The English word "the" is the definite article. It marks a noun as one particular thing that speaker and listener both know about: "a cat" is any cat, and "the cat" is the one we mean. Malay has no word that does exactly this job. It has no definite article ("the") and no indefinite article ("a, an"). A bare noun such as kucing can mean "a cat", "the cat", "cats" or "the cats", and the context decides. Kucing tidur is "The cat is asleep" if we have just been talking about a cat, and "Cats sleep" if we have not.
When the speaker wants to say "this one, the one we both know", Malay puts the demonstrative itu ("that") after the noun: buku itu is "that book" and, very often, simply "the book". This is the nearest thing Malay has to "the", and it is the word this lesson teaches. The house list gives "the" as an article. The Malay equivalent chosen here is itu, because grammars of Malay describe it as the demonstrative that can sometimes be equivalent to English "the", and because it is the word by which a Malay reader tells a noun already known from a noun that is new. Its neighbours are:
- ini (/ini/, "this") is the near demonstrative: buku ini, "this book". It can also stand for "the" when the thing is here, in front of the speaker. - -nya (/ɲa/, "his, her, its") is a suffix written on the end of the noun: anaknya, "her child". It can also make a noun definite. Later lessons treat it in full. - sebuah, seorang, seekor ("one" with a counter) are the Malay way of saying "a": seorang raja, "a king". They introduce a new noun, which is then picked up with itu.
The first thing to learn about itu is its position. It comes after the noun, and after everything that belongs to the noun: kereta merah itu "the red car", buku yang saya baca itu "the book that I read". Placed before the noun it is a different sentence: buku itu is "the book", but Itu buku is "That is a book".
The second thing to learn is that itu is not obligatory. Malay does not mark every definite noun, as English does. Ibu memasak di dapur is "Mother is cooking in the kitchen", with no itu anywhere, and Matahari terbit di timur is "The sun rises in the east". Malay adds itu when it wants to point at the noun or to identify it; where there is nothing to point at, the bare noun is enough.
The third thing is that itu is also a pronoun, "that". Itu rumah saya is "That is my house". Malay does not need a verb "to be" here, nor in Air itu sejuk, "The water is cold".
Orthographic points: itu is always written as a separate word in lower case, and Malay uses no accents or other diacritics. The word is spelled the same in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia. This course teaches Standard Malay, the written standard of Malaysia; Section E notes where Indonesian differs.
FAQ: How do you say "the" in Malay?
Q: What is "the" in Malay? A: Malay has no article. A bare noun is enough, as in Matahari terbit, "The sun rises". To point at a particular noun, put itu after it: buku itu, "the book".
Q: Where does itu go? A: After the noun and after any adjective or clause that belongs to it: kereta merah itu, "the red car".
Q: How do I say "a" or "an"? A: With se- and a counter: seorang for a person, seekor for an animal, sebuah for a house, shop or book: sebuah rumah, "a house".
Q: What is the difference between itu and ini? A: Itu is "that" and ini is "this": buku itu is "that book", and buku ini is "this book".
Key Takeaways
- Malay has no articles: a bare noun can be "a", "the" or neither. - Itu ("that") after a noun is the nearest Malay has to "the": buku itu, "the book". - Itu goes after the whole noun phrase: kereta merah itu, buku yang saya baca itu. - Itu is not compulsory: Ibu memasak di dapur is "Mother is cooking in the kitchen". - "A" is se- plus a counter: seorang, seekor, sebuah.
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itu /itu/ has a short, clear i as in "machine" and a short u as in "rule": "EE-too". Malay vowels are pure and short, with no glide at the end as in English "see" or "too". The t is unaspirated: say it without the puff of breath of English "tea".
This course follows the standard pronunciation, Sebutan Baku, in which a final a is said /a/ (so saya is /saja/, not /sajə/). Many speakers in central and southern Peninsular Malaysia and in Singapore say a weak /ə/ there, and both are understood everywhere. IPA in this lesson is a simple transcription of each word on its own, with no stress marks: Malay stress is light, and to an English ear it falls on the next-to-last syllable (on the last syllable when the next-to-last has the weak vowel /ə/).
Sounds in this lesson that English lacks or treats differently:
- e is written one way but said two ways: the weak vowel /ə/ (like the first vowel of English "about"), as in besar /bəsar/, sejuk /sədʒuʔ/, kereta /kəreta/ (first e), and the clear vowel /e/ (like the vowel of "bed" said more closed), as in meja /medʒa/, merah /merah/, kereta (second e), teh /teh/. The spelling does not tell you which; learn it with the word. - c = /tʃ/ ("ch"): baca /batʃa/, kucing /kutʃiŋ/, kunci /kuntʃi/. j = /dʒ/ ("j"): sejuk, meja, majalah /madʒalah/. - ny = /ɲ/ (like "ni" in "onion"): sunyi /suɲi/. ng = /ŋ/ (as in "sing"), and it can begin a word or syllable: tengah /təŋah/, mengajar /məŋadʒar/. ngg = /ŋɡ/: menunggu /mənuŋɡu/. - Final k is a glottal stop /ʔ/, a catch in the throat as in the middle of English "uh-oh": budak /budaʔ/, tidak /tidaʔ/, pokok /pokoʔ/, Pak /paʔ/. - r is tapped or trilled, and in the standard it is heard at the end of a word: tidur /tidur/, pasar /pasar/. - h is a real /h/ at the end of a word: rumah /rumah/, sekolah /səkolah/. - kh = /x/, a sound taken from Arabic: akhbar /axbar/. - The vowel pairs ai and au are single sounds in kedai /kədai/ and sungai /suŋai/, but a vowel pair such as ia or ua is two syllables: dia /di.a/ (two syllables), dua /du.a/, tua /tu.a/, buah /bu.ah/, air /a.ir/.
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Examples 1.1–1.15 are pedagogical constructions built from verified vocabulary and patterns. They are not quotations. In line a, itu is glossed the/that, because the two readings are one word in Malay. Line b uses these abbreviations: DEM.DIST (distant demonstrative), DEM.PROX (near demonstrative), 1SG and 3SG (first and third person singular), NEG (negation), REL (relative yang), AV (active-voice prefix meN-), PROG (progressive), PL (plural by repetition), CLF (counter), POSS (possessive suffix -nya).
1.1a Buku book itu the/that
1.1b Buku /buku/ book itu /itu/ DEM.DIST
1.2a Kucing cat itu the/that tidur sleep
1.2b Kucing /kutʃiŋ/ cat itu /itu/ DEM.DIST tidur /tidur/ sleep
1.3a Itu that rumah house saya I
1.3b Itu /itu/ DEM.DIST rumah /rumah/ house saya /saja/ 1SG
1.4a Ini this buku book dan and itu that majalah magazine
1.4b Ini /ini/ DEM.PROX buku /buku/ book dan /dan/ and itu /itu/ DEM.DIST majalah /madʒalah/ magazine
1.5a Air water itu the/that sejuk cold
1.5b Air /air/ water itu /itu/ DEM.DIST sejuk /sədʒuʔ/ cold
1.6a Tolong please tutup shut pintu door itu the/that
1.6b Tolong /toloŋ/ please tutup /tutup/ shut pintu /pintu/ door itu /itu/ DEM.DIST
1.7a Kereta car merah red itu the/that kereta car saya I
1.7b Kereta /kəreta/ car merah /merah/ red itu /itu/ DEM.DIST kereta /kəreta/ car saya /saja/ 1SG
1.8a Budak child itu the/that sedang currently membaca read buku book
1.8b Budak /budaʔ/ child itu /itu/ DEM.DIST sedang /sədaŋ/ PROG membaca /məmbatʃa/ AV.read buku /buku/ book
1.9a Ibu mother memasak cook di at dapur kitchen
1.9b Ibu /ibu/ mother memasak /məmasaʔ/ AV.cook di /di/ at dapur /dapur/ kitchen
1.10a Matahari sun terbit rise di at timur east
1.10b Matahari /matahari/ sun terbit /tərbit/ rise di /di/ at timur /timur/ east
1.11a Saya I membeli buy buku book itu the/that semalam yesterday
1.11b Saya /saja/ 1SG membeli /məmbəli/ AV.buy buku /buku/ book itu /itu/ DEM.DIST semalam /səmalam/ yesterday
1.12a Guru teacher itu the/that mengajar teach murid-murid pupils di at sekolah school
1.12b Guru /guru/ teacher itu /itu/ DEM.DIST mengajar /məŋadʒar/ AV.teach murid-murid /murid murid/ pupil~PL di /di/ at sekolah /səkolah/ school
1.13a Buku book yang which saya I baca read itu the/that menarik interesting
1.13b Buku /buku/ book yang /jaŋ/ REL saya /saja/ 1SG baca /batʃa/ read itu /itu/ DEM.DIST menarik /mənariʔ/ interesting
1.14a Dia he/she tidak not tahu know di at mana where kunci key itu the/that
1.14b Dia /dia/ 3SG tidak /tidaʔ/ NEG tahu /tahu/ know di /di/ at mana /mana/ where kunci /kuntʃi/ key itu /itu/ DEM.DIST
1.15a Lelaki man tua old itu the/that bukan is-not guru teacher tetapi but pemandu driver bas bus
1.15b Lelaki /ləlaki/ man tua /tua/ old itu /itu/ DEM.DIST bukan /bukan/ NEG.NOUN guru /guru/ teacher tetapi /tətapi/ but pemandu /pəmandu/ driver bas /bas/ bus
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1.1 Buku itu. → "The book." (or "That book.")
1.2 Kucing itu tidur. → "The cat is sleeping."
1.3 Itu rumah saya. → "That is my house."
1.4 Ini buku dan itu majalah. → "This is a book and that is a magazine."
1.5 Air itu sejuk. → "The water is cold."
1.6 Tolong tutup pintu itu. → "Please close the door."
1.7 Kereta merah itu kereta saya. → "The red car is my car."
1.8 Budak itu sedang membaca buku. → "The child is reading a book."
1.9 Ibu memasak di dapur. → "Mother is cooking in the kitchen."
1.10 Matahari terbit di timur. → "The sun rises in the east."
1.11 Saya membeli buku itu semalam. → "I bought the book yesterday."
1.12 Guru itu mengajar murid-murid di sekolah. → "The teacher teaches the pupils at school."
1.13 Buku yang saya baca itu menarik. → "The book that I read is interesting."
1.14 Dia tidak tahu di mana kunci itu. → "He (or she) doesn't know where the key is."
1.15 Lelaki tua itu bukan guru tetapi pemandu bas. → "The old man is not a teacher but a bus driver."
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1.1 Buku itu.
1.2 Kucing itu tidur.
1.3 Itu rumah saya.
1.4 Ini buku dan itu majalah.
1.5 Air itu sejuk.
1.6 Tolong tutup pintu itu.
1.7 Kereta merah itu kereta saya.
1.8 Budak itu sedang membaca buku.
1.9 Ibu memasak di dapur.
1.10 Matahari terbit di timur.
1.11 Saya membeli buku itu semalam.
1.12 Guru itu mengajar murid-murid di sekolah.
1.13 Buku yang saya baca itu menarik.
1.14 Dia tidak tahu di mana kunci itu.
1.15 Lelaki tua itu bukan guru tetapi pemandu bas.
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These are the grammar rules for itu in Malay:
1. Malay has no article. A bare noun can be "a", "the" or neither, and the context decides. Ibu memasak di dapur (1.9) is "Mother is cooking in the kitchen", Matahari terbit di timur (1.10) is "The sun rises in the east", and Ibu and dapur each stand for something known, with no marker at all. English needs "the" in these sentences, and Malay does not.
2. Itu after the noun marks it as known. The demonstrative itu follows the noun, and it follows the adjectives and clauses that belong to the noun:
- buku itu (1.1), kucing itu (1.2), air itu (1.5), pintu itu (1.6) - with an adjective: kereta merah itu (1.7), lelaki tua itu (1.15) - with a relative clause: buku yang saya baca itu (1.13)
It does not change for number: guru itu is "the teacher" and guru-guru itu is "the teachers". Whether itu is best translated "the" or "that" depends on the context. If you are pointing at something, "that"; if it is a thing already mentioned, "the". Section B gives the natural English for each sentence.
3. Itu is not obligatory. Where the noun is clearly known, Malay leaves it bare (rule 1). Where it is a general thing, itu would be wrong: Saya membeli buku is "I bought a book (or books)", and Saya membeli buku itu (1.11) is "I bought that book, the book".
4. Itu before the noun is a pronoun. Itu rumah saya (1.3) is "That is my house". The word order is the same as the English "That" plus noun, but Malay uses no verb "to be". Ini buku dan itu majalah (1.4) pairs ini "this" with itu "that".
5. No verb "to be". An adjective, a noun or a place follows the subject directly: Air itu sejuk (1.5) "The water is cold", Kereta merah itu kereta saya (1.7) "The red car is my car". The formal words ialah and adalah link a subject with a noun in formal writing (Ini ialah buku saya), and the everyday style does without them.
6. Negation. Tidak negates a verb or an adjective: Dia tidak tahu (1.14). Bukan negates a noun: Lelaki tua itu bukan guru (1.15), "is not a teacher".
7. "A" with a counter. The Malay for "a" is se- ("one") joined to a counter: seorang for a person (1.18), seekor for an animal, sebuah for a house, shop, book or other large thing (1.16), sebiji for a fruit or other small round thing (1.23). With a number above one the counter stays: dua ekor ikan (1.21), "two fish". Part D of the Genre Section shows how sebuah and seorang introduce a new noun, which itu then picks up.
8. Possession and word order. The possessor follows the possessed: rumah saya (1.3), "my house" (house I), and kereta saya (1.7). The suffix -nya does the same work in anaknya (1.20), "her child". Adjectives follow nouns: kereta merah (1.7), pokok besar (1.18). The usual order of a sentence is subject, verb, object. Malay verbs do not change for tense; a time word such as semalam "yesterday" (1.11) places the action in time, and sedang (1.8) marks an action in progress.
9. Plurals. Malay does not mark the plural on every noun. It either relies on context or numbers (dua ekor), or repeats the noun with a hyphen: murid-murid (1.12), "pupils". The repeated word is written as one unit with a hyphen.
10. Di is a separate word. The preposition di ("at, in, on") is written apart from the noun: di dapur (1.9), di sekolah (1.12), di mana (1.14). The same two letters are joined to a verb in the passive (dibuka, "is opened"), which later lessons treat.
Common Mistakes
- Itu before the noun, for "the". Wrong: itu buku, meant as "the book". Right: buku itu. Itu buku is "That is a book". - Itu on every noun, as English puts "the". Wrong: Ibu itu memasak di dapur itu, meant as "Mother is cooking in the kitchen" (it means "That mother is cooking in that kitchen"). Right: Ibu memasak di dapur. - Putting the adjective before the noun. Wrong: merah kereta itu. Right: kereta merah itu. - A verb "to be". Wrong: Air itu adalah sejuk. Right: Air itu sejuk. - The wrong negative. Wrong: Lelaki itu tidak guru. Right: Lelaki itu bukan guru. And: Dia bukan tahu is wrong; say Dia tidak tahu. - Joining di to the noun. Wrong: dipasar, didapur. Right: di pasar, di dapur. - Saying the final k in full. Budak is /budaʔ/ and tidak is /tidaʔ/, with a catch in the throat and no hard k.
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Frequency and register. Itu is one of the commonest words in Malay and belongs to every register, from speech between friends to the law. It is the same word in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia, and it appears in the Hikayat Hang Tuah as it appears in today's newspaper.
Everyday phrases.
- Itulah! "That's it!" or "That's right!" is the usual way of agreeing. - Apa itu...? "What is...?" asks for the meaning of a word or thing: Apa itu kedai kopi? - Pada waktu itu "at that time", selain itu "besides that" and oleh itu "therefore" are connecting phrases that appear in every kind of writing. - Begitu "like that, so" and demikian "thus" are close relatives of itu.
Standard Malay and Indonesian. The written standard taught here is Bahasa Melayu piawai, the standard of Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, regulated in Malaysia by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Indonesian is another standard form of the same language, and itu, ini and yang are the same in both. Many everyday words are not. A Malaysian says kereta for a car, kedai for a shop, akhbar for a newspaper, mahu for "want", pemandu for a driver and oren for an orange; an Indonesian says mobil, toko, koran, mau, sopir and jeruk. In Indonesian, kereta alone usually means a train (kereta api). Lessons will give both words where it helps.
Scripts. Malay was written for centuries in Jawi, an adaptation of the Arabic alphabet, before the Latin alphabet (Rumi) became the everyday script. Jawi is still taught and used, in religious schools and in Brunei, for example. The Hikayat Hang Tuah of Section F was written in Jawi, and what is printed here is a Rumi transcription.
Regional variety. The forms taught here are standard Malay and are understood throughout the Malay-speaking world. In ordinary speech, tidak is often shortened to tak, and sudah to dah.
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Hikayat Hang Tuah (anonymous), the opening of the narrative, from the Rumi transcription published on Wikisumber (Malay Wikisource), "Hikayat Hang Tuah (Rumi)". The Malay is given as transcribed there, without the footnote marks of that page; the English translation is ours.
The Hikayat Hang Tuah is a classical Malay prose epic whose author is unknown. It tells the life of Hang Tuah, the Malay warrior-hero, in the service of the Sultan of Malacca. When it was composed is disputed: Vladimir Braginsky argues for a composition in Johor between about 1688 and the 1710s, and the first outside reference to the work is in François Valentijn, published in 1726. The passage opens the book with a king of the heavenly realm. The work was written in Jawi, and the Wikisumber transcription keeps older spellings, in which, for example, seorang pun is written seorangpun.
F-A: Interlinear Construed Text
F.1a Ada there-is seorang one-person raja king keindaran heavenly
F.1b Ada /ada/ exist seorang /səoraŋ/ one-CLF.person raja /radʒa/ king keindaran /kəindaran/ heavenly
F.2a Maka then raja king itu the/that terlalu exceedingly besar great kerajaannya kingdom-his
F.2b Maka /maka/ then raja /radʒa/ king itu /itu/ DEM.DIST terlalu /tərlalu/ exceedingly besar /bəsar/ great kerajaannya /kəradʒaaɲa/ kingdom-3SG.POSS
F.3a Pada among segala all raja king indara heavenly seorangpun one-person-even tiada not menyamai-dia equals-him
F.3b Pada /pada/ among segala /səɡala/ all raja /radʒa/ king indara /indara/ heavenly seorangpun /səoraŋpun/ one-CLF.person-even tiada /tiada/ NEG menyamai-dia /məɲamai dia/ AV.equal-3SG
F.4a Sekalian all menurut obey titahnya command-his baginda His-Majesty
F.4b Sekalian /səkalian/ all menurut /mənurut/ AV.obey titahnya /titahɲa/ command-3SG.POSS baginda /baɡinda/ king.HON
F-B: Original → Translation
Ada seorang raja keindaran. Maka raja itu terlalu besar kerajaannya. Pada segala raja indara, seorangpun tiada menyamai-dia. Sekalian menurut titahnya baginda.
"There was a heavenly king. The king's kingdom was exceedingly great. Among all the heavenly kings, not one equalled him. All obeyed His Majesty's command."
F-C: Original Only
Ada seorang raja keindaran. Maka raja itu terlalu besar kerajaannya. Pada segala raja indara, seorangpun tiada menyamai-dia. Sekalian menurut titahnya baginda.
F-D: Grammar and Literary Commentary
- Ada seorang raja ... Maka raja itu: the lesson in one pair of sentences. The king enters the story with seorang, "a (one-person)", because he is new to the reader. In the next sentence the narrator picks him up with raja itu, "the king". Malay marks the move from new to known with se- plus a counter, and then with itu, as Section D, rule 7, explains. - keindaran and indara belong with indera, the Malay form of the name of the Hindu god Indra, and the sense of the passage is the realm of the gods. We render both as "heavenly"; the exact formation of keindaran is left to the commentaries on the text. - Maka is a particle of classical Malay narrative that begins a new sentence: "and then". Modern Malay does not use it in everyday speech. - terlalu means "exceedingly, very" in classical Malay. In modern Malay it means "too (much)". - kerajaannya is raja "king" with ke-...-an "kingdom", and the suffix -nya, "his". Raja itu terlalu besar kerajaannya is a topic-comment sentence: "the king, exceedingly great (was) his kingdom". - seorangpun ... tiada: pun ("even, also") with tiada ("not") gives "not even one". Modern spelling writes seorang pun and prefers tidak to tiada in this use. The Wikisumber transcription writes menyamai-dia, joining the pronoun with a hyphen, and modern Malay writes menyamai dia. - titahnya baginda: titah is the command of a king, and baginda is the royal pronoun, "His (or Her) Majesty". The possessed word takes -nya and the owner follows it: "his command, the king's". This is the same order as rumah saya "my house" in Section D, rule 8.
The book opens with a king beyond all rivals, in the manner of an old tale. Its first sentence says "there was a king" and its second says "the king", and in that change of word a Malay reader hears the familiar movement of every tale: a stranger arrives, and then he is known.
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A short descriptive text written for this lesson, on a morning at a market by a river. It is a pedagogical text built from verified patterns. Each new person or thing enters with se- and a counter (sebuah pasar, seorang ibu), and from then on is picked up with itu.
Part A: Interlinear Construed Text
1.16a Ada there-is sebuah one-unit pasar market di at tepi edge sungai river
1.16b Ada /ada/ exist sebuah /səbuah/ one-CLF.large pasar /pasar/ market di /di/ at tepi /təpi/ edge sungai /suŋai/ river
1.17a Pasar market itu the/that buka open pada at waktu time pagi morning
1.17b Pasar /pasar/ market itu /itu/ DEM.DIST buka /buka/ open pada /pada/ at waktu /waktu/ time pagi /paɡi/ morning
1.18a Seorang one-person penjual seller ikan fish duduk sit di at bawah under pokok tree besar big
1.18b Seorang /səoraŋ/ one-CLF.person penjual /pəndʒual/ seller ikan /ikan/ fish duduk /duduʔ/ sit di /di/ at bawah /bawah/ under pokok /pokoʔ/ tree besar /bəsar/ big
1.19a Ikan fish itu the/that masih still segar fresh
1.19b Ikan /ikan/ fish itu /itu/ DEM.DIST masih /masih/ still segar /səɡar/ fresh
1.20a Seorang one-person ibu mother datang come bersama together-with anaknya child-his
1.20b Seorang /səoraŋ/ one-CLF.person ibu /ibu/ mother datang /dataŋ/ come bersama /bərsama/ together.with anaknya /anaʔɲa/ child-3SG.POSS
1.21a Ibu mother itu the/that membeli buy dua two ekor animal-unit ikan fish
1.21b Ibu /ibu/ mother itu /itu/ DEM.DIST membeli /məmbəli/ AV.buy dua /dua/ two ekor /ekor/ CLF.animal ikan /ikan/ fish
1.22a Anak child itu the/that mahu want makan eat buah fruit
1.22b Anak /anaʔ/ child itu /itu/ DEM.DIST mahu /mahu/ want makan /makan/ eat buah /buah/ fruit
1.23a Seorang one-person penjual seller buah fruit memberi give anak child itu the/that sebiji one-seed oren orange
1.23b Seorang /səoraŋ/ one-CLF.person penjual /pəndʒual/ seller buah /buah/ fruit memberi /məmbəri/ AV.give anak /anaʔ/ child itu /itu/ DEM.DIST sebiji /səbidʒi/ one-CLF.small oren /orən/ orange
1.24a Anak child itu the/that tersenyum smile lalu then berkata say terima receive kasih love
1.24b Anak /anaʔ/ child itu /itu/ DEM.DIST tersenyum /tərsəɲum/ smile lalu /lalu/ then berkata /bərkata/ say terima /tərima/ receive kasih /kasih/ love
1.25a Di at hujung end pasar market itu the/that ada there-is sebuah one-unit kedai shop kopi coffee
1.25b Di /di/ at hujung /hudʒuŋ/ end pasar /pasar/ market itu /itu/ DEM.DIST ada /ada/ exist sebuah /səbuah/ one-CLF.large kedai /kədai/ shop kopi /kopi/ coffee
1.26a Pak Mr Ali Ali minum drink teh tea di at kedai shop itu the/that setiap every pagi morning
1.26b Pak /paʔ/ Mr Ali /ali/ Ali minum /minum/ drink teh /teh/ tea di /di/ at kedai /kədai/ shop itu /itu/ DEM.DIST setiap /sətiap/ every pagi /paɡi/ morning
1.27a Dia he/she membaca read akhbar newspaper sambil while menunggu wait kawannya friend-his
1.27b Dia /dia/ 3SG membaca /məmbatʃa/ AV.read akhbar /axbar/ newspaper sambil /sambil/ while menunggu /mənuŋɡu/ AV.wait kawannya /kawanɲa/ friend-3SG.POSS
1.28a Tidak not lama long kemudian afterwards kawan friend itu the/that tiba arrive
1.28b Tidak /tidaʔ/ NEG lama /lama/ long kemudian /kəmudian/ afterwards kawan /kawan/ friend itu /itu/ DEM.DIST tiba /tiba/ arrive
1.29a Mereka they berbual chat lama long di at kedai shop itu the/that
1.29b Mereka /mərəka/ 3PL berbual /bərbual/ chat lama /lama/ long di /di/ at kedai /kədai/ shop itu /itu/ DEM.DIST
1.30a Pada at waktu time tengah middle hari day pasar market itu the/that menjadi become sunyi quiet
1.30b Pada /pada/ at waktu /waktu/ time tengah /təŋah/ middle hari /hari/ day pasar /pasar/ market itu /itu/ DEM.DIST menjadi /məndʒadi/ AV.become sunyi /suɲi/ quiet
Part B: Natural Sentences
1.16 Ada sebuah pasar di tepi sungai. → "There is a market on the riverbank."
1.17 Pasar itu buka pada waktu pagi. → "The market opens in the morning."
1.18 Seorang penjual ikan duduk di bawah pokok besar. → "A fish seller sits under a big tree."
1.19 Ikan itu masih segar. → "The fish is still fresh."
1.20 Seorang ibu datang bersama anaknya. → "A mother arrives with her child."
1.21 Ibu itu membeli dua ekor ikan. → "The mother buys two fish."
1.22 Anak itu mahu makan buah. → "The child wants to eat fruit."
1.23 Seorang penjual buah memberi anak itu sebiji oren. → "A fruit seller gives the child an orange."
1.24 Anak itu tersenyum, lalu berkata, "Terima kasih!" → "The child smiles, then says, 'Thank you!'"
1.25 Di hujung pasar itu ada sebuah kedai kopi. → "At the end of the market there is a coffee shop."
1.26 Pak Ali minum teh di kedai itu setiap pagi. → "Mr Ali drinks tea at the shop every morning."
1.27 Dia membaca akhbar sambil menunggu kawannya. → "He reads the newspaper while waiting for his friend."
1.28 Tidak lama kemudian, kawan itu tiba. → "Before long, the friend arrives."
1.29 Mereka berbual lama di kedai itu. → "They chat for a long time at the shop."
1.30 Pada waktu tengah hari, pasar itu menjadi sunyi. → "At midday the market falls quiet."
Part C: Target Language Only
1.16 Ada sebuah pasar di tepi sungai.
1.17 Pasar itu buka pada waktu pagi.
1.18 Seorang penjual ikan duduk di bawah pokok besar.
1.19 Ikan itu masih segar.
1.20 Seorang ibu datang bersama anaknya.
1.21 Ibu itu membeli dua ekor ikan.
1.22 Anak itu mahu makan buah.
1.23 Seorang penjual buah memberi anak itu sebiji oren.
1.24 Anak itu tersenyum, lalu berkata, "Terima kasih!"
1.25 Di hujung pasar itu ada sebuah kedai kopi.
1.26 Pak Ali minum teh di kedai itu setiap pagi.
1.27 Dia membaca akhbar sambil menunggu kawannya.
1.28 Tidak lama kemudian, kawan itu tiba.
1.29 Mereka berbual lama di kedai itu.
1.30 Pada waktu tengah hari, pasar itu menjadi sunyi.
Part D: Grammar Notes for the Genre Section
- New, then known. Each person or thing enters with se- and a counter and is then picked up with itu. Sebuah pasar (1.16) becomes pasar itu (1.17, 1.25, 1.30); seorang ibu (1.20) becomes ibu itu (1.21), and her anaknya "her child" (1.20) becomes anak itu (1.22, 1.23, 1.24); seorang penjual ikan (1.18) is the owner of ikan itu (1.19); sebuah kedai kopi (1.25) becomes kedai itu (1.26, 1.29); kawannya "his friend" (1.27) becomes kawan itu (1.28). Read each itu as "the one we already know". - A new person who is not picked up again. Seorang penjual buah (1.23) enters with seorang and is not named again, so he stays "a fruit seller". - Itu after a compound. Penjual buah is "fruit seller", and kedai kopi is "coffee shop". A compound noun is a single unit, so itu follows the whole of it: kedai kopi itu "the coffee shop". In 1.25 and 1.30, itu follows pasar and closes the place phrase: di hujung pasar itu "at the end of the market". - Bare nouns that are known. Akhbar (1.27) is "the newspaper" and buah (1.22) is "fruit": Malay uses no article for either, and no itu because nothing is being pointed at. - Counters. Sebuah (1.16, 1.25), seorang (1.18, 1.20, 1.23), dua ekor (1.21) and sebiji (1.23) are the counters of Section D, rule 7. - Time and place. Pada waktu pagi (1.17) "in the morning", setiap pagi (1.26) "every morning" and pada waktu tengah hari (1.30) "at midday" place the sentence in time without any change to the verb. - Quoted speech. In 1.24 the spoken words follow berkata "say" after a comma and are put in quotation marks: lalu berkata, "Terima kasih!"
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Check these in every sentence:
- itu /itu/: two short pure vowels, no glide, and an unaspirated t. It is said as part of the noun phrase: buku itu, kucing itu. - Final k is a glottal stop /ʔ/ and not a hard k: budak /budaʔ/, tidak /tidaʔ/, pokok /pokoʔ/, anak /anaʔ/, anaknya /anaʔɲa/. - e is /ə/ or /e/ and is always spelled e: besar, sejuk, kereta, meja. Malay spelling does not tell you which; dictionaries for learners sometimes mark the clear vowel with an accent (é), and ordinary writing never does. - Final a is said /a/ in this course (Sebutan Baku): saya /saja/, kereta /kəreta/, mana /mana/. A speaker from the Malay peninsula may say /ə/ here, and both are understood. - Vowel pairs that are two syllables, not one: dia /di.a/, dua /du.a/, tua /tu.a/, buah /bu.ah/, air /a.ir/, kemudian /kəmudi.an/. The pairs ai and au in kedai and sungai are single sounds. - ng is one sound, /ŋ/: tolong /toloŋ/, tengah /təŋah/, hujung /hudʒuŋ/. Between vowels, meng- is written without a break: mengajar /məŋadʒar/. - Hyphen in repeated words only: murid-murid. The hyphen is also used in fixed compounds that this lesson does not need. No other punctuation is changed by the language: the comma and quotation marks are used as in English. - Di is written apart from the noun it governs: di pasar, di kedai, di mana. - Capitals begin sentences and names: Pak Ali, Ali. Days and months are written with a capital in Malay, as in English; no day or month appears in this lesson. - Diacritics: none. Malay in Rumi uses only the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet.
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