I am seriously thinking of starting a systematic on-line Malay course now, because there are not many on the net. I just found one entry for Malay course in the Omniglot on-line language course list. Though I still have not had a schedule, I have a good name for it. 🙂
As for now, I continue post my class notes here.
We learnt days of the week yesterday. Here is the cross table:
| hari Ahad / hari Minggu |
Sunday |
| hari Isnin |
Monday |
| hari Selasa |
Tuesday |
| hari Rabu |
Wednesday |
| hari Khamis |
Thursday |
| hari Jumaat |
Friday |
| hari Sabtu |
Saturday |
Don’t be surprised that you find a people named Selasa in Malasia. Most possibly, she was born on Tuesday.
We learnt the months also. They are very similar to those in English. But some of them, such as April and Januari, have different pronunciations in Malay.
| Januari |
January |
| Februari |
February |
| Mac |
March |
| April |
April |
| Mei |
May |
| Jun |
June |
| Julai |
July |
| Ogos |
August |
| September |
September |
| Oktober |
October |
| November |
November |
| Disember |
December |
Other things we learnt:
Sudah makan?
Have you eaten?
5112
Lima ribu satu ratus sebelas
312968
Tiga ratus dua belas ribu semilan ratus enum puluh lapan
9432801
Semilan juta empt ratus tiga puluh dua ribu lapant ratus satu
Kuah lebih
More soup
Umur
Age
Datuk
Grandfather
Tepat
Exactly
Tahun
Year
Hari ini
Today
Anak
Child
Dalam
In
Kereta
Car
Ini
This / These
Hari ini
Today
Itu
That /Those
Ibu/ama
Mother
Membeli
Buy
Berat
Heavy
Berat badannya
Weight
Dia
He/She
Memandu
drive
Sejauh
Distance of
Rumah
House
Tingkak
Level/Floor
Terakhir
Last
Bapa
Father
Beri
Give
Hari
Day
Isnin
Monday
Hari ini hari apt?
What is the day today?
Hari ini hari Jumaat
Today is Friday.
Ialah
Is
Semalah
Yesterday
Semalah hari apa?
What is the day yesterday?
Esok
Tomorrow
Esok hari apa?
What is the day of tomorrow?
Nama
Name
Thanks for the Malay lesson, Jacky. I’ve been interested in Malay for some time – I really should do more about it.
Numbers in different languages are always interesting to me. I think Japanese (and Chinese) numbers are so much more logical (and easier to listen to) than English. For example “thirty” and “thirteen” can be easily misheard if the speaker is sloppy, but no problem differentiating 三十 “san juu” and 十三 “juu san”.
I’m wondering about the translation for “datuk”. I suspect it is wider than grandfather, like “sensei” (せんせい) in Japanese which can be used for teacher, professor, doctor, respected elder, etc.
Yes, datuk is grandfather in Malay, but Datuk is an honorable title in Malaysia. Datuk Mahathir Mohammed, for example.
One important and interesting thing I learnt from this class is: English is a really, really difficult language.
In English, we have to worry about tense: is, was, has, will, has been doing, is doing…
I always wonder why I need to say, “I went to library yesterday.” Isn’t the “I go to library yesterday.” clear enough?
Another big headache in English is the Plural. Damn! I have to memory so many extra things.
In Chinese and Malay, I don’t have to worry about all these bloody things!