Fw: Etymology of Malay berhala

[Paz B. Naylor]

Richard, I think we're on the right track on this.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Paz B. Naylor 
To: csundita at yahoo.com 
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 11:54 PM
Subject: Re: [An-lang] Etymology of Malay berhala


Hi, Chris,

I may be off but it sounds like a good guess:

The word "bahala" inTagalog "Bahala na" looks like it might have been derived from Bathala, since the expression also means 'leave it to luck/fate/God" - something like "let's see (what comes)", "que sera, sera!".  
("suit yourself" actually is "bahala ka na")

Paz
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Christopher Sundita 
  To: an-lang at anu.edu.au 
  Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 9:30 PM
  Subject: Re: [An-lang] Etymology of Malay berhala


        Hi Geoff,

        My post may be totally useless, but it reminds me of Tagalog "bahala" which is used to mean something like "suit yourself" or simpy responsibility.  From my understanding, it refers to "bhattara" (my spelling is off), which refers to a deity of some sort in pre-Christian times.

        --Chris

        --- On Wed, 1/21/09, Geoffrey Wade <geoffrey.wade at anu.edu.au> wrote:

          From: Geoffrey Wade <geoffrey.wade at anu.edu.au>
          Subject: [An-lang] Etymology of Malay berhala
          To: an-lang at anu.edu.au
          Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 8:34 AM


          Dear AN-Lang list members,
           
          A colleague is seeking  ideas as to the etymology of  the Malay term "berhala", a term used for "idol, image". Wilkinson provides no etymology.

          He has proferred the possibility of derivation from Sanskrit/Pali "vihara" and would appreciate any comments on the phonetic feasibility of this suggestion, and/or the occurrence of the term "berhala" in other Austronesian languages.
           
          Many thanks
           
          Geoff Wade
           
          geoffrey.wade at anu.edu.au 
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