Bab 3: Pengenalan kata-kata akar

Hello and welcome to the 3rd Chapter of Mari Belajar Bahasa Melayu. In this chapter, I will be introducing to you the basics of words that make up the language, the root words ( Kata akar).

Kata akar can either be categorized as a noun or as a verb. This is the word that is used in the dictionary. So, you would have to find the root word of a word in order to find its meaning in the dictionary. In addition, a noun can be made into a verb by adding prefixes or suffixes to the word and vice versa.

Some examples:

Hampir (Close to something) is a noun and is a kata akar. However, you can change it into a verb by adding the prefix Meng- and suffix -i which then becomes "menghampiri" which means to come close to.

Sapu (To sweep) is a verb and is also a kata akar. To change it into a noun, you can add the prefix Pen- and it turns into "penyapu" which means broom.

There are many of these prefixes and suffixes that you would have to learn in order to use them correctly. Here's a list of some of the prefixes, suffixes and infixes that are regularly used:

1) Me-
2) Men-
3) Meng-
4) Ber-
5) Meng- + -i
6) Pe-
7) Pen-
8) Peng-
9) Me- + -kan
10) Peng- + -an
11) Peng- + -kan

And so on. I don't want to scare you but it is important that you use them correctly because by using the wrong ones a word can have a totally different meaning.

Let's begin with the simplest prefix which is Me-. Whenever this prefix is added to a kata akar, it will change it into a verb.

Examples:

1) Saya sedang men-yapu.
I am sweeping.

2) Dia me-lontar sebutir batu.
He throws a rock.

3) Kami me-lompat di atas katil.
We are jumping on the bed.

The bolded red shows you the prefix while the italic red is the kata akar.

Don't worry about it now as this is only the introduction. We will look into the prefixes, suffixes and infixes in much detailed later in the lessons ahead.

Bab 2: Dialog Mudah

In this chapter, I will introduce to you a basic dialogue that may be used when meeting people for the first time. It will cover asking people's names, introducing yourself and where you come from.

The setting is set between two people who are meeting for the first time.

A: Helo. Apa khabar?
B: Baik. Awak?
A: Saya pun baik. Apakah nama awak?
B: Nama saya Rizal. Awak pula?
A: Nama saya Tini.
B: Awak berasal dari mana?
A: Saya berasal dari Kuala Lumpur.

Translation:
A: Hello. How are you?
B: Fine. You?
A: I'm fine (too). What's your name?
B: My name is Rizal. And you?
A: My name is Tini.
B: Where are you from?
A: I'm from Kuala Lumpur.

Phonetics:
A: Hey-lo. A-pah ka-bar?
B: Ba-yik. A-wak?
A: Sa-ye(ar) poon ba-yik. A-pa-kah na-me (r) a-wak?
B: Na-me (r) sa-ye(ar) ee-ya-lah Ree-zal. A-wak poo-le(r)?
A: Na-me(r) sa-ye(ar) Tee-Nee.
B: A-wak ber-a-sal da-ree ma-ne(r)?
A: Sa-ye(ar) ber-a-sal da-ree Koo-a-la Loom-poor.

Explanation:
Pronouns: In Malay, like many other languages have informal and formal pronouns.

I : Beta (used by His Majesty)
Saya (formal)
Aku (informal)

You: Anda (very formal)
Kamu, Awak (formal ; used with peers only)
Engkau, kau (informal)
Note: When referring to someone older or superior, you would always use his/her name or call them by 'Kakak' or 'Abang' which literally means big sister and big brother.

He, she, it: Baginda (referring to His Majesty)
Dia

We, us: Kami, kita

You (all): Anda/Kamu sekalian

They, them: Mereka

'Apa khabar' is the customary "How are you doing" question. It literally means "What news (do you have)?".

'Baik' means "fine" and if you want to say that you're not fine just add 'tidak' in front of the word, 'tidak baik' means "not fine". "So-so" would be in the area of 'Biasa saja' or literally means "It's only normal".

'Apa' is one of those question nouns and it means "what". The suffix -kah is added to emphasize the question or to make a sentence into a question. For example, 'Hari inikah?' which means "Is it today?".

'Pun' basically means 'too'.

Notice that in Malay there's no verb "to be". 'Ialah' is not a verb but a kata pemeri. It is used to desribe the phrase preceeding it. 'Ialah' is mainly used for describing noun phrases while 'adalah' is used for adjectival phrases or verb phrases. We will discuss this later in the lesson. For now, suffices to say that there's no verb "to be" in Malay.

'Berasal' means your original place. It comes from the root word 'asal' which means "roots" or "origins". We add a ber- prefix to make it into a verb.

'Dari' means "from" but we will soon learn that "from" will depend on the subject, if it's animate or inanimate which in this case means from a place. So if it's from a person, you would use 'Daripada' instead of 'Dari'.

So those are the explanation for the words that were used in the dialogue above. If you have any questions or doubts feel free to comment and I'll try my best to answer your questions.

Bab 1: Ayat-ayat mudah

Selamat Datang ke Bab 1 pelajaran Bahasa Melayu. Dalam bab ini, saya akan memperkenalkan beberapa ayat mudah untuk anda pelajari. Mari kita mulakan:

Welcome to Chapter 1 of learning Bahasa Melayu. In this chapter, I will introduce to you a few basic phrases for you to start learning. Let's begin:

Selamat pagi! ( Si(r)-la-mat pa-ghee)
Good morning!

Selamat tengahari! ( Si (r)-la-mat te(r)-nga-ha-ree)
Good afternoon!

Selamat petang! ( Si (r)-la-mat pe(r)-tongue)
Good evening!

Selamat malam! ( Si (r)-la-mat ma-lam)
Good night!

Nama saya ialah ... ( Na-me(r) sa-ye(r) iya-lah )
My name is ...

Apa khabar? ( Uppe (r) ka-bhar?)
How are you?

Readers Note: The words in the parentheses are how you would pronounce them in English and if you see something like Si (r), you would pronounce it like the British 'Sir' but of course with the silent 'r'. That is the closest sound that I can think of that relates to how you would pronounce the words in Bahasa Melayu.

Ya. ( Ya )
Yes.

Tidak. ( Tee-duck)
No.

Terima kasih. ( Te (r)-ree-ma ka-seeh)
Thank you.

Sama-sama. ( Summe (r) summe (r) )
You're welcome.