Where does “mau tidak mau” come from?
mau tidak mau (Indonesian) comes from Indonesian tidak, from Malay tidak, from Proto-Malayic daʔ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian diaq — not.
Ancestry of “mau tidak mau”, step by step
mau tidak mau traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Indonesian tidak
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Indonesian | tidak | not |
| 2 | Malay | tidak | not |
| 3 | Proto-Malayic | daʔ | — |
| 4 | Proto-Malayo-Polynesian | diaq | not |
via Indonesian mau
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Indonesian | mau | to want, to desire |
| 2 | Malay | mahu | to want, to desire; will |
| 3 | Proto-Polynesian | *mafu | stale of food |