Who does like fishing, here? Yes, fishing is one of hobbies, especially among the men. To fish is try to catch a fish and it is called “memancing” in Bahasa. In this time we will not talk about how to fish, but as we know there are a lot kind of fish, aren’t there ? Each kind also have multiple names probably. The names in English may be different in Bahasa. Thus, let’s learn about it.
Fish in Indonesian Language – The Origin
First of all, everyone knows that fish is one of animals which live in water. In the basic biological terms, the definition of fish is a marine or aquatic animal which has gills and fins. The gill which help the fish to breath, means “Insang” and the meaning of fins is “Sirip”.
Fish is a classified into vertebrate group as it has the backbone. But, the term fish among the fisheries is a little bit different as fish means any marine or aquatic animal that is harvested, included either vertebrate or invertebrate like crustaceans and mollusks. Those invertebrate is identified as shellfish. The biological term of fish is referred as the finfish or it can be defined as the true fish.
In biological term, the true fish or Finfish has three major groups; Agnatha class (the jawless fish), Chondrichtyes class (cartilaginous fish), and Osteichthyes class (the bony fish). The three groups may include thousand species. It will take so much time if we talk about all of them. So, let’s talk about the most common fish name in Indonesian Language, especially in daily life.
To learn it better, check this out:
FISH – IKAN [e-ekun]
In bahasa, the fish is called “Ikan” which the vowel sounds like “e-ekun”. Its term is as similar as the most often phrase in Bahasa that we mention the noun first then followed by the adjective. The format is reversed from the grammar in English.
Example given is “Goldfish”. We know that gold is one of color which means “Emas” in Bahasa. So, we translate the Goldfish into Bahasa with the previous format, it becomes Ikan Mas. Still confused ? Well, I will give you more samples.
Fish name in Indonesian Language
- Do you know Arowana fish ? The most beautiful and fascinating species of fish. In Bahasa, Arowana fish is called “Ikan Arwana.”
- The other one is Tuna fish—one of the favorite canned fish for most people. If you want to buy it some in the market in Indonesia, ask it as “Ikan Tuna.”
- Then the Skipjack tuna sounds familiar, but in Bahasa Indonesia, it has own meaning. It is not called as tuna like the previous one, but it is “Ikan Tongkol” in Bahasa.
- Another one is Salmon fish which is often used as one of the ingredients of sushi. In Bahasa, it is called as “Ikan Salmon.”
After all, it is not that difficult to understand, isn’t it ?
The habitat of fish can be in the marine or the fresh water. For the fish in marine which means “Ikan Laut”, we have talked about Tuna, Skipjack Tuna, and Salmon. Let’s talk more about it
- For another one, let’s have Shark as the sample. Shark lives in the ocean as the scary predator for either the other fishes or human-being. It is called as “Ikan Hiu”.
- Although Shellfish is not fish in biological term, but it is a familiar fish that lives in the marine. In Bahasa, shellfish means “Kerang.” It’s a different term, so don’t mention it as “Ikan Kerang.”
- Another sample is Stingray which means “Pari”.
Next, let’s talk about some freshwater fish or “Ikan Air Tawar”. Previously, we have mentioned Goldfish and Arowana.
- First, we have catfish whose whisker like a cat. In Indonesia, catfish means “Ikan Lele”. The vowel of “Lele” sounds like you say “la-la”.
- The next one is milk fish. The milk fish is special since its name in Bahasa isn’t the translation of milk and fish like the Goldfish we talked about before. In Bahasa, the milk fish is “Ikan Bandeng.”
Besides the milk fish, there is the other similar fish. For example fish name in Indonesian Language :
- Pomfret fish : Ikan Bawal
- Filapia fish : Ikan Mujair
- Long jawed Mackerel : Ikan Kembung
- Snakehead fish : Ikan Gabus
- Snapper fish : Ikan Kakap
- Spanish mackerel fish : Ikan Tenggiri
- Mackerel fish : Ikan Selar
- Carp : Ikan Gurame
- Anchovy : Ikan teri
- Nile Tilapia fish : Ikan Nila
In some circumstance, there is exception for the previous format. For example :
- The Eel—the fish which look like a snake. In Bahasa, it’s called “Belut.” It is strange when you want to get some Eels in Indonesia then you ask “Ikan Belut.” It literally sounds odd in Indonesia.
- Next is Whale or we call it “Paus.” Whale is unique and in the fact, it is not fish since it doesn’t breathe with the gills, but with the lung. So that, Whale is classified to mammals and we don’t say it as “Ikan Paus” in Bahasa.
- Another mammals that lives in the marine is Dolphin or “Lumba-lumba.”. It is a lovely big creature and distributed widely in the world’s ocean. If you had before learned about the plural noun in Bahasa Indonesia, you might think that “Lumba-lumba” is one of the plural noun. For this word, it is not plural. Please keep in your mind that in Bahasa Indonesia, a dolphin means “Lumba-lumba.”
Last but not least, hopefully it can improve your ability of Bahasa Indonesia. Please keep in your mind, especially about the special terminology of fish in Bahasa. See you in next topic! Terima Kasih! Thank You!
To learn it better, check this out: