Where does “kuku” come from?
kuku (Indonesian) comes from Malay kuku, from Proto-Malayic kuku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian kukuh, from Proto-Austronesian kuSkuS — nail.
kuku (Indonesian): nail
Ancestry of “kuku”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Malay | kuku | nail |
| 2 | Proto-Malayic | kuku | nail |
| 3 | Proto-Malayo-Polynesian | kukuh | nail |
| 4 | Proto-Austronesian | kuSkuS | nail |