Where does “barang siapa” come from?

barang siapa (Malay) comes from Malay siapa, from Proto-Malayic si-apa.

barang siapa (Malay): whoever; whomever

Definitions

  1. whoever; whomever

Ancestry of “barang siapa”, step by step

barang siapa traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Malay siapa

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaysiapawho, whose
2Proto-Malayicsi-apa—

via Malay barang

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaybarangmarker used to denote indefiniteness
Every word from Proto-Malayic si-apa →