Jalan

The word on the street

Author

Linguafour
July 08, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

Many streets in Singapore are called “Jalan” something, which is Malay for “street.” But “jalan” can refer to the “community” around a thoroughfare, like “Jalan Besar” (Street Big).  It also means “to go”, “means” or “behaviour.” The Malay term highlights the inseparability of what we do, where we do it, who we do it with, how we do it, and how it affects others.  The lack of any semantic connection between the word “go”, “street”, “community”, “means” and “behaviour” in English makes it easy for us to forget this but Malay alerts us to that reality again.

Other routes we might see on a Singapore map include Change Alley, Haji Lane, Mandai Road, Lichi Avenue, Orchard Boulevard and Nicoll Highway.  When we look at the origins of these terms and the connotations of their equivalent terms in Singapore’s other national languages we can see that not all roads lead to Rome - so to speak.

English

  • Street - ultimately from Latin for “paved”

  • Alley - from French “aller” (to go)

  • Lane - from Old English for a path between “hedge row.”

  • Road - from Old English for “ride” and connected to “raid”

  • Avenue - from French “venir” (to come) + “a” (to) = “to reach, arrive”

  • Boulevard - from Middle Dutch for “bulwark” via French

  • Highway - the “main way” between one town and another.  “Way” is from a PIE* root for “move/transport in a vehicle.” 

* Proto Indo-European: the reconstructed original common ancestor of the languages in the Indo-European family

Malay

Apart from Jalan, the general term for a route, ranging from highways to local streets, Malay also has:

  • Lorong - a lane or alley, or a “corridor” or “hallway” within a building.

  • Lebuh - a major road or highway

  • Persiaran - a boulevard or avenue

Chinese

  • 街 (jiē) - in Classical Chinese referred to a “marketplace” or commercial area and so can convey a sense of bustling activity, commerce, and community life.

  • 弄 (lòng) or 弄堂 (lòng táng) - a narrow alley or lane, especially in old neighbourhoods, thus often evoking historical charm and traditional courtyard houses.

  • 巷 (xiàng) - a smaller winding path within a neighbourhood, suggesting intimacy and hidden corners.

  • 路 (lù) - an ancient word for road, route or way that may be expanded to 马路 (mǎ lù, literally “horse road”) for heavier traffic.  路 can evoke a journey or destiny and may be used metaphorically in phrases like "人生路" (life's journey).

  • 道 (dào) - another ancient word for way, road or channel that may be expanded to 大道 (dà dào, literally “big way”) for a ‘main street” or “grand avenue.”  道 has philosophical/spiritual connotations as the core concept of “Daoism” (aka “Taoism” from earlier Romanisation systems) and is used in expressions like "道义" (dào yì, “morality” - literally “Dao righteousness”)

The character 路 contains 足 (foot); 街 contains 行 (to go); and 道 contains 辶 (to walk), all conveying movement.

Tamil

  • தெரு  (teru) - a street or road, which can evoke a sense of community, tradition, and shared space.  It can mean “public” or “open” and is also used to refer to some religious processions or parades.  தெரு வாங்க (teru vāṅga, literally “street buy”) is a way to say “to buy street food.”

  • வீதி (vīti) - a street or road, derived from Sanskrit वीथी" (vīthi).  As a route or path, it can also be used of a “passage” or “corridor” within a building.

  • சாலை (sālai) - a road or lane, but also a “courtyard,” “workshop,” “factory” or “inn.”

  • சாரம் (chāram) - an alley or lane, but also the “essence” or “substance” of something.

Not all languages separate different kinds of thoroughfare into the same categories and the “word on the street” (or the name on the sign) may have significantly different connotations depending on which language it is expressed in.  The next time you look at a street sign, let it remind you that the language we use influences what we see, feel and think about.

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