Where does “tidak apa” come from?

tidak apa (Malay) comes from Malay tidak, from Proto-Malayic daʔ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian diaq — not.

tidak apa (Malay): it doesn’t matter

Definitions

  1. it doesn’t matter

Ancestry of “tidak apa”, step by step

tidak apa traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Malay tidak

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaytidaknot
2Proto-Malayicdaʔ—
3Proto-Malayo-Polynesiandiaqnot

via Malay apa

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malayapawhat; "introduces a question"
2Proto-Malayicapawhat
3Proto-Austronesian*apa—
Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian diaq →Every word from Proto-Malayic daʔ →Every word from Malay tidak →