"Jingga" versus "Oranye"

[Puspawarna]

When I learned basic Indonesian I was taught that oranye = orange and biru = blue. This seemed odd, since you would think that words for something as fundamental as color existed long before loan words started coming into the language.

Recently I've read jingga for orange. Has that always been the preferred word, and somehow that escaped my notice? Are jingga and oranye two different shades, much as "turquoise" and "cerulean" are both blue, but different shades of blue? Or is this a sign of language nationalism, in which people are rejecting loan words in favor of more indigenous ones, and jingga is now overtaking oranye in the lexicon?

[Banana72]

I've always thought Jingga was pink...? Or a mixture between pink/orange that people don't know how to classify?

[atlantis]

Or is this a sign of language nationalism, in which people are rejecting loan words in favor of more indigenous ones, and jingga is now overtaking oranye in the lexicon?

It would be very odd and somewhat funny to hear that jingga is a sign of language nationalism, Puspa. Jingga comes from the sanskrit...

In my region we just say... warna orange, not oranye, not jingga. Using the word "jingga" would assure you not to be understood. First time I've heard it was on TV and I am pretty sure that if I run a test around me not many would know that it is a substitute for the word Oranye, which would sound odd but would be understood however.

[wisnupurwanto]

jingga is orange.
more than 40 years ago, I learned the colour of rainbow as mejikuhibiniu = merah, jingga, kuning, hijau, biru, nila, ungu , which is red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet
so jingga and nila is not something new although rarely heard

[ScooterIndo]

My kids say Jingga as they also learnt the nursery rhyme about the colours of the rainbow at nursery school here in Bali. Up to that point I would have just said warna Oranye and assumed Nila was a type of fish.

[dafluff]

As Wisnu pointed out above, jingga is an old word. Probably predates oranye, which undoubtedly came from the Dutch. Somehow it fell out of use, and one of the rare times I remember it is in a mnemonic to remember the colors of the rainbow: MeJiKu HiBiNiU....Merah Jingga Kuning Hijau Biru Nila Ungu.

[sand86id]

I've always thought Jingga was pink...? Or a mixture between pink/orange that people don't know how to classify?

No, jingga is exactly orange.. no specifics regarding shade/hue whatsoever

On another highly related note... back then when i was little, many of my schoolmates here in Indonesia used the word "dadu" to describe the colour pink. Nowadays people just use pink I guess. Probably due to the word "dadu" can also mean dice..

[Puspawarna]

For "pink" I was taught to use either "merah mudah" (light red) or "ros." But I formally studied Indonesian in the 1990s, using a book that had been researched in the 1960s.

[PhilippeD]

When i learn color, i think it a program in the computer, i learn jingga for orange. My wife correct me to oranye (which i pronounce oranya).

Google translate both (jingga and oranye) to orange.

[Banana72]

Warna+Pink+dan+Jingga.jpg

So I've been living all my life understanding a wrong color...glad I learn it now than later!
Mr. Google came up with a few pictures when I typed "jingga" and attached is one of the pictures I found pretty interesting...seems like 'jingga' is a group of certain colors or hues?

I'll make sure not to buy any orange, pink or jingga shirts in the meantime!

[Puspawarna]

It would be very odd and somewhat funny to hear that jingga is a sign of language nationalism, Puspa. Jingga comes from the sanskrit...
.

But wouldn't a word with a Sanskrit root be considered "better" than a word with a Dutch (or any Western language) root to someone who had an anti-colonialist feeling?

[waarmstrong]

But wouldn't a word with a Sanskrit root be considered "better" than a word with a Dutch (or any Western language) root to someone who had an anti-colonialist feeling?

I really don't know the politically correct Indonesian term for orange, but I do know that turquoise is a shade of green.

[Puspawarna]

I really don't know the politically correct Indonesian term for orange, but I do know that turquoise is a shade of green.

You men and your lack of color sense! It's a shade of BLUE. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[tokektokek]

Where I live, everyone uses the word oranye. I have heard the word jingga used but not in regards to colour - people say "jingga jingga jingga" when they are gently bouncing babies up and down...

[waarmstrong]

You men and your lack of color sense! It's a shade of BLUE. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Who would have thought -- color sense a function of gender. I am green with envy.