Putrajaya

ڤوتراجاي (Jawi)

putra (“prince”) + jaya (“success”), ultimately from Sanskrit पुत्र (putra) + जय (jayá); from the name of the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra.

Putrajaya (the administrative capital of Malaysia)


Kota Bharu

کوت بهارو (Jawi)

Kota Bharu (the capital city of Kelantan, Malaysia)


Kuantan

کوانتن (Jawi)

Founded in the 1850s, mentioned by Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir (Munshi Abdullah) circa 1851/2.

Kuantan (the capital city of Pahang, Malaysia)


Kangar

Kangar (the capital city of Perlis, Malaysia)


Seremban

Seremban (the capital city of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia)


Johor Bahru

جوهر بهرو (Jawi)

Johor Bahru (the capital city of Johor, Malaysia)


Kuching

Kuching (the capital city of Sarawak, Malaysia)


Kota Kinabalu

ms-proper noun

کوتا کينابالو

Kota Kinabalu (Jawi spelling کوتا کينابالو)

کوتا کينابالو (Jawi)

Kota Kinabalu (the capital city of Sabah, Malaysia)


Alor Setar

الور ستار (Jawi)

Alor Setar (the capital city of the state of Kedah, Malaysia)


Ipoh

→ English: Ipoh

→ Chinese: 怡保 (Yíbǎo)

From ipuh, from Proto-Malayic *hipuh, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qipuq.

Ipoh (the capital city of the state of Perak, Malaysia)


Shah Alam

شاە عالم (Jawi)

From the name of the sultan of Selangor, Sultan Alam Shah.

Shah Alam (the capital city of Selangor, Malaysia)


Kuala Terengganu

کوالا ترڠݢانو

Kuala Terengganu (Jawi spelling کوالا ترڠݢانو)

کوالا ترڠݢانو (Jawi)

Kuala Terengganu
Kuala Terengganu#English

Kuala Terengganu (the capital city of Terengganu, Malaysia)


Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur (Jawi spelling کوالا لمڤور)

کوالا لمڤور (Jawi)

Kuala Lumpur (the capital city of Malaysia)


Jakarta

Jakarta (a province and capital city of Indonesia)


George Town

جورج تاءون (Jawi)

Unadapted borrowing from English George Town.

ubor

George Town (the capital of Penang, Malaysia)

George Town (the capital of the Cayman Islands)


Praha

Prague (the capital city of the Czech Republic)


Rum

Borrowing from Persian روم or Arabic روم (Rūm), from Middle Persian 𐭧𐭫𐭥𐭬 (Hrom), from Ancient Greek Ῥώμη (Rhṓmē), from Latin Roma (“Rome”).


Kopenhagen

Copenhagen (the capital city of Denmark)


Bandar Seri Begawan

ms-proper noun

بندر سري بݢاوان

Bandar Seri Begawan (Jawi spelling بندر سري بݢاوان)

بندر سري بݢاوان (Jawi)

Bandar Seri Begawan
Bandar Seri Begawan#English

Bandar Seri Begawan (the capital city of Brunei)


Singapura

سيڠاڤورا (Jawi)

From Sanskrit सिंह (siṃhá, “lion”) and पुर (pura, “city”).

Singapore (an island and city-state in Southeast Asia, located off the southernmost tip of the Malay Peninsula; a former British crown colony)


Betlehem

Borrowed from English Bethlehem or Dutch Bethlehem, both from Latin Bēthlehēmum or Bēthleëm, from Ancient Greek Βηθλεέμ (Bēthleém), from Hebrew בֵּית לֶחֶם (bet léchem, “house of bread”).

der

(usually in Christianity) Bethlehem (a city in the West Bank, Palestine)


Nusantara

نوسانتارا (Jawi)

Borrowed either from Javanese ꦤꦸꦱꦤ꧀ꦠꦫ (Nusantara, “the islands, Indonesia”) or from Old Javanese nūsāntara (“the outer islands”). By surface analysis, blend of nusa + antara. Attested in a Malay Annals manuscript from 1808.

surface etymology

Nusantara (the planned capital city of Indonesia, in East Kalimantan)


Mosko

Likely through Arabic, attested in the Hikayat Perang Setambul poem manuscript chronicling the Crimean War in the 19th century.

Moscow, the federal city, the capital of Russia.


Butterworth

بتتروورث (Jawi)

Unadapted borrowing from English Butterworth, after William John Butterworth.

ubor

Butterworth (a city in Penang, Malaysia)


Venis

From English Venice, its Jawi form بينيس was made popular by Za'ba's translation of The Merchant of Venice in 1949.


Sungai Ujong

ms-proper noun

Sungai Ujong (Jawi spelling سوڠاي اوجوڠ)

سوڠاي اوجوڠ (Jawi)

Chinese: 芙蓉 (fúróng) (Mandarin: fúróng, Cantonese: fu4 jung4)

Seremban (the capital city of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia)


Melaka

Probably after melaka (“Indian gooseberry”) that grows in the region.

Malacca (the largest city, the state capital of Malacca, Malaysia)


Jesselton

Jesselton (the former name of Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah, Malaysia)


Arau

Arau (the royal capital of Perlis, Malaysia)


Mekah

Mecca (a large city in the Hejaz, Saudi Arabia, the holiest place in Islam)


سيڠاڤورا

Jawi spelling of Singapura: Singapore (an island and city-state in Southeast Asia, located off the southernmost tip of the Malay Peninsula; a former British crown colony)


Iskandariah

اسکندرية (Jawi)

From Arabic الْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّة (al-ʔiskandariyya).

bor

الْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّة


Baitulmuqaddis

ms-proper noun

Baitulmuqaddis (Jawi spelling بيت المقدس)

بيت المقدس (Jawi)

From Arabic بَيْت الْمَقْدِس (bayt al-maqdis, “house of the place of worship, Al-Aqsa, Solomon's Temple”)

bor

بَيْت الْمَقْدِس

Jerusalem (the claimed (and de-facto) capital city of Israel; the claimed capital city of Palestine)


Pangkal Pinang

→ English: Pangkal Pinang

Indonesian: Pangkalpinang

From compound of pengkal (“base”) + pinang (“betel nut, Areca catechu”).

compound

Bangka Belitung Islands
Bangka Belitung Islands#English

Pangkal Pinang (a city, the provincial capital of the Bangka Belitung Islands, Indonesia)


Tanah Seribu

Calque of Malagasy Antananarivo. Popularised in the 1990s.

Antananarivo (capital city of Madagascar)


Kota Vatikan

ms-proper noun

Kota Vatikan (Jawi spelling کوتا ۏاتيکن)

کوتا ۏاتيکن (Jawi)

Vatican City (a city-state in Southern Europe, an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy)


Petaling Jaya

Petaling Jaya (Jawi spelling ڤتاليڠ جاي)

ڤتاليڠ جاي (Jawi)

Petaling Jaya (a city in the Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia)


Chukai

From cukai (“tax”). The spelling is a carry-over from the Za'aba Spelling used before 1972.

Chukai (a town, the capital of the Kemaman District, Pahang, Malaysia)