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

Conjugation

Conjugation of buai (meng-, transitive)

root	buai
	active	passive		basic imperative	emphatic jussive
		reflective1	ordinary
	ordinary
nominative	membuai	terbuai	dibuai	buai	buailah
accusative / dative / locative	–	–	–	–	–
perfective causative / applicative2	membuaikan	terbuaikan	dibuaikan	buaikan	buaikanlah
	causative
nominative	–	–	–	–	–
accusative / dative / locative	–	–	–	–	–
perfective causative / applicative2	memperbuaikan	terperbuaikan	diperbuaikan	perbuaikan	perbuaikanlah

¹ There is another form of reflective passive verb with affixation of ke- -an which is not included in the table. This form is only attested in active voice without causative affixation of per-.
² 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