Where does “kekanak-kanakan” come from?

kekanak-kanakan (Indonesian) comes from Malay kanak-kanak, from Indonesian kanak, from Malay kanak, from Proto-Malayic anak, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian anak, from Proto-Austronesian aNak — child.

kekanak-kanakan (Indonesian): childish, immature, puerile

Definitions

  1. childish, immature, puerile

Ancestry of “kekanak-kanakan”, step by step

kekanak-kanakan traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Malay kanak-kanak

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaykanak-kanakchildren; plural of kanak
2Indonesiankanakchild
3Malaykanakchild; an unnamed child
4Proto-Malayicanakchild
5Proto-Malayo-Polynesiananakchild
6Proto-AustronesianaNakchild

via Indonesian ke- -an

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Indonesianke- -anness; appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of (the adjective)", "the quality of (the adjective)", or "the measure of (the adjective)"
2Malayke- -anness; appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of (the adjective)", "the quality of (the adjective)", or "the measure of (the adjective)"
3Proto-Malayic*kə- -an
4Proto-Austronesian*ka- -an
Every word from Proto-Austronesian aNak