Where does “surat” come from?
surat (Tetum) comes from Indonesian surat, from Malay surat, from Proto-Malayic surat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *suʀat.
surat (Tetum): letter
Ancestry of “surat”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Indonesian | surat | document; letter; inscription |
| 2 | Malay | surat | document; letter; inscription |
| 3 | Proto-Malayic | surat | — |
| 4 | Proto-Malayo-Polynesian | *suʀat | — |