Pagi

Pagi is the Indonesian and Malay word for the period of the day commonly translated as morning. It refers to the hours from dawn to late morning, and it is used in both everyday speech and literature to denote the freshness and opening of the day. In daily language, the most common use is as part of the greeting selamat pagi, meaning good morning. The phrase is used across Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore, reflecting the shared Malayic linguistic heritage.

The term also appears in phrases such as pagi hari (the morning hours), pagi-pagi (very early in the morning), and pagi-pagi sekali (very early). When used as an adjective or in compounds, it often modifies verbs to describe activities that occur in the morning, for example saya bangun pagi (I wake up in the morning) or aktivitas pagi hari (morning activities).

In cultural terms, pagi is associated with routines and daily life—markets opening in the early hours, farming or commuting patterns, and the fresh start signified by the new day. The word is stylistically neutral and common in newspapers, radio, and everyday conversation.

The word is native to Malayic languages and has cognates in related languages, forming part of the standard vocabulary of Indonesian and Malay. Other languages in the region may use different terms for morning, but pagi is widely understood in Southeast Asia.