Where does “tanah liat” come from?

tanah liat (Indonesian) comes from Indonesian tanah, from Malay tanah, from Proto-Malayic *tanah, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tanəq — earth, soil, land.

tanah liat (Indonesian): clay (mineral substance; earth material; particle less than 3.9 microns in diameter)

Definitions

  1. clay (mineral substance; earth material; particle less than 3.9 microns in diameter)

Ancestry of “tanah liat”, step by step

tanah liat traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Indonesian tanah

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Indonesiantanahearth; ground; land
2Malaytanahground; land; earth
3Proto-Malayic*tanahearth; soil
4Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*tanəqearth, soil, land

via Indonesian liat

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Indonesianliatrubbery
Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tanəqEvery word from Proto-Malayic *tanahEvery word from Malay tanah