[Malay Language Lessons] Learn Malay for Beginners!

[Petom JJ]

Apa Khabar! :D

Following a promise made to a friend *coughWasilaakaYeQucough* I’m finally going to start a lesson thread on Malay / Malaysian Language. So for whatever reason you guys might be interested to learn this language, I’d be happy to help out hehe. It’s a very easy language to learn, trust me :brows:

Since this thread mainly for lessons, I’m going to make another thread for questions and discussion, provided anyone is interested in learning :sweat:

Edit: Here's the thread for Discussion, Q&A, etc (http://jay-chou.net/forums/showthread.php?t=280222). So whatever discussion, questions go in there! :D

Background

Bahasa Melayu or otherwise called Bahasa Malaysia is the mother tongue of the Malays and the official language of Malaysia. For simplicity, the term normally used is Bahasa (literal: language). It has many dialects of different states in Malaysia, but there is one that is considered a standard version. To some extent Bahasa is similar to Indonesian Language, with some difference in the vocabulary and pronunciation. More background and history of Bahasa can be found here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_language).
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Index: (will be updated regularly)

On-line Resources

http://pgoh13.free.fr/malay_course2.php - free course on learning malay for beginner. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Wikipedia-Malay language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_language) - info on Malay language and grammar
http://www.bahasa-malaysia-simple-fun.com/index.html - useful site to learn Malay easy way
http://www.masteranylanguage.com/cgi/f/pCat.pl?tc=MALMalay&co=&la= contain some simple tests
http://kamus.lamanmini.com/index.php -- online translator
http://www.unilang.org/viewforum.php?f=60&sid=b0c336023cad84d40e40d997bd4d51ed – a dedicated forum for learning various languages

Lessons (Click on the subject)

LESSON 1
Writing & Pronunciation, Basic Vocab & Phrases (in this post below)
LESSON 2
Grammar - Root Word & Affixes, Plurazation, Word order (http://www.jay-chou.net/forums/showpost.php?p=17225185&postcount=3)
Explanation on affixes (http://jay-chou.net/forums/showpost.php?p=17225147&postcount=1)
LESSON 3
Pronounce (http://www.jay-chou.net/forums/showpost.php?p=17225483&postcount=10)

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LESSON 1


Writing System and Pronunciation:


Bahasa have two types of writing system, one of which using abjad Rumi (Latin alphabet) which are the same used in English, i.e. with 26 huruf (letters) and 5 huruf vokal (vowels = A,E,I,O,U). The exceptions only: 1) Letter ‘Z” is called zack not zee as in English; and 2) There are 2 types of “E” which are “E taling” and “E pepet” (with different pronounciation).

The other writing system is Jawi which is based from modified Arabic scripts. However, it is seldom used anymore.

Malay vocals are always pronounced this way (IMPORTANT: ignore the letters not in bold, and take only the sound of the vowels! :tongue:)

A as in are
E as in person (‘e’ pepet)
E as in pen (‘e’ taling)
I as in ink
O as in or
U as in put

EXCEPT when an ‘a’ is at the end of the word, it can also be pronounced like an ‘e’ taling. Both ways are correct, but native speaker normally pronounce it like an ‘e’ taling . For example:

Apa (what) can be pronounced as are-per instead of are-par
Dua (two) can be pronounced as do-er instead of do-are
Bahasa (language) can be pronounced as bar-ha-sir instead of bar-ha-sa

More lessons on pronounciation here (http://pgoh13.free.fr/lesson49sebutan1.php) and here (http://pgoh13.free.fr/lesson50sebutan2.php) :D
Basic Vocabulary and Phrases

Nombor (Numbers):

1- Satu
2- Dua
3- Tiga
4- Empat
5- Lima
6- Enam
7- Tujuh
8- Lapan
9- Sembilan
10- Sepuluh

11-19 -> add ‘belas’

11- Sebelas
12- Dua belas

Tens = puluh

20- Dua puluh
25- Dua puluh lima
30- Tiga puluh
46- Empat puluh enam

Hundred = ratus

100- Satu ratus or seratus
101- Seratus satu
103- Seratus tiga
115- Seratus lima belas

Thousand = ribu

1001- Seribu satu
2220- Dua ribu dua ratus dua puluh
4561- Empat ribu lima ratus enam puluh satu

Million = juta

2,683,861 = Dua juta enam ratus lapan puluh tiga ribu lapan ratus enam puluh satu

Hari (Days)

Isnin – Monday
Selasa – Tuesday
Rabu – Wednesday
Khamis – Thursday
Jumaat – Friday
Sabtu – Saturday
Ahad – Sunday

Warna (Colours)
Putih
Hitam
Merah
Biru
Ungu
Hijau
Kuning
Oren
Kelabu
Coklat

Greetings and Survival Phrases

(credits to Wikipedia)

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3265/phrase1fr7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9828/phrase2ka5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[YeQu]

Huhuhu,no need to mention names la :bleh: thanks for finally starting this up!!
I knew most ofthat except for colors...So theres something new for me..OK I can't wait for next lesson!Thats one I'm needing help with!

[Petom JJ]

LESSON 2

Grammar

1) Root words and Affixes

New words can be formed by adding affixes to the root words. It is important to know the root for words since it is often that English-Malay dictionaries only have the root words :cry:. Here are instances of words derived from the root word ajar (teach).

* ajaran = teachings
* belajar = to learn
* mengajar = to teach
* diajar = being taught (intransitive)
* diajarkan = being taught (transitive)
* mempelajari = to study
* dipelajari = being studied
* pelajar = student
* pengajar = teacher
* pelajaran = subject
* pengajaran = lesson, moral of story
* pembelajaran = learning
* terajar = taught (accidentally)
* terpelajar = well-educated
* berpelajaran = is educated

Root word can be either noun (kata nama ~ lit: name word) or verb (kata kerja ~ lit: action word).

Examples of affixes to a noun:

Prefix: pe-, pem-,pen- , peng-, penge-, per-, and ke
Suffix: -ita, -man, -wati, -an, and -wan
Circumfix:per- … -an, penge-…-an, peng-….-an, pen-…-an, pem-….-an, pe-….-an, and ke-…-an

Examples of affixes to a verb:

for transitive verb: men‑, men ...i, men ...kan, memper‑, memper...i, dan memper...kan
for transitive verb: ber‑, men‑, ter‑, ber... an

The above should give an idea how to spot the root word from a derived word!

Read the rule of using the prefix here (http://pgoh13.free.fr/appendix.php)! (RECOMMENDED!)

2) Plurazation

Plurals are often expressed by means of reduplication, but only when the plural is not implied in the context. For example, the plural of 'cawan', which means "cup", would be 'cawan-cawan'. This can be shortened to 'cecawan', but this only applies to a limited number of words. Reduplication to mark pluralization is often in complementary distribution with numeral markers, for example "one thousand cups" would be 'seribu cawan' and not 'seribu cawan-cawan'.

3) Verbs and tense
Verbs are not marked for tense; tense is instead denoted by time adverbs (such as "yesterday") or by other tense indicators, such as sudah (already), or sedang (is doing something).

Example: pergi = go; sudah pergi = went

4) Word order

The basic word order is Subject Verb Object. However, adjectives, pronouns and possessive pronouns follow the noun they describe.

(Image and explanation credit to this site (http://pgoh13.free.fr/lesson1nama.php)
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7769/wordorderuu9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

1) The first thing you will notice is the absence of the verb "to be" in Malay in the above sentences. In fact the verb "to be" is simply not needed here.
A sentence without a verb? Yes, it's possible in Malay.

2) While in English we have the pronoun before the noun (eg. my name, your name) in Malay it is just the opposite ie. the noun comes first then the pronoun (so in Malay we say nama saya (name my), nama awak (name your).

Same to go with adjectives and nouns, as adjective comes first before noun (so "big car" becomes kereta besar (car big) in Malay).

[YeQu]

OK here is where you loose me...I'm still not so sure about these affixes...T_T Can you explain again with a word I know huhu :shy:

[Petom JJ]

Wasila I add explanation to your question under the discussion (http://www.jay-chou.net/forums/showthread.php?p=17225147#post17225147). Eh I'm confused myself whether to put it under lesson, or discussion? :laughing:

[jazlyn87]

apa khabar semua? sihat?

harap kamu semua senyum selalu

man, i dunno what i am saying .. i wanna wish something but it sounds like a spam

apa khabar semua? sihat?
harap kamu semua senyum selalu
man, i dunno what i am saying .. i wanna wish something but it sounds like a spam

[Petom JJ]

apa khabar semua? sihat?

harap kamu semua senyum selalu

man, i dunno what i am saying .. i wanna wish something but it sounds like a spam

Awe Jaz, i need your feedback! How do you find the lessons so far? :tongue: You have to help! :D

Anyway I gonna list out some vocabs in the sentences:

semua ~ all
sihat ~ healthy
harap ~ wish (verb?) [noun: harapan]
kamu ~ you
senyum ~ smile
selalu ~ always

[jazlyn87]

great lesson so far .. although i don't really need it ..


i'm so not used to typing in formal malay .. i always use market language .. bahasa pasar

[jocsim]

Oh cool, lessons to be learned again.

Honestly my malay language is always very poor. So that is why i never speak malay to my malay friends, ok, some, basic one... but mostly english. AND i still cant manage to figure out the 'imbuhan', when to use. Confusing~

Jazlyn- I agree with you!! I'm so not used to speak formal malay..... my mom would often ask me writing the letters and i would go bang my head just to think of the suitable words to use that i had learned during my school years.

So hope this can improve my malay language skills, haha??

Petom_JJ- One question, isnt harap- hope??

Ok, for my questions, i'll ask in the discussion thread.

[Petom JJ]

Jaz haha I need you to help to teach! :D ~ Well this suppose to be lessons for beginners I dunno if I'm making it complicated :oops:

Joc: Sure, I'm hoping these lessons could be useful anyway :D

Btw yes harap means hope in that sentence, I forgot the word hehe :tongue:. It could be translated as "wish" too :happy:

Eg.
Saya harap kamu dapat datang (I hope you can come)
Saya harap saya dapat jadi doktor(I wish I could become a doctor)

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LESSON 3

Pronouns

(Read more from this site (http://pgoh13.free.fr/lesson1_malaypronoun.php))

1) I/Me- saya, aku, beta, patik, hamba, etc etc

Aku is considered less formal or impolite, but widely used among close friends.

Beta is used by kings/royals, while the subjects will address themselves as patik.

Hamba is an old Malay word, normally used in classic stories.

There are a lot other pronouns for "I" in different situation/location, but to be safe just to use saya which can be used both formal and informal.

2) You - Kamu, awak, engkau or kau, anda, tuan, encik, cik, puan, tuanku, tuan hamba etc etc

Again, its different depending on the situation.

1) In general, kamu or awak can be used, but must not be used towards person in higher ranking or older people [saya-kamu/awak]

2) Engkau or in shortform kau is used informally and among close acquantances only [aku-kau]

3) Use anda in highly formal situation or when not sure about gender, for example in advertisement, letters etc [Saya-anda]

4) tuan (sir) or encik (mister), cik (miss), puan (madam) is to be used to person in higher ranking or in formal situation. If that person has a title e.g Datuk/Dato', Datin (wife of Datuk/Datin) Tan Sri, Puan Sri (wife of Tan Sri) (which are equivalent to Lord, Duke, etc etc) use that title instead.

5) People can also be addressed based on their work to show politeness eg. cikgu for teachers, doktor (doctors), professor, etc, including Haji (for muslim man) or Hajah (for women) who had performed pilgrimage)

6) Use the respective addresses to parents and older family members. Even when talking to any older person abang (brother) kakak or kak (older sister) should be used to show respect.

3) We/us - kami or kita

Kami and kita are different. Kita is "we inclusive" i.e. includes the person to whom we are talking to. Kami on the other hand does not include that person.

4) He/she - dia, beliau, baginda, etc

There's no gender difference for the words. In newspapers beliau is often used for the third person singular (but not for criminals though!). There is a touch of respect when beliau is used instead of dia and for that reason is usually used to refer to a dignitary or an elderly person.

Ia should be used to animals or things just like "it".

Baginda is used to refer to kings or royals.

5) They - mereka

Mereka can be used in just any situation :happy:. Finally there's something simple :D

Possesive Pronouns

In Bahasa, there is no possesive pronouns like my, your her, his, theirs etc. Informally you could add the word 'punya' (possess) to the pronouns to show possession. Just like the word 'de' in Mandarin! [wo de, ta de, etc] hehe :tongue:

Saya punya kereta - My car. Or formally: Kereta saya

Dia punya rumah - Her/his house: Or formally: Rumah dia or Rumahnya. Note: Dia or ia when used to show possession normally be attached to the word and become 'nya'.
giginya (his/her teeth)
bukunya (his/her book).

[jazlyn87]

beta akan menolong kamu .. cheh .. i used beta for myself lol ..

i can help to teach but i'm not good .. the A on my SPM was a fake lol

[Petom JJ]

beta akan menolong kamu .. cheh .. i used beta for myself lol ..

i can help to teach but i'm not good .. the A on my SPM was a fake lol

owh that case you're more qualified! :D I don't even get an A1 for SPM :roll:

So we have Cikgu Jaz here! :D

[jazlyn87]

No no no no no .. i haven't speak BM in a looooooooooong time ..

ever since my NS days .. saya tarak tau ..dun make me a cikgu .. i'm here to be a pelajar