| MALAY | BABA |
| apa macam | amcham or apacham |
| apa pasal | apasair or apasal |
| bawa datang | buattang |
| bawa pergi | buat pi |
| buat apa | buat pa |
| beritahu | bertau |
| itu | tu |
| punya | mia |
| sudah | sua |
| tidak boleh | takleh |
| tak usah | toksa |
V. DOUBLE PRONUNCIATION
Some Malay words are pronounced in two ways by the Babas under different circumstances, e.g.
| MALAY | BABA |
| ajar | ajair and hajair |
| hari | ari and hari |
| satu | sau and satu |
VI. UKNOWN ORIGIN
There are words in the Baba language that are of unknown origin and are most probably purely of Baba origin. In such cases, section 2 of the Format is left blank. Examples include alagoju, bedenting, boto pau, dasat, krokodol and others.
VII. DIFFERENT MEANINGS
There are Malay words that carry different meanings in the Baba language, e.g.
| WORD | MALAY MEANING | BABA MEANING |
| benua | large country, continent | awed by everything |
| sekarang | now, immediately, presently | later |
| banding | compare | ponder |
| bujang | bachelor | widowed |
VIII. BABA PHRASES BEGINNING WITH TAK
In searching for the meaning of a Baba phrase beginning with the word tak, look under the next word, i.e. the second word. Thus, for the phrases tak abis-abis and tak manyak sikit look under the words abis and manyak respectively and so on.
a
A1 the best
■ A1 topside / tokside the best, the best of quality
abis / habis (habis) done, finished
■ abis kuat at the end of tether
■ abis manyak at the very most
■ tak abis-abis endlessly, not satisfied
■ tak abisan for no better reason
abok (abuk) dust; powdery stuff SEE tolak abok
■ abok sagu SEE kueh
abu (abu) ash
■ abu kueh chang lime-water for making Nyonya dumpling
achap-achap (acap-acap) just sufficient
achair / achar (acar) pickles
achar SEE achair
achu (acu) to aim at an object
■ achuan a mould
■ achuan kueh cake mould
ada (ada) to have; present; existence
■ ada-ada in possession [of wealth] ; wealthy
■ ada adat to have polite ways
■ ada angin baru pokok bergoyang there is no smoke without fire
■ ada ati to be thoughtful
■ ada chan there is a chance or an opportunity
■ ada gula ada semut when one has wealth, one will attract company
■ ada hal there is something going on
■ ada kah? is it?
■ ada kulit mungka to have dignity
■ ada lebeh tak kurang there will always be exaggeration
■ ada maksud with an intention; with an agenda
■ ada mata to be alive; to be in existence; to have respect
■ ada mata tengok, ada kuping dengair, ada mulot tutop to see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
■ ada naseb tua having good fortune at old age
■ ada perot sensitive to other's feelings; to act responsibly
■ ada rupa ada harga worth its value
■ ada ta'ah only that; except
■ ada tengkat having the correct etiquette
adat / hadat (adat) custom; protocol
■ adat dulukala ancient custom
■ adat dunia that's the way of the world
■ tak adat rude; ill mannered
■ tak tau adat rude; ill mannered; lacking in protocol
adek (adik) younger brother; younger sister; any young close relatives
■ adek angkat adopted younger brother or sister
■ adek beradek siblings
■ adek tiri younger stepbrother; younger stepsister
adoey / adoh (aduh) an exclamation of pain (akin to ‘ouch')
adohai see ayohai
adu (adu) to pit one against the other
■ adukan pitting one against the other
■ adu chredek a calculative attitude
■ beradu to compete
■ mengadu to seek solace
agair (agas)
■ agair-agair sandfly
agair / agar (agar)
■ agair-agair agar-agar; agar-agar jelly
agak (agak) to guess; to estimate; to conjecture
■ agak-agak to guess; to hazard a guess
■ agak jugak guessed so
agar see agair
ah (ah) cry of realisation
ah ee [阿姨] mother's sister
ah kong [阿公] children addressing their grandfathers
ahn yes, there, there it is
ahn [館] bun-filling (usually green bean paste)
ah niok a Hainanese lad employed in the Baba household as a general helper
ah