Colloquial

Malay

Colloquial Malay: The Complete Course for Beginners has been care-
fully developed by an experienced teacher to provide a step-by-step
course to Malay as it is written and spoken today.
Combining a clear, practical and accessible style with a methodical
and thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the
essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively
in Malay in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the
language is required.
Colloquial Malay is exceptional; each unit presents a wealth of
grammatical points that are reinforced with a wide range of exercises
for regular practice. A full answer key, a grammar summary, bilingual
glossaries and English translations of dialogues can be found at the
back as well as useful vocabulary lists throughout.
Key features include:

• A clear, user-friendly format designed to help learners progressively

build up their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills
• Jargon-free, succinct and clearly structured explanations of grammar
• An extensive range of focused and dynamic supportive exercises
• Realistic and entertaining dialogues covering a broad variety of
narrative situations
• Helpful cultural points explaining the customs and features of life
in Malay-speaking countries
• An overview of the sounds of Malay

Balanced, comprehensive and rewarding, Colloquial Malay is an indis-

pensable resource both for independent learners and students taking
courses in Malay.
Audio material to accompany the course is available to download
free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded
by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts
from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation
skills.

9780415572521_A01.indd 1 06-07-2015 4:08:39 PM

 The Colloquial Series
Series Adviser: Gary King

The following languages are available in the Colloquial series:

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English Persian Yiddish
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Colloquial 2s series: The Next Step in Language Learning

Chinese German Russian

Dutch Italian Spanish
French Portuguese of Brazil Spanish of Latin America

Colloquials are now supported by FREE AUDIO available online. All audio tracks
referenced within the text are free to stream or download from www.routledge.com/cw/
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9780415572521_A01.indd 2 06-07-2015 4:08:39 PM

Colloquial
Malay
The Complete Course
for Beginners

Zaharah Othman
 First published 1995
This second edition first published 2012
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 1995 Sutanto Atmosumarto and Zaharah Othman
© 2012 Zaharah Othman
The right of Zaharah Othman to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Zaharah Othman.
Colloquial Malay: the complete course for beginners / Zaharah Wan. — 2nd ed.
   p. cm. — (Colloquial 2s series: the next step in language learning)
Previous ed.: 1995.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Malay language—Conversation and phrase books—English. 2. Malay language—
Spoken Malay. I. Title.
PL5108.O85 2012
499′.2883421—dc23
2011020908

ISBN: 978-1-138-95860-9 (pbk)

Typeset in Avant Garde and Helvetica

by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong

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Contents

Malay transcription and pronunciation vii

1 Berkenalan 1
Getting acquainted
2 Maaf, saya tak faham 16
Sorry, I don’t understand
3 Mau ke mana? 35
Where to?
4 Nak keluar makan? 51
Want to go out and eat?
5 Membeli-belah 64
Shopping
6 Jangan! 78
Don’t!
7 Bila sampai? 90
When did you arrive?
8 Selamat Hari Raya 106
Happy Eid
9 Saya sakit kepala 125
I have a headache
10 Ada macam-macam 140
There are all sorts of things
11 Amboi, tinggi sungguh menara ni! 154
Wow, this tower is so tall!
12 Tak apa! 166
Never mind!
13 Entahlah! 174
I don’t know!
14 Helo, boleh saya bantu? 185
Hello, can I help?
vi Contents

15 Tiket dibeli minggu lepas 195

The tickets were bought last week

Key to exercises 207

Malay–English glossary 220
Index 228
Malay transcription and pronunciation vii

Malay transcription
and pronunciation

The Malay language, Bahasa Melayu, is an Austronesian language,

spoken in countries such as Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore,
central eastern Sumatra in Indonesia, and parts of the Philippines
and southern Thailand. Written in roman characters and without the
problematic elements of tone and gender found in other languages,
a student of the Malay language will find it easier to learn. All syllables
are pronounced almost equally and speakers of the Malay language
speak at a more flowing pace, almost singsong to the ear. Perhaps
the most challenging aspect of learning Malay would be the use of
classifiers or measure words, peculiar only to a handful of languages
in Asia, such as Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese and
Bengali. Another challenging aspect is the usage of prefixes and
suffixes.
In this edition of Colloquial Malay, attempts have been made to
teach Malay as it is spoken, as opposed to the way it is written. Malay
spoken across the region varies in dialect and accent; in Indonesia
it has a more staccato sound with a very distinct roll of the r, while
in Brunei Darussalam, the Malay spoken there is more similar to that
spoken in Sabah. Singapore Malay, while very similar to the Malay
spoken in Malaysia, has a rather distinct Singaporean element only
detectable by Malay speakers in the region. Within the Malay Peninsula
itself, there are many different accents with some words having
different meanings colloquially. Thus to have a truly Colloquial Malay
from the region is an impossible task.
It is impossible to learn a language without knowing its culture.
Therefore, where possible, applicable and relevant, there are culture
points, which usually follow a text.
While the basic elements of grammar in Malay remain the same,
its verb forms, nouns, adjectives and adverbs, prefixes, suffixes and
viii Malay transcription and pronunciation

the reduplication of words, sentence structure, spelling and pronun-

ciation may differ slightly.
This book has taken into account Malay as spoken every day, as
it evolves with the challenges of the modern world and the ever
increasing use of borrowed words, especially from Arabic, Sanskrit,
Chinese, Indian and Portuguese.
Similar to the English language, Malay uses a rising intonation for
yes-no questions.
In Malay, there are five vowels, a, e, i, o and u, and 34 consonants.
The vowels do not have an exact equivalent in English, while out
of the 34 consonants, six can be roughly pronounced as in English.
They are f, m, n, l, s and y. Pronunciation of the Malay consonants
and vowels is dealt with later in this section.

Word stress
There is no stress in the Malay word. Speakers of Malay do not depend
on stress to emphasise something but use intonation to express
emotions and attitudes. The Malay word is segmented into syllables
which receive almost equal stress, e.g. pa/pan (two syllables), ma/
ka/nan (three syllables), ke/sim/pu/lan (four syllables).
Malay speakers tend to shorten their words, dropping prefixes
and suffixes, all of which are understood in context. Here are some
examples of such words:

tetapi (but) tapi

sahaja (only) saja
tetamu (guest) tamu
kakak (elder sister) kak
abang (elder brother) bang

Kamu hendak pergi ke mana? (Where do you want to go?)

Kamu nak ke mana?

John mencuci muka. (John washes his face)

John cuci muka.

In some words, a glottal stop // can occur at the end, especially when
it ends with k, for example, kakak, but there are a few words which
Malay transcription and pronunciation ix

do not end with k but are actually pronounced as if there were a k.

The glottal stop, or rather the voiceless glotta plosive, is a type of
consonant sound used in many spoken languages and in Malay it is
represented by the letter k.
Here are a few examples:

nasi: pronounced as nasi(k)

bapa: pronounced as bapa(k)
pula: pronounced as pula(k)
juga: pronounced as juga(k)
bawa: pronounced as bawa(k)
ambil: pronounced as ambi(k)

Intonation
In Malay, as in English, a statement can be turned into a question
simply by using a rising intonation at the end of the statement,
especially in sentences requiring a yes/no answer.

Examples

Dia beli kereta baru. He bought a new car.

Dia beli kereta baru? He bought a new car?
John suami Mary. John is Mary’s husband.
John suami Mary? John is Mary’s husband?

A falling intonation is used for questions with question tags, e.g. what,
who, when.

Examples

Apa dia kata? What did he say?

Bila Heidi pergi? When did Heidi go?
Siapa guru kamu? Who is your teacher?

Pronunciation
In Malay there are five basic vowel phonemes: a, e, i, o and u.
Diphthongs or glides are made by combining one with another.
 x Malay transcription and pronunciation

Vowels (Audio 1:2–5)

a
There are two ways of pronouncing a, depending on its position
within a word. When it occurs in the initial position or in between two
consonants, it is pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘father’.

Examples
anak child taman garden
alamat address badan body
amalan practice sasaran target

When a occurs in the final position, it is pronounced like the ‘a’ in

the word ‘visa’.

Examples
ada to have bahaya dangerous
apa what mana where
acara event apabila when

When combined with i or u, a produces the diphthongs ai as in ‘bye’

or ‘tie’ and au as in ‘cow’ and ‘bow’.

Examples
baik good laut sea
naik to go up daun leaf
main to play pulau island

e (Audio 1:6)
There are two different ways to pronounce e in Malay. One is like
the ‘a’ in ‘ago’ or ‘amiss’. The other is somewhere between the ‘e’
in ‘bed’ and the ‘a’ in ‘bad’.
‘e’ as in ‘ago’ ‘e’ as in between ‘bed’ and ‘bad’

emas gold
enam six elak to avoid
empat four eja to spell
penat tired meja table
sedap delicious lelong to auction

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 Malay transcription and pronunciation xi

In words such as bela, it is most important to have the correct

pronunciation:

bela   to breed or to bring up     bela  to defend

i (Audio 1:7)
In the initial position, i is pronounced similarly to the English vowel
sound in ‘be’. When it occurs in the second syllable, after a first
syllable containing i, especially in between two consonants, the sound
is between i and e. This is because the old spelling used to be i  .  .  .  e,
while now it is i  .  .  .  i.

Examples

itu that bilik (pronounced as bilek) room

pintu door sisik (pronounced as sisek) scale
berdiri to stand titik (pronounced as titek) dot
mimpi to dream pilih (pronounced as pileh) to choose

o (Audio 1:8)
The Malay o is short, as in the English ‘saw’ or ‘door’.

Examples

soto a kind of soup botol bottle

kotor dirty orang people
kosong zero tonton to watch

When combined with /i/, o produces the diphthong /oi/: (Audio 1:9)

amboi (an exclamation)

u (Audio 1:10)
In an open syllable, this vowel sound is pronounced as in the
English ‘put’. In the list below the two /u’s/ are pronounced in the
same way.

Examples

susu milk sudu spoon

bulu hair cucu grandchild
kuku nail suhu temperature

9780415572521_A01.indd 11 06-07-2015 4:08:39 PM

 xii Malay transcription and pronunciation

In a closed syllable, /u/ is pronounced like the /o/ in Malay. The old
Malay spelling used to be /u/ followed by /o/. (Audio 1:11)
Examples

subuh (suboh) dawn musuh (musoh) enemy

luruh (luroh) to fall gunung (gunong) mountain
untuk (untok) for burung (burong) bird

Consonants

There are 24 consonants in the Malay alphabet. To help you understand

how to pronounce them, familiarize yourself with the following terms:

aspirated: followed by a puff of air. In English, there is a differ-

ence between the p in pin (aspirated) and the p in spin. Hold
your hand in front of your mouth while saying these two words,
and you will feel the difference!
voiced/voiceless: the difference between, for example, b and p
in English; in one you vibrate the vocal chords as you say it,
and in the other you don’t.
unreleased: no explosion in the production of /t/, /d/, /p/, /b/,
/k/, and /g/ in the final position.

t and d (Audio 1:12–14)

Unlike the English t, the t in Malay is not aspirated when it occurs in
the syllable-initial position (no puff of air) as in the English word ‘time’.
When one of these sounds replaces the other in a word, the meaning
changes.

Initial position
Examples
tari dance dari from
tahan to endure dahan branch
tua old dua two
talam tray dalam inside

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 Malay transcription and pronunciation xiii

Final position
d is usually devoiced (voiceless) when it occurs at the end of a word/
syllable, whereas t is pronounced unreleased.
Examples
abad century cepat quick
murid pupil tempat place
Ahad Sunday sempit narrow
abjad alphabet rumput grass

p and b (Audio 1:15–17)

p is voiceless, never aspirated and unreleased when it occurs in the
final position.
Examples
pagi morning tutup to close
petang afternoon tetap to fix
potong to cut atap roof
b is voiced. Note the difference in meaning when these two letters
replace each other in certain words.

Examples

bagi to give pagi morning

parang large knife barang things/object
puluh ten buluh bamboo
palang to cross balang a jar
In the final position in a word, both consonants, p and b, are
pronounced unreleased.
Examples
sebab because tangkap to catch
bab chapter dakap to embrace
Arab Arab cukup enough
lembab damp lengkap complete

k and g (Audio 1:18)

When k is in the initial position it is not aspirated, and when in the
final position it is pronounced unreleased, making it a glottal stop.

9780415572521_A01.indd 13 06-07-2015 4:08:39 PM

 xiv Malay transcription and pronunciation

The g in Malay is the counterpart of k and it is voiced and pronounced

very much like in the English word ‘go’. Note the contrast in meaning
in the pairs of words below when k is replaced by g or vice versa.

Examples
kelas class gelas glass
kakak elder sister gagak crow
kalah to defeat galah pole
karang to compose garang fierce

Here are some examples of k in the final position as a glottal stop.

(Audio 1:19)
anak child banyak plenty
pokok tree pekak deaf
ajak to invite pijak to step

c and j (Audio 1:20–21)

In Malay, c is pronounced as in the English word ‘choose’. j is pro-
nounced as in the English word ‘jump’. While c never appears in the
final position, j makes a rare appearance there in some words.

Examples
cari to find jari finger
acar pickle ajar to teach
garaj garage
faraj vagina

h (Audio 1:22–24)
h is pronounced as in the English words ‘hooray’ and ‘hello’. It can
be found in the initial, medial and final positions. It must be noted
that in the final position, the h must be pronounced audibly otherwise
it carries a different meaning.

Initial and medial positions

Examples
hari day dahan branch
hujan rain tuhan god
bahasa language dahaga thirsty

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 Malay transcription and pronunciation xv

Final position
Examples
guruh thunder guru teacher
darah blood dara virgin
mudah easy muda young

In the middle position and flanked by two different vowels, the h is

not usually pronounced.

written spoken meaning

tahu tau to know

mahu mau to want
pahit pait bitter
dahi dai forehead
When h is flanked by the same vowel, it is pronounced clearly.
Examples
sihir witchcraft mohon to apply/request
leher neck dahan branch

ng (Audio 1:25–28)
These two letters represent one sound, very much like the ‘ng’ in ‘sing’
and ‘ring’. When ng occurs in the initial and medial positions, it often
proves to be quite difficult for foreign speakers to pronounce.

Initial and medial positions

Examples
ngeri scary tengah middle
nganga to gape tangan hand
ngantuk sleepy jangan don’t

Final position
Examples
terbang to fly pulang to return
hilang to lose sarang nest
lubang hole subang earring

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 xvi Malay transcription and pronunciation

Combined ng and g
The three-letter combination ngg should be pronounced very much
like the Engish ‘ng’ in ‘angle’, ‘dongle’, ‘tango’, ‘bongo’, etc.

Examples

ganggu to disturb tangga stairs

bangga to feel proud tinggi tall/high
tinggal to live tanggal date

ny (Audio 1:29)
The two letters ny represent one phonemic unit and are pronounced
like the ‘ny’ in ‘Kenya’ and ‘canyon’.

Examples

nyanyi to sing nyamuk mosquito

nyawa life kenyang to be full
banyak plenty sunyi quiet

r (Audio 1:30)
r in Malay is similar to the English ‘r’, although it is rolled very gently,
especially when in the final position.

initial position syllable cluster final position

rasa to taste drama drama sabar to be patient

rosak faulty program programme besar big
roda wheel pra pre cabar to challenge

w (Audio 1:31)
The Malay w differs from the ‘w’ in English, as it is pronounced with
much less rounding of the lips.

Examples

wajib obligatory wajah face

warna colour tawar tasteless
kawan friend waktu time

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 Malay transcription and pronunciation xvii

kh (Audio 1:32)
These two letters are represented by one phonemic unit kh. Together
they sound like the ‘ch’ in the Scottish word ‘loch’ and can occur in
the beginning, in the middle and at the end of a syllable. Many of the
words with this sound have their origins in Arabic words.

initial middle final

khuatir to worry akhlak moral behaviour tarikh date

khabar news makhluk creature

sy (Audio 1:33)
These two letters give the sound ‘sh’ as in the English words ‘shame’,
‘shock’ or ‘shy’.

Examples

dasyat terrible syurga heaven

syukur to be grateful syarat terms
isyarat signal syampu shampoo

m, n, l, s, f, v, y and z are all similar to their English counterparts.

(Audio 1:34)
Examples

m makan to eat mandi to bathe

n nama name nampak to see
l lupa to forget lapar hungry
s siapa who sapu to sweep
f fikir to think filem film
v televisyen television
y yang that
z ziarah to visit

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 Unit One
Berkenalan
Getting acquainted

In this unit you will learn:

• how to introduce yourself and others
• pronouns
• greetings and how to say ‘thank you’: Apa khabar?
Terima kasih
• how to address people (formal and informal)
• about the Malay family and Malaysian society
• the question tag kah and how to give a yes/no answer
• the question word siapa?

Dialogue 1
(Audio 1:35)
Salleh and his older brother Badrul meet Sarah Green, a student on
an exchange programme. They get to know each other.

Salleh Apa khabar? Saya Salleh.

sarah Khabar baik. Nama saya Sarah Green.
Salleh Selamat datang ke Malaysia.
Ini abang saya Badrul.
sarah Terima kasih. Apa khabar, Badrul?
Badrul Baik. Anda dari England?
sarah Ya, saya dari England. Saya orang Inggeris.

9780415572521_C01.indd 1 06-07-2015 4:17:58 PM

2 Unit 1: Berkenalan

Salleh How are you? I am Salleh.

sarah Fine. My name is Sarah Green.
Salleh Welcome to Malaysia.
This is my brother Badrul.
sarah Thank you. How are you, Badrul?
Badrul Fine. Are you from England?
sarah Yes, I am from England. I am English.

Vocabulary
apa khabar? How are you? (literally: What news?)
saya I
khabar baik I am fine (literally: Good news)
nama name
selamat datang Welcome (literally: Safe arrival)
ke to (a place) (preposition)
terima kasih Thank you (literally: receive (with) love)
ini this
abang older brother
anda you (formal)
dari from (a place)
ya yes
orang people, person
Inggeris English
dan and

Language point
Personal and possessive pronouns

In Malay, there are several pronoun words with the same English
meaning but the ways of using them are different, especially when
you are talking to different people. This will be dealt with in depth in
the Culture points.
Unit 1: Getting acquainted 3

Note that personal pronouns and possessive pronouns share the

same form in Malay.
You will also notice that there is no gender in the Malay language;
for example, the third person dia can be male or female. When
spoken in context, you will understand the gender of the person
referred to. Once you are familiar with Malay names, this will become
easier.

saya, aku I, me, my, mine

anda, kamu, awak, you, your, yours
engkau, kau
dia he/she, him/her, his/hers
mereka they, them, their, theirs
kita we, our, us (including person spoken to)
kami we, our, us (excluding person spoken to)
ia it, its

Examples
Anda Sarah. You are Sarah.
Nama anda David. Your name is David.
Ini anda punya. This is yours.
Saya Salleh. I am Salleh.
Nama saya Salleh. My name is Salleh.
Ini saya punya. This is mine.
Dia suka saya. She likes me.

Note that the third-person plural mereka ‘they’ is hardly used in

spoken Malay. Instead, the term more commonly used is dia orang,
literally ‘them people’. However, this must not be confused with dia
orang Inggeris ‘he is English’.

Example
Mereka kawan saya. or Dia orang kawan saya.
They are my friends.

In spoken Malay, many words are shortened, and what you hear is
not how these words are spelt. For example, the word itu ‘that’ is
almost always shortened to tu and the word ini ‘this’ shortened to
ni. Throughout the course you will notice that there are many words
that are shortened in spoken Malay.
4 Unit 1: Berkenalan

Examples

orang tu that person

nak (hendak) to want
tau (tahu) to know

Culture point
Greetings

In Dialogue 1, Salleh greets Sarah with Apa khabar?, which literally

means ‘What news?’, and the answer is Khabar baik, which literally
means ‘Good news’ or simply baik ‘good’. However, note that when
Muslims greet each other, they almost always say:
Assalamualaikum ‘Peace be upon you’.
And the reply is:
Wa’alaikumussalam ‘And peace be upon you too’.
(Borrowed words will be dealt with in Unit 11.)

A handshake is the norm when greeting people. However, as Malaysia

is predominantly a Muslim country, you will find that some people are
hesitant to shake the hands of people of the opposite sex.
A fact worth noting is that when some Malaysian Muslims are about
to do their prayers they perform their ablutions, so touching or being
in contact with a person of the opposite sex would mean he/she would
have to perform their ablutions all over again, thus the reluctance to
shake hands. But this must not be taken as a rebuff.
A nod of the head and a smile sometimes would suffice if you are
not sure.
How about a peck on the cheek? This depends on how close you
are to that person. An overt display of affection is certainly not the
thing to do.
Hand kissing is the norm when a younger person meets an older
person. This is done as a sign of respect, especially among family
members.
When you enter a hotel or a restaurant, the person greeting you
will put his/her right hand on the chest just below the left shoulder,
like this:
Unit 1: Getting acquainted 5

Language point
Countries, languages and nationalities

When Sarah introduces herself she says:

Saya orang Inggeris.   I am an English person.

Put the words negara ‘country’, bahasa ‘language’ and orang ‘person’
before the name of a country and you get the country, language and
nationality. While quite a few country names are the same as in English,
except perhaps for a slight difference in spelling, some have totally
different names in Malay.
See the following table for some examples.

Country Language Nationality

negara Jepun ‘Japan’ bahasa Jepun ‘Japanese’ orang Jepun ‘Japanese’

negara Jerman ‘Germany’ bahasa Jerman ‘German’ orang Jerman ‘German’
negara Belanda bahasa Belanda ‘Dutch’ orang Belanda ‘Dutch’
‘the Netherlands’
negara Perancis ‘France’ bahasa Perancis ‘French’ orang Perancis ‘French’
6 Unit 1: Berkenalan

Exercise 1
Translate the following into Malay.

1 This is James. He is John’s older brother.

2 They are English.
3 That’s Andre and Anna. They are French.
4 Yoko is Japanese. She speaks Japanese.
5 Ingrid and Johan like Germany.
6 Gopal works in Holland.

Vocabulary
bercakap to speak bekerja to work
suka to like di in/at

Language point
Compound nouns

A noun can be qualified by another noun or nouns to produce a

compound noun. In the English language, the qualifiers come before
the noun they qualify, but in Malay it is the opposite. Therefore, if the
English word order is 1, 2, 3 then the order in Malay is 3, 2, 1.

Examples

Salleh’s (older) brother (1, 2) abang Salleh (2, 1)

my (older) brother’s name (1, 2, 3) nama abang saya (3, 2, 1)
(an) English person (1, 2) orang Inggeris (2, 1)
my friend (1, 2) kawan saya (2, 1)
my (older) brother’s friend (1, 2, 3) kawan abang saya (3, 2, 1)

However, the basic sentence structure in Malay is similar to English

when a verb is involved.

Examples

I work (1, 2) saya bekerja (1, 2)

she likes me (1, 2, 3) dia suka saya (1, 2, 3)
you eat bread (1, 2, 3) anda makan roti (1, 2, 3)