Malay grammar
Malay grammar is the body of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the Malay language and Indonesian. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses and sentences. In Malay and Indonesian, there are four basic parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and grammatical function words. Nouns and verbs may be basic roots, but frequently they are derived from other words by means of prefixes and suffixes.
For clarity, ⟨ê⟩ is used to denote schwa /ə/, while ⟨e⟩ is used to denote /e/, as both Malay and Indonesian in their orthography do not distinguish both phonemes and are written as ⟨e⟩.
Word formation
Malay is an agglutinative language, and new words are formed by three methods. New words can be created by attaching affixes onto a root word, formation of a compound word, or repetition of words or portions of words. However, the Malay morphology has been simplified significantly, resulting on extensive derivational morphology but also having minimal inflectional morphology. Because of this, Malay and Indonesian are together classified as partially isolating languages, like other languages spoken in the mainland Southeast Asia.Affixes
Root words are either nouns or verbs, which can be affixed to derive new words, e.g., masak yields mêmasak, mêmasakkan, dimasak as well as pêmasak, masakan. Many initial consonants undergo mutation when prefixes are added: e.g., sapu becomes pênyapu ; panggil becomes mêmanggil, tapis becomes mênapis.Other examples of the use of affixes to change the meaning of a word can be seen with the word ajar :ajar = teach ajar-an = teachings bêl-ajar = to learn, to study mêng-ajar = to teach di-ajar = being taught di-ajar-kan = being taught mêmpêl-ajar-i = to learn, to study dipêl-ajar-i = being studied pêl-ajar = student pêng-ajar = teacher pêl-ajar-an = subject, education pêng-ajar-an = lesson, moral of story pêmbêl-ajar-an = learning têr-ajar = taught têrpêl-ajar = well-educated, literally "been taught" bêrpêl-ajar-an = is educated, literally "has education"
There are four types of affixes, namely prefixes, suffixes, circumfixes and infixes. These affixes are categorised into noun affixes, verb affixes, and adjective affixes.
Noun affixes are affixes that form nouns upon addition to root words. The following are examples of noun affixes:
| Type of noun affixes | Affix | Example of root word | Example of derived word |
| Prefix | pê- ~ pên- | duduk | pên-duduk |
| kê- | hendak | kê-hendak | |
| juru- | wang | juru-wang | |
| Infix | -- | tunjuk | t-êl-unjuk |
| -- | kêlut | k-êm-êlut | |
| -- | gigi | g-êr-igi | |
| Suffix | -an | bangun | bangun-an |
| Circumfix | kê-...-an | raja | kê-raja-an |
| pêr-...-an pêng-...-an | kêrja | pê-kêrja-an |
The prefix pêr- drops its r before r, l and frequently before p, t, k. In some words it is pêng-; though formally distinct in both phonologically and functionally, these are treated as variants of the same prefix in Malay grammar books.
Similarly, verb affixes are attached to root words to form verbs. In Malay, there are:
| Type of verb affixes | Affix | Example of root word | Example of derived word |
| Prefix | bêr- | ajar | bêl-ajar |
| mêng- | tolong | mên-olong | |
| di- | ambil | di-ambil | |
| mêmpêr- | kêmas | mêmpêr-kêmas | |
| dipêr- | dalam | dipêr-dalam | |
| têr- | makan | têr-makan | |
| Suffix | -kan | lêtak | lêtak-kan |
| -i | jauh | jauh-i | |
| Circumfix | bêr-...-an | pasang | bêr-pasang-an |
| bêr-...-kan | dasar | bêr-dasar-kan | |
| mêng-...-kan | pasti | mêm-asti-kan | |
| mêng-...-i | têman | mên-êman-i | |
| mêmpêr-...-kan | guna | mêmpêr-guna-kan | |
| mêmpêr-...-i | ajar | mêmpêl-ajar-i | |
| kê-...-an | hilang | ke-hilang-an | |
| di-...-i | sakit | di-sakit-i | |
| di-...-kan | benar | di-bênar-kan | |
| dipêr-...-kan | kênal | diper-kênal-kan |
Adjective affixes are attached to root words to form adjectives:
| Type of adjective affixes | Affix | Example of root word | Example of derived word |
| Prefix | têr- | kênal | têr-kênal |
| sê- | lari | sê-lari | |
| Infix | -- | serak | s-êl-erak |
| -- | cêrlang | c-êm-êrlang | |
| -- | sabut | s-êr-abut | |
| Circumfix | kê-...-an | barat | kê-barat-an |
In addition to these affixes, Malay also has a lot of borrowed affixes from other languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic and English. For example, maha-, pasca-, eka-, bi-, anti-, pro- etc.
Reduplication
Reduplication in the Malay language is a very productive process. It is mainly used for forming plurals, but sometimes it may alter the meaning of the whole word, or change the usage of the word in sentences.Forms
There are four types of words reduplication in Malay, namely- Full reduplication or kata ulang utuh
- Partial reduplication or kata ulang sebagian
- Rhythmic reduplication or kata ulang salin suara )
- Free-form reduplication
Partial reduplication repeats only the initial consonant of the word, such as dêdaunan from the word daun, and têtangga from the word tangga. The words are usually not separated by spaces or punctuation, and each is considered a single word.
Rhythmic reduplication repeats the whole word, but one or more of its phonemes are altered. For example, the word gêrak can be reduplicated rhythmically to form gêrak-gêrik by altering the vowel. The reduplication can also be formed by altering the consonant, e.g., in sayur-mayur from the root word sayur.
Nouns
Common derivational affixes for nouns are pêng-/pêr-/juru-, -an, kê-...-an, pêr-/pêng-...-an.Gender
Malay does not make use of grammatical gender. There are only a few words that use natural gender; the same word used for he and she is also used for his and her. Most of the words that refer to people have a form that does not distinguish between the genders. For example, adik can refer to a younger sibling of any gender. To specify the natural gender of a noun, an adjective must be added: adik lêlaki/adik laki-laki corresponds to "brother" but really means "male younger sibling". There are some words that are gendered. For instance, putêri means "princess" and putêra means "prince"; words like these are usually borrowed from other languages.Number
There is no grammatical plural in Malay. Thus orang may mean either "person" or "people". Plurality is expressed by the context, or the usage of words such as numerals, bêbêrapa "some", or sêmua "all" that express plurality. In many cases, it simply isn't relevant to the speaker. Because of this, both Malay and Indonesian effectively has general number, similar to many languages of East Asia and Southeast Asia.Reduplication is commonly used to emphasize plurality. However, reduplication has many other functions. For example, orang-orang means " people", but orang-orangan means "scarecrow". Similarly, while hati means "heart" or "liver", hati-hati is a verb meaning "to be careful". Also, not all reduplicated words are inherently plural, such as orang-orangan "scarecrow/scarecrows", biri-biri "a/some sheep" and kupu-kupu "butterfly/butterflies", these are all words in their own rights and have nothing to do with plurality, as is the case with some animal names such as "kura-kura" for tortoise and "laba-laba" for spider. Some reduplication is rhyming rather than exact, as in sayur-mayur " vegetables".
Distributive affixes derive mass nouns that are effectively plural: pohon "tree", pêpohonan "flora, trees"; rumah "house", pêrumahan "housing, houses"; gunung "mountain", pêgunungan "mountain range, mountains".
Quantity words come before the noun: sêribu orang "a thousand people", bêbêrapa pêgunungan "a series of mountain ranges", bêbêrapa kupu-kupu "some butterflies".
Pronouns
Personal pronouns are not a separate part of speech, but a subset of nouns. They are frequently omitted, and there are numerous ways to say "you". Commonly the person's name, title, title with name, or occupation is used ; kin terms, including fictive kinship, are extremely common. However, there are also dedicated personal pronouns, as well as the demonstrative pronouns ini "this, the" and itu "that, the".Personal pronouns
From the perspective of a European language, Malay boasts a wide range of different pronouns, especially to refer to the addressee. These are used to differentiate several parameters of the person they are referred to, such as the social rank and the relationship between the addressee and the speaker.This table shows an overview over the most commonly and widely used pronouns of the Malay language:
First person pronouns
Notable among the personal-pronoun system is a distinction between two forms of "we": kita and kami. The distinction is increasingly confused in colloquial Indonesian, but not in Malay.Saya and aku are the two major forms of "I"; saya is used when speaking to some family members, elders, new acquaintances, and when speaking in a formal setting, whereas aku is used with friends. Depending on how important the usage of the appropriate pronoun is to both speakers, aku can be used when speaking to new acquaintances without being interpreted as disrespectful.
Saya may also be used for "we", but in such cases it is usually used with sêkalian or sêmua "all"; this form is ambiguous as to whether it corresponds with exclusive kami or inclusive kita. Less common are hamba "slave", hamba tuan, hamba datok, beta, patik, kami, kita, têman, and kawan.
Second person pronouns
There are three common forms of "you", anda, kamu, and kalian "y'all". Anda is used in formal contexts like in advertisements and business or to show respect, while kamu is used in informal situations. Anda sêkalian or Anda semua are polite plural. Êngkau orang —contracted to kau orang or korang—is used to address subjects plural in the most informal context.Êngkau and hang are used to social inferiors or equals, awak to equals, and êncik is polite, traditionally used for people without title. The compounds makcik and pakcik are used with village elders one is well acquainted with or the guest of.
Tuanku is used by commoners to address royal members.
Third person pronouns
The common word for "s/he" is ia, which has the object and emphatic/focused form dia; consequently ia has been recently used to refer to animals. Bêliau is respectful. As with the English "you", names and kin terms are extremely common. Colloquially, dia orang is commonly used for the plural "they" whereas mereka "they", mereka itu, or orang itu "those people" are used in writing.Baginda – corresponding to "his/her Majesty/Highness" – is used for addressing royal figures and religious prophets, especially in Islamic literature.
Regional varieties
There are a large number of other words for "I" and "you", many regional, dialectical, or borrowed from local languages. Saudara or saudari show utmost respect. Daku and dikau are poetic or romantic. Indonesian gua and lu "you" are slang and extremely informal. In the dialect of the northern states of Malaysia – Kedah, Penang, Perlis and Perak typically hang is used as "you", while hampa or hangpa are used for the plural "you". In the state of Pahang, two variants for "I" and "you" exist, depending on location: in East Pahang, around Pekan, kome is used as "I" while in the west around Temerloh, koi, keh or kah is used. Kome is also used in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, but instead it means "you". This allegedly originated from the fact that both the royal families of Pahang and Perak were descendants of the same ancient line.The informal pronouns aku, kamu, engkau, ia, kami, and kita are indigenous to Malay.
Possessive pronouns
Aku, kamu, êngkau, and ia have short possessive enclitic forms. All others retain their full forms like other nouns, as does emphatic dia: meja saya, meja kita, meja anda, meja dia "my table, our table, your table, his/her table".| Pronoun | Enclitic | Possessed form |
| aku | -ku | mejaku |
| kamu | -mu | mejamu |
| engkau | -kau | mejakau |
| ia | -nya | mejanya |
There are also proclitic forms of aku and êngkau, ku- and kau-. These are used when there is no emphasis on the pronoun:
Here ku-verb is used for a general report, aku verb is used for a factual statement, and emphatic aku-lah mêng-verb for focus on the pronoun.
Demonstrative pronouns
There are two demonstrative pronouns in Malay. Ini "this, these" is used for a noun generally near to the speaker. Itu "that, those" is used for a noun generally far from the speaker. Either may sometimes be equivalent to English "the". There is no difference between singular and plural. However, plural can be indicated through duplication of a noun followed by a ini or itu. The word yang "which" is often placed before demonstrative pronouns to give emphasis and a sense of certainty, particularly when making references or enquiries about something/someone, like English "this one" or "that one".| Pronoun | Malay | English |
| ini | buku ini | This book, these books, the book |
| ini | buku-buku ini | These books, the books |
| itu | kucing itu | That cat, those cats, the cat |
| itu | kucing-kucing itu | Those cats, the cats |
| Pronoun + yang | Example Sentence | English Meaning |
| Yang ini | Q: Anda mau mêmbêli buku yang mana? A: Saya mau beli yang ini | Q: Which book do you wish to purchase? A: I would like this one |
| Yang itu | Q: Kucing mana yang makan tikusmu? A: Yang itu! | Q: Which cat ate your mouse? A: That one! |
Measure words
Another distinguishing feature of Malay is its use of measure words, also called classifiers. In this way, it is similar to many other languages of Asia, including Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, and Bengali.Measure words are found in English, such as two grains of sand or a loaf of bread where *two sands and *a bread would be ungrammatical. The word satu reduces to sê-, as it does in other compounds:
| measure word | used for measuring | literal translation | example |
| buah | things, large things, abstract nouns, houses, cars, ships, mountains; books, rivers, chairs, some fruits, thoughts, etc. | 'fruit' | dua buah meja, lima buah rumah |
| ekor | animals | 'tail' | sêekor ayam, tiga ekor kambing |
| orang | human beings | 'person' | sêorang lelaki, ênam orang pêtani, sêratus orang murid |
| biji | smaller rounded objects, most fruits, cups, nuts | 'grain' | sêbiji/ sêbutir têlur, sêbiji apel, sêbutir/ butiran-butiran bêras |
| batang | long stiff things, trees, walking sticks, pencils | 'trunk, rod' | sêbatang pensil, sêbatang kayu |
| hêlai, lai | things in thin layers or sheets, paper, cloth, feathers, hair | 'leaf' | sêpuluh hêlai pakaian |
| kêping | flat fragments, slabs of stone, pieces of wood, pieces of bread, land, coins, paper | 'chip' | sêkêping kertas |
| pasang | items in pairs | 'pair' | sêpasang sêpatu, sêpasang kêkasih |
| pucuk | letters, firearms, needles | 'sprout' | sêpucuk surat |
| bilah | blades: knives, spears | 'lathe' | sêbilah pisau |
Less common are
| bêntuk | rings, hooks | 'shape' | - |
| bidanɡ | mats, widths of cloth | 'breadth' | - |
| bongkah | solid chunks or pieces, typically of natural materials or heavy items like rocks, logs, ice blocks, or clay. | 'chunk' | - |
| butir | smallest rounded objects smaller fruits, seeds, grains, rounds of ammunition, gems, points | 'particle' | commonly replaced with biji |
| carik | things easily torn, like paper | 'shred' | - |
| ikat | bundles of items that are tied together like sticks, firewood, vegetables or flowers | 'tie' | - |
| kaki | long-stemmed flowers | 'leg' | - |
| kêrat | 'fragment' | - | |
| kuntum | flowers | 'blossom' | - |
| papan | bitter bean | 'board' | - |
| patah | words, proverbs | 'fragment' | - |
| pintu | houses in a row | 'door' | - |
| potong | slices of bread etc. | 'cut' | - |
| puntung | stumps, stubs, butt ends of firewood, cigarettes, teeth | stump | - |
| tangga | traditional houses with ladders | 'ladder' | - |
| tangkai | flowers | 'stem' | - |
| urat | threads, sinew | 'fiber, vein' | - |
| utas | nets, cords, ribbons | 'cord' | - |
Measure words are not necessary just to say "a": burung "a bird, birds". Using sê- plus a measure word is closer to English "one" or "a certain":
Verbs
Verbs are not inflected for person or number, and they are not marked for tense; tense is instead denoted by time adverbs or by other tense indicators, such as sudah "already" and belum "not yet". On the other hand, there is a complex system of verb affixes to render nuances of meaning and to denote voice or intentional and accidental moods, and it has many exceptions for its derivation. Some of these affixes are obsolete in colloquial speech.Examples of these include the prefixes:mêng- ;di- ;pêr- ;bêr- ; and têr-.
The suffixes include:
- -kan ; and-i.
A special case of one prefix combined with reduplication include:…-mêng-….
The prefix mêng- changes depending to the first consonant of the root. The variant mêngê- is used before monosyllabic roots.
The prefixes bêr- and têr- change to bê- and tê- when preceding initial r-, or preceding the first syllable which contains -êr-. The prefixes ber- and pêr- preserves an irregular -l- when prefixed to the word "to teach".
| Prefix | Initial consonant | Examples | Examples |
| mêng- | g h k | gulung → mênggulung hantar → mênghantar ajar → mêngajar isi → mêngisi | kênal → mêngênal |
| mêm- | b'' p f | bêli → mêmbêli | pilih → mêmilih |
| mên- | c d j sy t z | cabut → mêncabut dukung → mêndukung jawab → mênjawab | tulis → mênulis |
| mê- | l m n ny ng r w y | layang → mêlayang masak → mêmasak nanti → mênanti rampas → mêrampas | - |
| mêny- | s | - | surat → mênyurat |
| mêngê- | - | bom → mêngêbom | - |
Here is the example of derived forms of duduk:duduk "to sit down"mêndudukkan "to sit someone down, give someone a seat, to appoint"mênduduki "to sit on, to occupy"didudukkan "to be given a seat, to be appointed"diduduki "to be sat on, to be occupied"têrduduk "to sink down, to come to sit"kêdudukan "to be situated", "position"bêrsekedudukan "to cohabit"bêrkedudukan "to have position"pênduduk "resident"
Often the derivation changes the meaning of the verb rather substantially:tinggal "to reside, to live "meninggali "to reside, to live "bertinggal "to leave a message"mêninggal to die, to pass away mêninggalkan "to leave ", "to leave behind/abandon" ditinggalkan "to be left behind, to be abandoned"têrtinggal "to be left behind"kêtinggalan "to miss " pêninggalan "heritage"tinggalan "remnant"
Forms in têr- and kê-...-an are often equivalent to adjectives in English. In some verbs which derives from adjectives, like mêmanjang "to lengthen"; when affixed with ter- coincides with the superlative prefix ter-, effectively has the meaning "longest" instead of " lengthened", the meaning is served by reaffixed forms like têrpanjangi or têrpanjangkan''.
Negation
Four words are used for negation in Malay, namely tidak, bukan, jangan, and belum.Tidak negates verbs and adjectives.Bukan is used in the negation of a noun.For example:
| Malay | Gloss | English |
| Saya tidak tahu | I not know | I do not know |
| Ibu saya tidak sênang | mother I not be-happy | My mother is not happy |
| Itu bukan anjing saya | that be-not dog I | That is not my dog |
Function words
16 types of function words in Malay perform a grammatical function in a sentence. Amongst these are conjunctions, interjections, prepositions, negations and determiners.Adjectives
There are grammatical adjectives in Malay. Stative verbs are often used for the purpose as well. Adjectives are always placed after the noun that they modify. Hence, "rumah saya" means "my house", while "saya rumah" means "I am a house".| Malay | Gloss | English | Remarks |
| Hutannya hijau | forest its green | The forest is green | as in French la forêt verte |
| Kêreta yang merah | train/car which red | The red train/car | |
| Buku têrbêsar yang aku punya | book biggest which I have | The biggest book that i have | |
| Orang paling tampan yang aku têmui | person most handsome that I meet | The most handsome person I met |
To form superlatives, the prefix têr- is used, although alternatively there are some adverbs forming periphrastic superlatives like paling "the most".
Word order
Stative verbs, demonstrative determiners, and possessive determiners follow the noun they modify.Malay does not have a grammatical subject in the sense that English does. In intransitive clauses, the noun comes before the verb. When there is both an agent and an object, these are separated by the verb, with the difference encoded in the voice of the verb. OVA, commonly but inaccurately called "passive", is the basic and most common word order.
Either the agent or object or both may be omitted. This is commonly done to accomplish one of two things:
;1) Adding a sense of politeness and respect to a statement or question
For example, a polite shop assistant in a store may avoid the use of pronouns altogether and ask:
| Ellipses of pronoun | Literal English | Idiomatic English |
| Boleh/bisa dibantu? | Can + to be helped? | Can help ? |
;2) Agent or object is unknown, not important, or understood from context
For example, a friend may enquire as to when you bought your property, to which you may respond:
| Ellipses of pronoun | Literal English | Idiomatic English |
| Rumah ini dibêli lima tahun yang lalu | House this + be purchased five year ago | The house 'was purchased' five years ago |
Ultimately, the choice of voice and therefore word order is a choice between actor and patient and depends quite heavily on the language style and context.
Emphasis
Word order is frequently modified for focus or emphasis, with the focused word usually placed at the beginning of the clause and followed by a slight pause :Saya pêrgi kê pasar kêmarin "I went to the market yesterday" – neutral, or with focus on the subject.Kêmarin saya pêrgi kê pasar "Yesterday I went to the market" – emphasis on yesterday.Kê pasar saya pêrgi, kêmarin "To the market I went yesterday" – emphasis on where I went yesterday.Pêrgi kê pasar, saya, kêmarin "To the market went I yesterday" – emphasis on the process of going to the market.The last two occur more often in speech than writing.