The Malay Language or Bahasa Malaysia (BM) is taught to all Malaysians in school, though Malaysians may pick up different dialects regionally. However as English is widely spoken in Malaysian cities, do not worry about not knowing some phrases like you would in other countries where English is not the second language, unless you are heading towards rural areas. Adjectives always follow the noun. For example : kereta (car) and besar (big) together kereta besar means a big car, so cantik (nice or beautiful), kereta cantik means nice car, and so on. In sentence construction, the structure is subject-verb-object: Dia (he / she) suka (loves / likes) membaca (reading) forum TripAdvisors. Dia suka membaca Forum TripAdvisors = He / She loves reading TripAdvisors Forum. Usually when greeting a Malay, the traditional greeting is Apa khabar? means What news, and similar in function to How are you?, to which the reciprocated reply is Khabar baik - literally translates to good news but essentially meaning I am fine. Before starting off with some words and phrases, lets look at the general pronounciation guidelines: a as in car. apa-what: makan- eat ai as in aisle. kedai-shop; sungai-river au as in how. pulau-island; jauh- far This is mentioned as many visitors will be going to Malaysias beautiful islands and may want to find out if it is far to get there. c as in chat. capal-sandal; cinta- love e as in early. membeli - to buy; besar- big g as in go, and not gem. pergi- go; guru- teacher gg as in single. ringgit- Malaysian currency denomination; tetangga- household h as in halt. mahal-expensive; murah-cheap i as in feet. minum-to drink; lagi- again j as in judge. jalan- street; juta-million ng as in singing.sangat-very: bunga-flower ny as in onion. minyak- petrol/oil; banyak- alot o as in hop. orang- people; tolong- help u as in pool. ukiran- carving; minum- to drink (see above for i) . There is one appendage that is widely used here and expats and even visitors have come to getting used to. It is lah. Its purpose is purely emphatic e.g. the Chinatown traders may utter, cannot-lah when you are trying to bargain. Many Malaysians use both Malay and English in everyday speaking, even throwing in some words from other languages commonly spoken by the many races here. This mash of different languages is known as Manglish (a mash-up of the word mangled with Malay and English). Lah is liberally used in Manglish. Example of Manglish: Semalam, I pergi see show di Saloma, I tell you I jatuh cinta dengan main performer, dia bukan main cute lah. In English: YLast night, I went to see a show at Saloma and I fell in love with the main performer. who is so cute. Below are some useful phrases which will impress the locals, followed by a few phrases for the food buff so that in ordering chicken, beef is not served up. So, let start off on a good note: Welcome to Malaysia- Selamat Datang Ke Malaysia. Good Morning- Selamat Pagi Good afternoon -Selamat tengah hari Good evening - Selamat petang Good night -Selamat malam Good bye- Selamat tinggal Jumpa lagi - see you again Yes- Ya (as in German yes) No - Tidak Thank you- Terima kasih (Thank you very much - Terima kasih banyak banyak or in writing ribuan terimakasih) Please sit down - Sila duduk Please come in - Sila masuk Please - Sila Excuse me- tumpang lalu I come from - Saya datang dari.. My name is - Nama saya... What is your name - Siapa nama anda (though in a advertisement with little kids getting to know each other-- the kids asked - apa nama, which is also acceptable) Can you speak Bahasa Malaysia - Boleh cakap bahasa Melayu I like it here - Saya suka berada di sini Where are you going- pergi ke mana I am going to ..Saya pergi ke.... Turn right -belok kanan : turn left - belok kiri ; go straight - jalan terus Junction - simpang Please stop here- Sila berhenti di sini.... How much - Berapa harga Thats too expensive - Mahal sangat (mahal is also the Philippines Tagalog for expensive) Can you reduce the price - Boleh kurang? Wait a minute - Tunggu sekejap (usually when the shop assistance has to refer to his/her boss or a senior person) I would like to change money -Saya hendak tukar duit/wang Could I make an enquiry - Tumpang tanya (useful if you feel lost) Where is the toilet - Di mana tandas...? In the back - di belakang ; over there- di sana ; over here- di sini What time is it - jam/pukul berapa sekarang? One thirty or half past one- pukul satu setengah Quarter past one - pukul satu suku Quarter to one - Suku sebelum pukul satu what time does the bus leave -pukul berapa bas bertolak (bus- bas ; plane- kapal terbang ; boat - sampan ; ship- perahu; train - kereta api) Since you will be bargaining and exchanging money, words for numbers may be helpful: 1 -Satu 2- Dua 3- Tiga 4- Empat 5- Lima 6- Enam 7- Tujuh 8- Lapan 9 - Sembilan 10 -Sepuluh 11 - Sebelas 12- Dua belas 13- Tiga belas 20 - Dua puluh 21- Dua puluh satu 100- Seratus 101- Seratus satu 105- Seratus lima 1000- Seribu 3000- Tiga ribu 3030 - Tiga ribu tiga puluh 3330 - Tiga ribu tiga ratus tiga puluh 1,000,000- Sejuta Here are some useful words, which could help in moving around Airport -lapangan terbang post office - pejabat pos shop - kedai money- duit, wang hour- jam ; minute -minit ; day - hari week - minggu Mr- Encik, Tuan Mrs- Puan Miss -Cik The higher echelon of Malaysian society are given titles of Dato, Datuk, Dato Seri, Tan Sri or Tun, and they are addressed by their title. Generally, a Datuks wife is addressed as Datin, the Tan Sris wife is Puan Sri, and a Tuns wife is Toh Puan. However, husbands are not given courtesy titles and are to be addressed by their own titles, if any, otherwise it is Encik or Tuan. When you address a significantly older Malay man, you may call him Pakcik and a lady Makcik. Someone obviously younger can be addressed as Adik. For a man of similar age or slightly older than you, the term would be Abang or Bang (pronounced bung); whereas a slightly older woman would be Kakak or more commonly Kak. I- saya you (to someone the same age- awak, anda or kita) But kita applies in Borneon Malaysia only. you (formal) encik he, she- dia we- kami (excluding the speaker), kita(including the speaker). E.g. Barang kita - if the goods (barang) belongs to both the speaker and the person he/she is talking to-kita is one they- mereka what- apa; who-siapa; where(place) - di mana: where(direction)- ke mana; when- bila; why-mengapa; how- bagaimana; mengapa - why; which - yang mana to eat- makan ; to drink- minum; to sleep - tidur; to bathe- mandi; And now, to words for food:- bread- roti daging - meat cow - lembu beef- daging lembu chicken -ayam (ah-yarm) fish - ikan (ee-karn) vegetables- sayur fried noodles- mee goreng fried rice- nasi goreng simmered noddles- mee rebus salt- garam ; sugar- gula; spicy - pedas delicious- sedap a cup of coffee - kopi satu (black coffee- kopi o ; coffee with milk - kopi susu). If you do not want it sweet- kurang manis, for no sugar- tanpa gula. a cup of tea - teh satu ( a favourite tea Malaysian like is called teh tarik, and more ginger tea- teh halia) ice lemon tea - teh o limau (if want ice- teh o ais limau) water - air (ah-yayr) air- udara Add- tambah (e.g. if you want to add rice - tambah nasi) big- besar ; small- kecil Pasar - market On a final note, since Malaysia was under the British administration, most products have English labels and even food stalls and coffee shops will display their food signs in English.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 11:51:00 +0000