Sacred Words: How religions shape our language
Famished, you and your siblings devour trays of freshly baked cookies in the kitchen. When your vexed mum discovers someone has gorged on cookies meant for her bake sale, your siblings unjustly point their fingers…at you! In response, you cry out, “That’s not fair! I’ve been made a scapegoat!”
Whether you are a religious person, an atheist or somewhere in between, you may have unwittingly used a word or expression in the past 24 hours whose origin can be traced back to a religious context.
“Scapegoat” is one such term.
In Jewish traditions, during Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement, a scapegoat was literally a goat set loose into the wilderness as a representative who carried away the sins and impurities of the people so that they could be forgiven by God. Basically, the goat took the blame for the community’s sins, much like you would for your siblings’ crime if they have set you up as a scapegoat.
Intimately woven into the tapestry of civilisations, religion plays a major role in our language formation.
Let’s take a look at a few more examples.
Everyday words, sacred origins
Over the centuries, the English language has borrowed countless words from various cultures and religions, which eventually become a mundane part of the speakers’ everyday conversations.
The religious roots of some of these words are more obvious than others. For example, when someone says “Julia is so zen”, most people know or can at least rightly guess that the word “zen” — which has become mainstream thanks to the popularity of the minimalism movement — is associated with Buddhism.
Specifically, Zen Buddhism is a Japanese school of Buddhism that emphasises meditation over the study of scriptures as a way to gain enlightenment. Because of the statement, we now know that Julia is an amazingly calm person and we may even picture her as a person who tends to sit in silence and meditate like a monk.
Then there are words that most of us may not automatically associate with religion. Living in the age of the internet, we are no stranger to the creation of “avatars” as virtual representations of ourselves in online forums and games. Historically, however, the term came from the Sanskrit word for “descent” and refers to the incarnation of a Hindu deity in earthly form.
Man’s beliefs in the divine have also moulded the way we acknowledge each other, be it in meeting or parting. If you consider yourself an atheist, you might want to think twice the next time you are about to bid a friend goodbye. After all, “goodbye” is a contraction for “God be with ye”. Used to convey good wishes before parting ways, the old English expression was eventually shortened to goodbye in the 16th century.
Today, when we mention “enthusiasm”, we are probably expressing a strong interest in or excitement for secular things such as the best coffee in town or Pentatonix’s latest YouTube video. The term, however, was borrowed from the Greek word “enthousiasmos”, which means “inspiration or possession by a god”.
Speaking of Pentatonix, if you like them, it means you enjoy listening to a cappella renditions of pop songs. But “a cappella” didn’t always refer to secular music performed without musical instruments. The word cappella is Italian for chapel, and because ancient church music was sung without the accompaniment of musical instruments, “a capella” simply means singing “in chapel or choir style”. Over the years, a cappella has come to mean any singing, be it religious or secular, that features only vocal music.
Unfortunately, there are English words we use today that are an outcome of societal discrimination. While we may use the term “pariah” today to refer to any social outcast in general, the word originally came from the name of a caste in southern India, called Paṟaiyar, which is itself thought to have come from the Tamil word “parai” for drums. This group of people originally played the drums in religious ceremonies such as weddings and funerals and were later given a low position in society due to their association with rituals of the dead, which are considered unclean in Hindu culture.
The inevitable religiosity of some languages
It is safe to say that every language features in its vocabulary loanwords that can be traced back to particular religions. However, some languages have more religious roots than others. In fact, some were even built on the foundation of sacred languages.
The Malay language, or Bahasa Malaysia, is to a significant extent derived from Sanskrit, a liturgical language of Hinduism. This, in essence, makes the official language of Malaysia a language of religious origin.
While the modern Malay language has been subject to extensive English influence in the development of its vocabulary in recent years, borrowing many contemporary terms from the latter such as “biskut” (biscuit), “grafik” (graphic), “komputer” (computer), “lirik” (lyrics), “inisiatif” (initiative) and “organisasi” (organisation), it retains much of its Sanskrit foundation.
Let’s start with the word “merdeka”, which is something you can expect Malaysians to exclaim in celebration of the nation’s independence day. The word, meaning free or independent, is a derivation of the Sanskrit word “mahārdhika”, which means rich, prosperous and powerful.
The Malay word for virtue is “budi”, which was adopted from the Sanskrit word “bodhi”–a term Buddhists would recognise to mean supreme knowledge or enlightenment. Another word that Malaysians may use in their daily conversations without realising its religious origin is “sempurna”, meaning perfect or complete, which was taken from the Sanskrit word “sampūrṇa”.
Here are a few more Malay words that were adopted from Sanskrit:
- English: sin
Malay: dosa
Sanskrit: dveṣa - English: worship
Malay: puja
Sanskrit: pūjā - English: monster
Malay: raksasa
Sanskrit: rākṣasa - English: elephant
Malay: gajah
Sanskrit: gaja - English: teacher
Malay: guru
Sanskrit: guru - English: king
Malay: raja
Sanskrit: rajah - English: palace
Malay: istana
Sanskrit: āsthāna - English: head
Malay: kepala
Sanskrit: kapāla - English: earth
Malay: bumi
Sanskrit: bhūmi
Being a country with a Muslim-majority population, it is no surprise that the Malay language sees much Arabic influence too. Unsurprisingly, many Malay words that are closely tied to religion are adopted from Arabic, including “korban” (sacrifice), “syukur” (thankful), “halal” (permitted) and “dunia” (world). There are many other loanwords that do not immediately appear to be religious, such as “haiwan” (animal), “kerusi” (chair) and “makmal” (laboratory).
The Malay words for the days of the week also find their roots in Arabic:
- English: Monday
Malay: Isnin
Arabic: al-Ithnayn - English: Tuesday
Malay: Selasa
Arabic: al-Thulāthāʼ - English: Wednesday
Malay: Rabu
Arabic: al-Arbaʻāʼ - English: Thursday
Malay: Khamis
Arabic: al-Khamīs - English: Friday
Malay: Jumaat
Arabic: al-Jumʿah - English: Saturday
Malay: Sabtu
Arabic: al-Sabt - English: Sunday
Malay: Ahad
Arabic: al-Aḥad
Religion has played no small part in shaping human history, cultures and languages. Even as an increasing number of young people in the world, especially in developed countries, profess to be non-religious, the influence of religion remains present in many facets of our life, regardless of our acknowledgment or consciousness.
Do you know any expressions you use daily that came to being thanks to religious influence? Let us know in the comments.
Written by Amanda Soo
