Where does “tapa-tapa” come from?

tapa-tapa (Indonesian) comes from Malay tapa-tapa, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tapa, from Proto-Austronesian *Capa — to smoke fish or meat for preservation.

tapa-tapa (Indonesian): slice of dried salted fish

Definitions

  1. slice of dried salted fish

Ancestry of “tapa-tapa”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaytapa-tapapieces of fish sliced very thin, spiced, salted and dried in the sun
2Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*tapato smoke fish or meat for preservation
3Proto-Austronesian*Capato smoke fish or meat for preservation
Every word from Proto-Austronesian *Capa →Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tapa →Every word from Malay tapa-tapa →