Is あらまあ linked to Malay "alamak", and which came first? A popular theory claims that that the Japanese expression is directly related to the Malay _alamak_ (pronounced more or less identically, since the "k" is just a glottal stop), with speculation about which one came first and how it was imported (Malay traders in Japan, Japanese soldiers in Malaya during WW2, etc). **Is there a known etymology in Japanese, and/or evidence of use before the 1940s?** My uninformed opinion: sounds to me like a portmanteau of and , which are similar expressions of condolences/sympathy.

From the entry of :

> ※1892()

So the word form is attested at least since late 19th century.

As you said, this is a combination of + . can be traced back to the 10th century and to the 18th century with basically the same meaning as in today (interjection of amazement).

> ※
>
> ※1777

Thus it should be natural to assume that it has developed independently from the Malay phrase, and their resemblance is a coincidence. Of course, one can argue that the either side of people learned the specific word used in the other and mimicked the phrase by a novel combination of native components, but that would be difficult to prove or disprove.