Sunday, March 21, 2010

Bab 5: Bahasa Pasar (Informal Speech)

Hello there guys and girls. How's your weekend going for you?

In this chapter, I will be introducing to you the difference between formal speech (between two unknown persons) and informal speech (between two familiar persons). However, you must remember that informal speech only applies to peers of your own age or younger. You have to remember that when applying informal speech to your elders, to use formal pronouns when referring to yourself or that person.

For informal speech, we usually use Bahasa Pasar, which is an everyday speech pattern that is truncated.

Example of informal speech between two friends:

A: Kau pi mana semalam? Penat aku telefon kau tak jawab-jawab.
B: Telefon aku matilah. Pening aku cuba fikir macam mana nak telefon kau.
A: Tulah kau. Siapa suruh kau tak caj?
B: Alah, aku lupalah.

Example of informal speech between a younger person(A - child) and an older person(B - mother).

A: Mak pi mana semalam? Penat saya telefon mak tak jawab-jawab.
B: Telefon mak matilah. Penat mak cuba fikir macam mana nak telefon kau.
A: Tulah mak. Kenapa mak tak caj telefon?
B: Mak lupalah.

English translation:

A: Where did you go yesterday? I tried calling you but you didn't answer.
B: My phone went dead. I was thinking of a way to call you.
A: See what happened (The closest translation to the above)? Why didn't you charge your phone?
B: I forgot.

For an example of formal speech, click here for Chapter 2.

Do you notice that for informal conversations between a mother and her child, the mother still uses 'mak' (mum) to refer to herself instead of 'aku' (I)? This is to soften her speech when talking to the child. Usually for men, they would use 'aku' instead.

Vocabularies:
1. Pi (formal - pergi) - to go
2. mana - where
3. semalam - yesterday
4. penat - to tire
5. telefon (formal - menelefon) - to call, to phone
6. tak (formal - tidak) - negation
7. jawab - to answer
8. telefon - telephone
9. mati - to die
10. cuba - to try
11. fikir - to think
12. macam mana (formal - bagaimana) - how
13. nak (formal - hendak) - to want
14. kenapa - why
15. caj - charge
16. lupa - to forget
17. mak (formal - emak) - mother

Also notice that a few words from the list above are truncated such as 'nak' (hendak), 'pi' (pergi) and 'tak' (tidak). There are many other words that are also truncated when used in informal speech. That will be introduced later.

But for now, I think that's enough for today.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Malaysia


Malaysia (pronounced /məˈleɪʒə/ mə-LAY-zhə or /məˈleɪziə/ mə-LAY-zee-ə) is a country in Southeast Asia consisting of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of 329,845 square kilometres (127,354 sq mi).[6][7] The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million.[2] The country is separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo (also known as East Malaysia).[7] Malaysia borders Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei.[7] It is near the equator and has a tropical climate.[7] Malaysia's head of state is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,[8] an elected monarch, and the head of government is the Prime Minister.[9][10] The government is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system.[11]


Malaysia as a unified state did not exist until 1963. Previously, the United Kingdom had established influence in colonies in the territory from the late 18th century. The western half of modern Malaysia was composed of several separate kingdoms. This group of colonies was known as British Malaya until its dissolution in 1946, when it was reorganized as the Malayan Union. Due to widespread opposition, it was reorganized again as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and later gained independence on 31 August 1957.[12] Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo, and the Federation of Malaya merged to form Malaysia on 16 September 1963.[13] Tensions in the early years of the new union sparked an armed conflict with Indonesia, and the expulsion of Singapore on 9 August 1965.[14][15]


During the late 20th century, Malaysia experienced an economic boom and underwent rapid development. It borders the Strait of Malacca, an important international shipping crossroad, and international trade is integral to its economy.[16] Manufacturing makes up a major sector of the country's economy.[17] Malaysia has a biodiverse range of flora and fauna, and is also considered one of the 17 megadiverse countries.[18]

Read more about Malaysia here.

Bab 4: Imbuhan me-

Hello and welcome again to Mari Belajar Bahasa Melayu. It's been a while I know, and I apologize for my long absence as I had been busy with work and a new life. Anyways, let's get on to learning Bahasa Melayu.

In this chapter, I would like to introduce to you the prefix me-. The prefix me- is used to make the kata akar (root words) into transitive verbs.

What do you mean by transitive verbs? It means that the subject is acting on an object directly. We have many examples of it in other languages like French for example or Japanese. However, you have to remember that the prefix me- category comprises of me-, men-, mem-, meng-. The prefixes depend on the first letter of the word that comes after it.

A few examples:
1. Ali me-lawan Abu.
Ali fights Abu.

2. Perempuan itu sedang men-jeling lelaki itu.
That woman is staring at that man.

3. Oleh sebab kepanasan, ibu meng-ipas dirinya.
Because it is hot, mother fans herself.

There really is no general rule that you can follow. The only way for you to know which ones to use is by reading a lot of Malay papers.

However, I will try to make it easier for you to remember.

For words beginning with 'k', the 'k' is usually dropped and the prefix meng- is used.

Example:
1. kipas - fan
meng-ipas - to fan

2. kupas - to peel
meng-upas - peeling

3. kunci - key
meng-unci - to lock

For words beginning with 's', the 's' is dropped and is changed into a 'y'. Usually men- is used for these words.

Example:
1. Sapu - to sweep
Meny-apu - the act of sweeping

2. Simpan - to keep
Meny-impan - the act of keeping

3. Sangkal - to deny
Meny-angkal - the act of denying

For words beginning with a 'b' the prefix mem- is usually used.

Example:
1. Bakar - to burn
Mem-bakar - the act of burning

2. Baling - to throw
Mem-baling - the act of throwing

For words beginning with 'p', the 'p' is dropped and mem- is used.

Example:
1. Panas - hot
Mem-anas-kan - the heat up something

2. Paling - to turn away
Mem-aling - the act of turning away

Exceptions: pelawa (to invite) becomes mem-pelawa (the act of inviting), persona becomes mem-persona-kan.

Words with a vowel, 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' are usually preceeded by meng-.

Examples: Meng-ajak (the act of inviting), meng-elak (the act of avoding), meng-intai (the act of peeping), meng-olah (the act of changing something), meng-ucap (the act of saying something).

Another exception that you have to remember is that for one syllable words, menge- is used.

Examples:
1. Cat - to paint (pronounced as ch-at as in ch-air)
Menge-cat (the act of painting)

2. Tar - tar
Menge-tar (the act of tarring as in tarring a road)

Always remember that there is always an exception for these rules that I've just told you. So read up and improve your Bahasa.

In the next chapter we will probably go for a break from the grammar stuff and start with some basic conversations. Till next time.