gembala

Inherited from Malay gembala, possible used infix - +‎ --em-, possibly through a Middle Indo-Aryan language, ultimately from Sanskrit गोपाल (gopāla, “cowherd, earth-protector”).

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ɡəmˈbala/ [ɡəmˈba.la]
• Rhymes: -ala
• Syllabification: gem‧ba‧la

gêmbala (plural gembala-gembala)

1. herder, one who herds
2. (figurative, Christianity) saviour, shepherd

• “gembala”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

• kembala, kombala (archaic or obsolete)

Possibly an infixation of - +‎ --em-, and possibly through a Middle Indo-Aryan language, ultimately from Sanskrit गोपाल (gopāla, “cowherd, earth-protector”).

• (Johor-Riau) IPA^(key): /ɡəmˈbalə/ [ɡəmˈba.lə]
  • Rhymes: -alə, -lə, -ə

• (Baku) IPA^(key): /ɡəmˈbala/ [ɡəmˈba.la]
  • Rhymes: -ala, -la, -a
• Hyphenation: gem‧ba‧la

gembala (Jawi spelling ݢمبالا, plural gembala-gembala)

1. herder^[1]
2. (figurative) saviour^[1]
3. A term for certain birds that frequent or follow herds of animals

• > Indonesian: gembala (inherited)

• “gembala”, in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu [Malay Literary Reference Centre] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017