Malay grammar

Root words are either nouns or verbs, which can be affixed to derive new words, e.g., masak (to cook) yields memasak (cooks, as a verb), memasakkan (cooks for), dimasak (cooked) as well as pemasak (a cook), masakan (a meal, cookery). Many initial consonants undergo mutation when prefixes are added: e.g., sapu (sweep) becomes penyapu (broom); panggil (to call) becomes memanggil (calls/calling), tapis (to sift) becomes menapis (sifts).

Other examples of the use of affixes to change the meaning of a word can be seen with the word ajar (teach):

• 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, education
• pengajaran = lesson, moral of story
• pembelajaran = learning
• terajar = taught (accidentally)
• terpelajar = well-educated, literally "been taught"
• berpelajaran = is educated, literally "has education"

There are four types of affixes, namely prefixes (awalan), suffixes (akhiran), circumfixes (apitan) and infixes (sisipan). 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:

The prefix per- drops its r before r, l and frequently before p, t, k. In some words it is peng-; though formally distinct, 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:

Adjective affixes are attached to root words to form adjectives:

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 (Kata Ganda or Kata Ulang) 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.

There are four types of words reduplication in Malay, namely

• Full reduplication (Kata Ganda Penuh (Malaysian) or Kata Ulang Utuh (Indonesian) or Dwilingga)
• Partial reduplication (Kata Ganda Separa (Malaysian) or Kata Ulang Sebagian (Indonesian) or Dwipurwa)
• Rhythmic reduplication (Kata Ganda Berentak (Malaysian) or Kata Ulang Salin Suara (Indonesian))
• Reduplication of meaning

Full reduplication is the complete duplication of the word, separated by a dash (-). For example, buku (book) when duplicated form buku-buku (books), while the duplicated form of batu (stone) is batu-batu (stones).

Partial reduplication repeats only the initial consonant of the word, such as dedaun (leaves) from the word daun (leaf), and tetangga (neighbor) from the word tangga (ladder). The words are usually not separated by spaces or punctuation, and is considered a single word.

Rhythmic reduplication repeats the whole word, but one or more of its phonemes are altered. For example, the word gerak (motion) can be reduplicated rhythmically to form gerak-gerik (movements) by altering the vowel. The reduplication can also be formed by altering the consonant, e.g., in sayur-mayur (vegetables [bundled for the market]) from the root word sayur (vegetable/vegetables [what is found on plate]).

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 (family terms, professions, etc.) have a form that does not distinguish between the sexes. For example, adik can refer to a younger sibling of either sex. To specify the natural gender of a noun, an adjective must be added: adik lelaki corresponds to "brother" but really means "male younger sibling". There are some words that are gendered. For instance, puteri means "princess" and putera means "prince"; words like these are usually borrowed from other languages (in this case, Sanskrit).

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, beberapa "some", or semua "all" that express plurality. In many cases, it simply isn't relevant to the speaker.

Reduplication is commonly used to emphasize plurality. However, reduplication has many other functions. For example, orang-orang means "(all the) 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". Some reduplication is rhyming rather than exact, as in sayur-mayur "(all sorts of) vegetables".

Distributive affixes derive mass nouns that are effectively plural: pohon "tree", pepohonan "flora, trees"; rumah "house", perumahan "housing, houses"; gunung "mountain", pe(r)gunungan "mountain range, mountains".

Quantity words come before the noun: səribu orang "a thousand people", beberapa pe(r)gunungan "a series of mountain ranges", beberapa kupu-kupu "some butterflies".

From the perspective of a European language, Malay boasts a wide range of different pronouns, especially to refer to the addressee (the so-called second person pronouns). 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:

Notable among the personal-pronoun system is a distinction between two forms of "we": kita (you and me, you and us) and kami (us, but not you). The distinction is increasingly confused in colloquial Indonesian.

Saya and aku are the two major forms of "I"; saya (or its literary / archaic form sahaya) is the more formal form, whereas aku is used with close acquittances like family and friends, and between lovers. Sa(ha)ya may also be used for "we", but in such cases it is usually used with sekalian or semua "all"; this form is ambiguous as to whether it corresponds with inclusive kami or exclusive kita. Less common are hamba "slave", hamba tuan, hamba datok (all extremely humble), beta (a royal addressing oneselves), patik (/pateʔ/, a commoner addressing a royal), kami (royal or editorial "we"), kita, teman (/təman/), and kawan (lit. "friend").

There are three common forms of "you", anda (polite), kamu (familiar), and kalian "y'all" (commonly used as a plural form of you, slightly informal). Anda is used in formal contexts like in advertisements and business or to show respect (though terms like tuan "sir" and other titles also work the same way), while kamu is used in informal situations. Anda sekalian or Anda semua are polite plural. Engkau orang —contracted to kau orang or korang—is used to address subjects plural in the most informal context.

Engkau (əŋkau, commonly shortened to kau) and hang (dialectical) are used to social inferiors or equals, awak to equals, and encik (/əntʃeʔ/, contracted to cik before a name) 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 (from tuan aku, "my lord") is used by commoners to address royal members.

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. Beliau (/bəliau/, "his/her Honour") is respectful. As with the English "you", names and kin terms are extremely common. Colloquially, dia orang (or its contracted form diorang) 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.

There are a large number of other words for "I" and "you", many regional, dialectical, or borrowed from local languages. Saudara (masc., "you") or saudari (fem., pl. saudara-saudara / saudari-saudari / saudara-saudari) show utmost respect. Daku ("I") and dikau ("you") are poetic or romantic. Indonesian gua ("I") and lu "you" are slang and extremely informal. In the dialect of the northern states of Malaysia - Kedah, Penang, Perlis and Perak (northern) typically hang is used as "you" (singular), 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 (whose seats are in Pekan and Kuala Kangsar respectively) were descendants of the same ancient line.

The informal pronouns aku, kamu, engkau, ia, kami, and kita are indigenous to Malay.

Aku, kamu, engkau, 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".

There are also proclitic forms of aku and engkau, ku- and kau-. These are used when there is no emphasis on the pronoun:

Ku-dengar raja itu penyakit sopak. Aku tahu ilmu tabib. Aku-lah mengubati dia.

"It has come to my attention that the Raja has a skin disease. I am skilled in medicine. I will cure him."

Here ku-verb is used for a general report, aku verb is used for a factual statement, and emphatic aku-lah meng-verb (≈ "I am the one who...") for focus on the pronoun.[2]

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".

There are no grammatical adjectives in Malay. Instead, stative verbs are used to describe various animate and inanimate objects, places and abstract concepts.

Four words are used for negation in Malay, namely tidak, bukan, jangan, and belum.

• Tidak (not), colloquially shortened to tak, is used for the negation of verbs and "adjectives".
• Bukan (be-not) is used in the negation of a noun.

For example:

• Jangan (do not!) is used for negating imperatives or advising against certain actions. For example,

Jangan tinggalkan saya di sini!

Don't leave me here!

• Belum is used with the sense that something has not yet been accomplished or experienced. In this sense, belum can be used as a negative response to a question.

Anda sudah pernah ke Indonesia, or Anda sudah pernah ke Indonesia belum?

Have you ever been to Indonesia before, (or not)?

Belum, saya masih belum pernah pergi ke Indonesia

No, I have not yet been to Indonesia

Orang itu belum terbiasa tinggal di Indonesia

That person is not (yet) used to living in Indonesia.

16 types of function words in Malay perform a grammatical function in a sentence.[4] Amongst these are conjunctions, interjections, prepositions, negations and determiners.

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 (a break in intonation):

• Saya pergi ke pasar ke(l)marin "I went to the market yesterday" – neutral, or with focus on the subject.
• Ke(l)marin saya pergi ke pasar "Yesterday I went to the market" – emphasis on yesterday.
• Ke pasar saya pergi, ke(l)marin "To the market I went yesterday" – emphasis on where I went yesterday.
• Pergi ke pasar, saya, ke(l)marin "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.