I haven’t posted anything for a while on the count of not living in Kuching for four years now :). But I have decided to start building up a list of useful words one one page here. This is for a few reasons; firstly to keep my Iban fresh, and secondly because there is no Iban google translate option and when I was learning there really was very few good options out there. Keep in mind though this will be a very brief list of words, good enough for tourists or for someone who want’s to spend a week in a longhouse visiting friends. Not a language lesson.
Ok, here is Version 1, there will be some mistakes, not so much in meaning but in some cases the spelling of the Iban words may be off. Also Iban and Malay languages have an overlap these days. They were always related languages but these days it get’s more difficult to tell what is what, there are about 600 Iban words adopted into the national Bahasa Malaysia dictionaries. Many more Iban words are used in the Sarawakian Malay. An in the opposite direction Malay influences Iban through school, tv etc. Anyway here is the list:
| English word | Iban word | Comments |
| Ant | Semut | many different names for specific species of ants |
| Arm | Lengan | |
| Back | Belakang | |
| Bamboo shoots | Tubu | |
| Banana | Pisang | |
| Beard | Ragum | |
| Bed | Katil | |
| Bee | Singut | |
| Beef | Capi | Not often eaten in longhouses |
| Bird | Burung | |
| Body | Tubuh | |
| Boy | Budak/laki | |
| Burn/smoke | Tunu | |
| Buttocks | Burit | |
| Chair | Kerusi | |
| Chicken | Manuk | The poor cousin of the pork |
| Child | Anak | |
| Coconut | Nyur | |
| Coffee | Kopi | |
| Cook | Berapi | |
| Crab | Ketam | |
| Cup | Cawan | |
| Cattle fish | Suntung | |
| Door | Pintu | |
| Downstairs | Baruh | |
| Dragon | Naga | |
| Drink | Ngirup | |
| Dry Fermented shrimp paste | Belacan | You get used to it |
| Durian | Durian | Nope, it does NOT taste any better than it smells |
| Eat | Makai | |
| Egg | Telur | |
| Eggplant | Terung | |
| Eye | Mata | |
| Fat | Gemuk | |
| Father | Apai | |
| Father/Mother in law | Mentua | |
| Fire | Api | |
| Fish | Ikan | |
| Flood | Bah | |
| Fork | Hmm, used to remember, oh who cares, they aren’t used all that much anyway | |
| Friend/fiancee | Pangan | |
| Fruit | Buah | |
| Galangal | Lengkuas | |
| Gecko | Ticak | The Malay word “Cicak” is often used instead |
| Ginger | Lia | |
| Ginger flower | Bunga kecala | |
| Girl | Indu | |
| Grandfather | Aki | |
| Grandmother | Ini | |
| Hair | Rambut | |
| Hallway | Ruai | |
| Hand | Jari | |
| Head | Kepala | |
| Headman | Tuai Rumah | |
| Heat/full sun | Panas | |
| Horse | Kuda | |
| Horseshoe crab | Belangkas | |
| Hot | Angat | |
| House | Rumah | |
| Hungry | Lapar | |
| Kitchen | Dapur | The center of Iban life |
| Knife | Duku | |
| Lay down | Gali | |
| Leg | Kaki | |
| Little dried fish (anchovies) | Pusu | Goes into every dish out there apart from the rice pot |
| Longhouse | Rumah Panjai | |
| Mats | Tikai | Often used on the floors |
| Meat | Daging | |
| Men/Husband | Laki | |
| Monkey | Kra | |
| Mother | Indai | |
| Mouse deer | Juoi | |
| Mouth | Mulut | |
| My/myself/I | aku | |
| Noodle | Mee | |
| Nose | Hidung | |
| Orangutan | Maias | |
| Palm heart | Upa | |
| Pineapple | Ananas | You see? Same word in every f…. language out there apart from English |
| Plate | Capah | |
| Pork/Pig | Babi | The B and C of Iban food ABC |
| Prawns/shrimps | Undang | |
| Preserved Durian | Tempoyak | No polite comment could be made at this time… |
| Preserved Pork | Babi Kasam | |
| Python | Sawa | |
| Rain | Ujan | |
| Relative | Kaban | |
| Rice (cooked) | Asi | The A of Iban food ABC |
| Rice (unhusked) | Padi | |
| Rice distillate | Langkau | (also the word for a small gardening house, a long story) |
| Rice wine | Tuak | |
| Room/apartment | Bilik | |
| Run | Belanda | |
| Run (away) | Lari | |
| Sago worm | Tindoh | |
| Salt | Garam | |
| Scorpion | Kala | |
| Short | Pandak | |
| Sit | Duduk | |
| Skinny | Kurus | |
| Slug (edible) | Lita | |
| Snake | Ular | |
| Son/Daughter in Law | Menantu | |
| Soup | Kuah | |
| Soy sauce | Kicap | |
| Spider | Empelawa | Try shouting that in a panic 🙂 |
| Spoon | Sudu | |
| Stairs | Tangga | |
| Stomach | Perut | Word also used for intestines |
| Sugar | Gula | |
| Sun | Matapanas | |
| Sunbear | Beruang | |
| Table | Meja | |
| Tall | Tinggi | |
| Tattoo | Kelinga | |
| Tea | Teh | |
| Teeth | Gigi | |
| Thirsty | Aus | |
| Tiger | Ramaung | |
| Toilet | Agu/bilik mandi | |
| Tokay Gecko | Kuga | Large gecko thought to be a good omen, unfortunately also collected for Chinese medicine. |
| Tumeric | Kunyit | |
| Turtle | Lelabi | |
| Upstairs/above | Atas | |
| Us | Kitai | inclusive of the person spoken to |
| Us | Kami | Excluding person spoken to |
| Walk/road | Jalai | |
| Wash (dishes,hands etc) | Cuci | |
| Wash (self) | Mandi | |
| Water/liquid | Ai | Used for almost any drink: Ai Bir, Ai Teh, Ai kopi |
| Wet fermented shrimps | Cincalok | You leave the table |
| Wife | Bini | |
| Wild pig | Babi babas | |
| Wind | Ribut | |
| Yeast | Ragi | |
| You | nuan | to one person |
| You | kita | to multiple people |
Enjoy, please feel free to ask for other words or even small lists of words, I wrote down everything that came to mind immediately when thinking of a longhouse but this is less than 150 words so the list is limited.
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