuai, passive dibuai, perfective passive terbuai)

1. (transitive) to cradle (to rock a baby to sleep)

   Wanita itu membuai bayinya sambil bernyanyi.

   The woman cradles her baby while singing.

Conjugation

Conjugation of buai (meng-, transitive)

root	buai
	active	involuntary	passive	basic / imperative	emphatic / jussive
active	membuai	terbuai	dibuai	buai	buailah
locative	–	–	–	–	–
causative / applicative1	membuaikan	terbuaikan	dibuaikan	buaikan	buaikanlah
	causative
active	–	–	–	–	–
locative	–	–	–	–	–
causative / applicative1	memperbuaikan	terperbuaikan	diperbuaikan	perbuaikan	perbuaikanlah

¹ The -kan row is either causative or applicative. With transitive roots it mostly has applicative meaning.
Some of these forms do not normally exist or are rarely used in standard Indonesian. Some forms may also change meaning.

Derived terms

• berbuai
• buaian
• pembuai
• pembuaian
• terbuai
• terbuai-buai

Further reading

• “buai” 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 Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *buqay, a variant of *bui (“to swing”). Cognate with Binukid buay (“to swing back and forth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buai̯/
• Rhymes: -uai̯, -ai̯

Verb

buai (Jawi spelling بواي)

1. to swing
2. to sway

Derived terms

Affixed terms and other derivations

Regular affixed derivations:

• buaian [resultative / locative / collective / variety / verbal noun / fruit] (-an)
• buaikan [causative benefactive] (-kan)
• membuai [agent focus] (meN-)
• membuaikan [agent focus + causative benefactive] (meN- + -kan)
• dibuai [patient focus] (di-)
• terbuai [agentless action] (teR-)
• terbuai-buai [reduplication + agentless action] (redup + teR-)
• berbuai [stative / habitual] (beR-)
• berbuai-buai [reduplication + stative / habitual] (redup + beR-)

Descendants

• Indonesian: buai

Further reading

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

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From Tolai (or a closely related language, like Label) buai.

Noun

buai

1. areca; betel nut

   Noken kaikai buai long smolhaus. Buai pekpek i stap tumas doti.

   No chewing betelnut in the restroom. The spit from betelnut is very dirty.

See also

• daka
• limbum

References

• Mosel, Ulrike (1980) Tolai and Tok Pisin: the influence of the substratum on the development of New Guinea Pidgin (Pacific Linguistics; Series B, no. 73)‎^[1], Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN