Chapter IV: Introduction (2)

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[Footnote 32: Journ. Ind. Arch., v. 572.]

[Footnote 33: Crawfurd, Malay Grammar, Dissertation ccii.]

[Footnote 34: These two words must have been originally used by
Malays in the sense which they bear in Sanskrit. "Unto the shoes
of my lord's feet," or "beneath the dust of your majesty's feet,"
are phrases in which _paduka_ and _duli_ would immediately precede
the name or title of the person addressed. Being thus used always
in connection with the titles of royal or distinguished persons,
the two words have been taken for honorific titles, and are so
used by Malays, unaware of the humble origin of what are to them
high-sounding words.]

The incidents of Asiatic government have caused the introduction into the Malay language of such terms as the following, among others:--

The groups of words remaining to be noticed are those connected with the Hindu religion, and with the demon-worship or spirit-worship, which was the earliest form which the religious sentiment took among the Malay tribes.[35] After the conversion of the Malays to the faith of Muhammad, the traditions of Hinduism were gradually confused with the aboriginal superstitions, and neither have been entirely obliterated by the cult which superseded them. The belief in the power of malignant spirits to cause misfortune, sickness, and death is still strong among the Malays, whose _pawangs_ or medicine-men claim to be able to propitiate demons by spells, prayers, and offerings. These men frequently invoke benevolent spirits by the names of Rama, Vishnu, and other Hindu deities, in complete ignorance that they are Hindu,[36] to counteract the evil influences of malevolent demons. Practices of this sort prevail most generally in places remote from Arab influence.

[Footnote 35: "The Javanese have peopled the air, the woods and
rivers with various classes of spirits, their belief in which
probably constituted their sole religion before the arrival of the
Bramins." --_Crawfurd's Grammar_, _Dissertation_ cxcix.]

[Footnote 36: "The Javanese consider all the Hindu gods of their
former belief not as imaginary beings, but as real demons"
(_Ibid._), just as the early Christians regarded the classic gods,
and attributed oracles to diabolical agency.]

The Malays did not altogether discard the theological terms of Hinduism when they adopted a new religion. For instance, _puâsa_,[37] abstinence, fasting (Sansk. _upavâsa_), is used to express the annual fast of the Muhammadans during the month Ramzan. Heaven and hell also retain their Sanskrit names.

[Footnote 37: J., S., Mak., D., and Bis. _puasa_; Bat. _puaso_.]

The following are some of the principal theological terms which have passed from Sanskrit into Malay:--

DEITIES, &c.

DEMONS, &c.

[Footnote 38: "_Agama_ in Sanskrit is 'authority for religious
doctrine:' in Malay and Javanese it is religion itself, and is at
present applied both to the Mohammedan and the Christian
religions." --_Crawfurd_, _Malay Grammar_, _Dissertation_
cxcviii.]

[Footnote 39: I have found both these words used separately and
distinctly by Pawangs in the state of Perak. Raffles and Logan
confused them. Journ. Ind. Arch., i. 309; History of Java, ii.
369. De Backer mentions _ong_ only. L'Archipel. Indien, p. 287]

A remarkable instance of the extent to which the Malay language has been enriched by Aryan terms is to be found in their national or racial name. The origin of the word _Malayu_ (the native word from which we obtain our "Malay") has been made the subject of some discussion by several authors. Some are disposed to trace it to the Sanskrit word _malaya_, while others prefer to regard it as a purely native word. These views are summarised in the following extract from the introduction to the Malay Grammar of the Abbé Favre:--

"Some authors, and particularly Dr. Leyden, whose authority in this matter is of great weight, derive the word _malayu_ from the Tamil _malé_, which means 'mountain,' whence _malaya_, 'chain of mountains,' a word applied in Sanskrit to the Western Ghauts.

"Marsden asserts that this opinion, being founded upon a mere resemblance of sound between the Sanskrit word _malaya_ and the name of the Malay people, is not sufficient to justify this derivation.[40]

"Nevertheless the opinion of Dr. Leyden has continued to command belief, and has been regarded as not altogether unfounded by M. Louis de Backer, who has recently published a work on the Indian Archipelago.[41]

"Another theory, which has the support of Werndly,[42] is so far simple and rational that it seeks the etymology of this word in the traditions of the Malays and in books written by themselves. Thus, in a work which has the greatest authority among them, and which is entitled _Sul[-a]lates-sal[-a]tin_, or _Sej[-a]rat mal[-a]yu_, the following passage occurs:--

[Transcriber's Note:
In the following paragraph, transliterations from Arabic are shown
between #marks#. The words "jehudi" and "yehudi" were transliterated
in the original text, so the Arabic has not been repeated.]

"'There is in the island of Sumatra an ancient kingdom called Palembang, opposite to the island of Banka; a river flows there which is still called Tatang, into the upper portion of which another river falls, after having watered the spurs of the mountain Maha Meru (which Malay princes claim as the cradle of their origin); the tributary is called _Melayu_, or _Malayu_.' The meaning of this word is 'to flow quickly' or 'rapidly,' from _layu_, which in Javanese as well as in the dialect of Palembang signifies 'swift, rapid;' it has become _laju_, _melaju_, in Malay by the conversion of #y# into #j#, a change which is by no means rare in Malay, as it may be seen in #jut# and #judi#,[43] from the Sanskrit _ayuta_ and _yodi_, and in _jehudi_, from the Arabic _yehudi_, &c.

"Now the Malays, an essentially nautical people, are in the habit of settling along the banks of rivers and streams, whence it comes that a great number of their towns have taken the names of the rivers on or near which they are situated, such as Johor, Pahang, &c. In this way 'the country situated near the river of which the current is rapid,' _Sungei Malayu_, would take the name of _Tanah Malayu_, and the inhabitants of this country (governed in those times by a chief named Demang Lebar Daun) that of _Orang Malayu_, just as the inhabitants of Johor and Pahang are called _Orang Johor_, _Orang Pahang_; and their language is called _Bahasa Orang Malayu_ or _Bahasa Malayu_.

"The name of _Malayu_ thus applied to the people and to the language spread with the descendants of Demang Lebar Daun, whose son-in-law, Sang Sapurba, became king of Menangkabau or Pagar Ruwang, a powerful empire in the interior of Sumatra. A grandson of Demang Lebar Daun, named Sang Mutiaga, became king of Tanjong Pura. A second, Sang Nila Utama, married the daughter of the queen of Bentan, and immediately founded the kingdom of Singapore, a place previously known as Tamassak. It was a descendant of his, Iskander Shah, who founded the empire of Malacca, which extended over a great part of the peninsula; and, after the capture of Malacca by the Portuguese, became the empire of Johor. It is thus that a portion of the Indian Archipelago has taken the name of _Tanah Malayu_, 'Malay country.'

"One of the granddaughters of Demang Lebar Daun was married to the Batara or king of Majapahit, a kingdom which extended over the island of Java and beyond it; and another was married to the Emperor of China, a circumstance which contributed not a little to render the name of _Malayu_ or Malay known in distant parts."[44]

[Footnote 40: Malay Grammar, Introduction.]

[Footnote 41: L'Archipel Indien, p. 53.]

[Footnote 42: Maleische Spraakkunst, door G. H. Werndly p. xix.]

[Footnote 43: The derivation of _judi_, gaming, from _dyuta_ (game
at dice), seems to be preferable to that adopted by M. Favre
(following Van der Tuuk), who refers it to _yodi_, a warrior.]

[Footnote 44: Favre, Grammaire de la Langue Malaise, Introduction,
viii.]

This theory requires that we should suppose that a word of wide application, which is known wherever Malays have established themselves, is, in fact, a Malay word disguised in a form found only in Javanese and the dialect of Palembang. If the arguments adduced in support of it are to apply, we must first of all admit the very doubtful historical accuracy of the _Sejarah Malayu_, from which they are drawn.

There is a Malay word, _layu_, which means "faded," "withered," and it is only the exigency of finding a word applicable to a river that makes it necessary to look for a derivation in _laju_, swift. In this or some kindred sense the word _laju_ is found in Javanese, Sundanese, and Dayak; but why it should give its name, in the form of _layu_, to a river in Sumatra, and thence to the whole Malay race, is not very obvious. A river named in consequence of its swift current would be called by Malays _Sungei Laju_, not _Sungei Malaju_. Even if the derivation of Malayu from _melaju_ had the support of the Malays themselves, Malay etymologies are not often safe guides. Not much, for instance, can be said in favour of the fanciful derivation of Sumatra from _semut raya_, "large ant," which is given by the author of the _Sâjarah Malayu_.[45]

[Footnote 45: Leyden's Malay Annals, 65.]

It is impossible to treat the story of Sang Sapurba, the first Malay raja, as historical. The name, "Maha-Meru," sufficiently shows that we are upon mythological ground. The story is as follows:-- Three young men descend from the heavens of Indra (_ka indra-an_) upon the mountain Maha-Meru, on the slopes of which they meet two women who support themselves by planting hill-padi. Supernatural incidents mark the advent of the strangers. The very corn in the ground puts forth ears of gold, while its leaves become silver and its stalks copper. One of the new-comers rides on a white bull, and carries a sword called _Chora_ (Sansk. _kshura_, a razor) _samandang-kini_. They are received by the natives of the district (Palembang) and made rajas. He who rides the bull becomes king of Menangkabau, and the other two receive minor kingdoms.

It is not difficult to recognise here certain attributes of the god Çiva, with which, by a not unnatural confusion of ideas, Muhammadan Malays, the recipients of the old traditions, have clothed their first raja.

Maha-Meru, or Sumeru, on which are the abodes of the gods, is placed by Hindu geographers in the centre of the earth. _Malaya_ is mentioned in the _Puranas_ as a mountain in which the Godavari and other rivers take their rise. The white bull of Sang Sapurba is evidently the _vahan_ of Çiva, and the name of the sword bears a close resemblance to _manda-kini_, the name given in heaven to the sacred Ganges, which springs from the head of Çiva. Most of the incidents in the story, therefore, are of purely Hindu origin, and this gives great probability to the conjecture which assigns a Sanskrit source to the word _Malayu_. The Straits of Malacca abound with places with Sanskrit names. Not to speak of Singha-pura, there are the islands of Langka-wi and Lingga and the towns of Indragiri and Indrapura, &c. Sumeru (in Java), Madura, Ayuthia (in Siam), and many other names, show how great Indian influences have been in past times in the far East. May it not be, therefore, that _Malaya_ or _Malayu_[46] was the name by which the earliest Sanskrit-speaking adventurers from India denominated the rude tribes of Sumatra and the peninsula with whom they came in contact, just as _Jawi_ is the name given to Malays by the Arabs, the term in either case being adopted by the people from those to whom they looked up with reverence as their conquerors or teachers? According to this view, the introduction of a river, _Malayu_, into the story of Sang Sapurba is an _ex post facto_ way of explaining the name, inserted with this object by the native author of the _Sâjarah Malayu_.

[Footnote 46: Besides signifying a range of mountains, _Malaya_
has the secondary meaning of "a garden." If the term was applied
originally in reference to the agricultural pursuits of the
primitive tribes, it receives additional illustration from the
name given to one of the women whom Sang Sapurba meets on Mount
Maha-Meru, "_Malini_," a gardener's wife (Sansk.).]

If it be granted that the story of Sang Sapurba is mythological, it becomes unnecessary to follow any attempt to show that the name of _Malayu_ received additional celebrity from the marriages of granddaughters of Demang Lebar Daun with the Batara of Majapahit and the Emperor of China! The contemptuous style in which Malay, Javanese, and other barbarian rajas are spoken of by ancient Chinese historians leaves but slender probability to the legend that an Emperor of China once took a Malay princess as his wife.[47]

[Footnote 47: See Groeneveldt's Notes on the Malay Archipelago,
compiled from Chinese sources. Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch
Genootschap, xxxix.]

From this subject it is natural to proceed to another disputed etymology, namely, the origin of the word _Jawi_, which is often used by the Malays for the word _Malayu_ in speaking of their language and written character, _bahasa jawi_ meaning Malay language, and _surat jawi_ a document written in Malay. It is not necessary to go into all the various conjectures on the subject, which will be found in the works of Marsden, Crawfurd, Favre, and others.

_Jawi_ is a word of Arab origin, and is formed in accordance with the rules of Arabic grammar from the noun _Jawa_, Java. Just as from _Makah_, Meccah, is derived the word _Makk-i_, of or belonging to Meccah, so from _Jawa_, Java, we get _Jawi_, of or belonging to Java. When this name was first applied to Malays, the Arabs had not an accurate knowledge of the ethnography of the Eastern Archipelago. Without very strict regard to ethnical divergencies, they described all the brown races of the eastern islands under the comprehensive and convenient term _Jawi_, and the Malays, who alone among those races adopted the Arabic alphabet, adopted also the term in speaking of their language and writing.[48]

[Footnote 48: "_Sawa_, _Jawa_, _Saba_, _Jaba_, _Zaba_, &c., has
evidently in all times been the capital local name in Indonesia.
The whole Archipelago was compressed into an island of that name
by the Hindus and Romans. Even in the time of Marco Polo we have
only a _Java Major_ and a _Java Minor_. The Bugis apply the name
of Jawa, _Jawaka_ (comp. the Polynesian _Sawaiki_, Ceramese
_Sawai_) to the Moluccas. One of the principal divisions of
Battaland in Sumatra is called _Tanah Jawa_. Ptolemy has both Jaba
and Saba." --_Logan_, _Journ. Ind. Arch._, iv. 338.]

As in Malay there are no inflexions to denote change of number, gender, or person, the connection of _Jawi_ with _Jawa_ is quite unknown to the Malays, just as the second part of the word _senamaki_ (_sena-maki_, senna of Meccah[49]) is not suspected by them to have any reference to the sacred city. There is a considerable Malay and Javanese colony in Meccah,[50] where all are known to the Meccans indiscriminately as _Jawi_.

[Footnote 49: _Senna_ (_Cassia senna_), as a medicine, enjoys a
high reputation in India and all over the East. In Favre's
Malay-French Dictionary _daun sena-maki_ is translated _feuilles
de séné_, no notice being taken of the last word; but Shakespear's
Hindustani Dictionary has _sena makk-i_, "senna of Mecca."]

[Footnote 50: Burton's Pilgrimage to Medinah and Meccah, p. 175.]

Marsden devotes several pages of the introduction to his Malay Grammar to a discussion as to the origin and use of the expression _orang di-bawah angin_, people below the wind, applied by Malays to themselves, in contradistinction to _orang di-atas angin_, people above the wind, or foreigners from the West. He quotes from De Barros and Valentyn, and from several native documents, instances of the use of these expressions, but confesses his inability to explain their origin. Crawfurd quotes these terms, which he considers to be "native," and remarks that they are used by the Malays alone of all the tribes in the Archipelago. A much more recent writer characterises these terms as "_Noms dont on ignore encore la vraie signification_."[51]

[Footnote 51: De Backer, L'Archipel Indien, li. (Paris, 1874).]

The expression is not of Malay origin, but is a translation into that language of an Arabic phrase. Instances of its use occur in the "MOHIT" (the ocean), a Turkish work on navigation in the Indian seas, written by Sidi al Chelebi, captain of the fleet of Sultan Suleiman the Legislator, in the Red Sea. The original was finished at Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat, in the last days of Muharram, A.H. 962 (A.D. 1554). It enumerates, among others, "the monsoons below the wind, that is, of the parts of India situated below the wind," among which are "Malacca, Shomotora, Tanassari, Martaban, and Faiku (Pegu)."[52]

[Footnote 52: Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, iii. 545.]

TRANSLITERATION OF MALAY IN THE ROMAN CHARACTER.

Malay is written in a character which has been borrowed from a foreign literature in comparatively modern times, and which but imperfectly suits its sounds. With the introduction of the Muhammadan religion, the Malays adopted the Arabic alphabet, modified to suit the peculiarities of their language.

In Malay literary compositions there is great diversity in the manner of spelling many words. The accentuation of the spoken dialect differs so much from Arabic, that it is difficult, even for native writers, to decide when to write the long vowels and when to leave them out. This is the point in which diversity is most common.

Every European author who writes Malay in the Roman character has to decide on what system he intends to render the native language by means of our alphabet. The Malay alphabet has thirty-four letters, so it is obvious that ours will not accurately correspond with it. It is open to him, if he wishes to obtain a symbol to correspond with every letter of the Malay alphabet, to employ various means to denote those letters for which we have no equivalents; or he may dismiss the native alphabet from his mind altogether, and determine to write the language phonetically. In a language, however, which abounds in Sanskrit and Arabic words, he should, of course, avoid the adoption of any system of spelling which would disguise the true origin of words of foreign derivation.

Muhammadans from India or Persia introduced their own method of writing among the Malays. They wrote Malay in their own character (to the gradual supersession of any native alphabet that may have previously existed), and this became the alphabet of the Malays.

It is now our turn to write Malay in our character. Is it sufficient to do this in our own way, as those did who introduced the Perso-Arabic alphabet, or must we also have regard to the mode of spelling adopted by the latter?

In an elementary work like the present, it does not seem to be necessary to burden the student with a system of transliteration. The native character is not employed in this manual, and there is, therefore, all the less occasion for using special means for denoting peculiar native letters. It will be found that the mode of spelling Malay words adopted by Marsden has been followed in the main.[53] In this Introduction the long vowels (that is, the vowels which are written in full in the native character) are marked with a circumflex accent, but it has not been thought necessary to adopt this system in the body of the work.

[Footnote 53: In certain foreign words the hard _k_ will be found
to be denoted by a dot under the letter, thus, [k.]; and the
peculiar vowel sound represented in Arabic by the letter _ain_ is
denoted by the Greek rough breathing `.]

Sometimes vowels will be found marked with the short sign, [)]. This is only for the purpose of assisting the student in pronunciation, and does not represent any peculiarity in the native character.

The vowels are to be sounded in general as in the languages of the Continent of Europe. Final _k_ is mute.

The correct pronunciation of Arabic words is aimed at by Malays of education, and the European student should get the right sounds of the vowel _ain_ and of the more peculiar Arabic consonants explained to him.

MALAY MANUAL.

_PART I._

The object of this work is to facilitate the acquisition of an elementary knowledge of the Malay language. It is believed also that some of the hints and suggestions which it contains will be of use to those who already have a colloquial knowledge of Malay, especially if this has been acquired from Indian or Chinese settlers in the Straits of Malacca, not from Malays themselves.

The Roman character is used throughout, but a knowledge of the native character can hardly be dispensed with by those who aim at a thorough acquaintance with the language. As it abounds in idiomatic expressions, the study of native compositions is most important, and these are generally to be found only in the Malay character. Little attempt is made at scientific arrangement. In dealing with the various parts of speech, technical terms are as far as possible avoided, and reliance is placed rather on illustrations than abstract rules. The student should divest himself of the expectation that sentences may be formed in Malay on principles of construction which govern composition in European languages. An elementary knowledge of Malay is so easily acquired that a learner soon begins to construct sentences, and the tendency, of course, is to reproduce the phrases of his own language with words of the new one. He may thus succeed in making himself intelligible, but it need hardly be said that he does not speak the language of the natives. Correctness of expression cannot be entirely learnt from grammars. In this manual cautions and hints will be given, and, where possible, absolute rules will be laid down, but these must not be regarded as complete. Instruction derived from books must be supplemented by constant practice in speaking _with Malays_--not with Malay-speaking Asiatics of other nationalities--before idioms can be mastered. Until some facility in framing sentences according to native idioms has been attained, and it has been perceived how shades of meaning may be conveyed by emphasis, or by the position of a word in the sentence, the European will find it difficult to convey his ideas in Malay, even with a considerable vocabulary of words at his disposal. A Dutch author justly remarks:-- "Malay is called a poor language, and so it is, but not so much so as is often imagined, certainly not as far as its vocabulary is concerned. That it is often unable to furnish us with words for abstract ideas is a deficiency which it has in common with all languages of the Indian Archipelago, or rather with all races who have not yet risen to the height of our civilisation and development. Its richness or poverty, however, must not be judged by the existing dictionaries, or by the contents of those manuscripts which are known to us. When Malays are seated together talking about various topics of everyday life, they are not in want of words, and such conversations would, if noted down, provide our present dictionaries with a good many supplements, additions, corrections, and appendices."[1]

[Footnote 1: Klinkert, Eenige ophelderingen omtrent de Maleische
Spreekwoorden en spreekwijzen.]

I. THE ARTICLE.

There is no article in Malay, that is, there is no word which corresponds exactly with our definite article _the_, or indefinite article _a_, _an_. _Kuda_, horse, and _orang_, man, signify equally "_the_ horse" and "_the_ man." When it is desired to specify particular objects, the pronouns _ini_, this, _itu_, that, and _yang_, this which, or that which, are used. _Si_ sometimes supplies the place of the definite article when a person is spoken of; as _si-laki-laki_, the man; _si-perampuan_, the woman; _si-mati_, the deceased; _si-bongkok_, the cripple.

The numeral _satu_, one, is often used as the indefinite article; as _ada sa' orang di negri Kedah_, there was a man in the state of Kedah; _ini satu kuda chantek_, this is a beautiful horse.

II. SUBSTANTIVES.

A difficulty which attends the classification of Malay words into various parts of speech, according to the system applied to European languages, consists in the number of words which, while yet unmodified by particles, are either verb or substantive, substantive or adjective, adjective or adverb, according to the context. _Baniak_, as an adverb, means much, as an adjective, many; _jalan_ is either a road or to walk; _panjang_ either long, tall, or length, height. The same thing occurs in English in a minor degree; but with us the difference between _cold_ and _a cold_, or between _to brush_ and _a brush_, is rendered distinct by the use of the article _a_ and the particle _to_. Many Malay words must thus be treated as now substantive, now adjective, now verb, according to the position they occupy in the sentence.

The noun undergoes no change to denote number, gender, or case.

NUMBER.

The plural, if not sufficiently made plain from the context, is often indicated by the use of such words as _baniak_, many, _sumua_, _sa-kali-an_, and _sagala_, all.

It is also expressed sometimes by repeating the noun; as _raja_, a king, _raja-raja_, kings; _tuan_, master, _tuan-tuan_, masters. _All_ nouns are not capable of this duplication. As a general rule, it may be said to be mainly confined to nouns expressing persons or animate objects.

When there is nothing to show whether singular or plural is meant, the number remains indefinite, but may generally be assumed to be plural. In such phrases as _menembak burong_, to shoot birds, _memb[)e]li hayam_, to buy fowls, the substantives are clearly plural, though nothing marks them as such. To restrict the number, and show that _one bird_ or _one fowl_ is meant, it would be necessary to use the word _satu_, one, with the idiomatic term _ekor_ (lit. _tail_), which is always used in enumerating the lower animals; as _menembak sa'ekor burong_, to shoot a bird; _memb[)e]li sa'ekor hayam_, to buy a fowl.

GENDER.

Inflexion is unknown in Malay, and gender has no place in the grammar of the language. Most nouns which signify animate things are of both genders, and the sexes are distinguished by the addition, in the case of persons, of the words _laki-laki_, male, and _perampuan_, female, and in other cases of the words _jantan_, male, and _betina_, female. _Jantan_ and _betina_ are also applied vulgarly to persons. If an apparent exception is found in such words as _putra_, a prince, and _putri_, a princess, derivation from a foreign language may be suspected. The inflexion in the word just cited is due to the rules of Sanskrit grammar.

DECLENSION.

There is nothing in the Malay language which corresponds with the _cases_ of a Latin, Greek, or Sanskrit noun, which are formed by changes of termination, or of a Hindustani noun, which are formed by postpositions. In Malay the cases are expressed, as in English, by prepositions:--

To, _ka_, _kepada_, _sama_.
For, _akan_.
With, _dengan_, _sama_.
From, _deri_, _deri-pada_.
By, _uleh_.

The genitive or possessive case is expressed either by the use of the word _punya_ after the noun, or by placing the noun which signifies the possessor immediately after the thing possessed; as _sahaya_, I; _sahaya punya_, of me, mine; _rumah_, house; _rumah punya_, of the house; _sahaya punya rumah_, or _rumah sahaya_, my house.

The employment of the genitive with _punya_ is to be avoided. It is more idiomatic to say _rumah sahaya_ than _sahaya punya rumah_.

Substantives are of five classes:--

1. Those which in their primitive form are substantives; as _orang_, person; _rumah_, house; _kuda_, horse; _bapa_, father.

2. Those which are formed from verbs by prefixing the inseparable particle _pe_; as _pe-lari_, a runaway; _peng-asuh_, a nurse; _pem-buru_, a hunter; _pen-churi_, a thief; _penyapu_, a broom.

3. Those which are formed by affixing the termination _-an_ to verbs, adjectives, prepositions, and to other substantives; as _makan-an_, food; _manis-an_, sweetness; _hampir-an_, proximity; _trus-an_, a channel; _buah-an_, fruit in general; _laut-an_, the ocean.

4. Those which are formed by prefixing the particle _pe_ and adding the termination _-an_; as _pe-layar-an_, a voyage; _peng-ajar-an_, instruction; _pem-bunoh-an_, slaying, execution; _pen-dapat-an_, acquisition; _pel-ajar-an_, lesson; _per-uleh-an_, possession; _per-main-an_, amusement.

5. Those which are formed by prefixing the particle _ka-_ and adding the termination _-an_; as _ka-jadi-an_, creation, origin; _ka-baniak-an_, generality; _ka-puji-an_, praise; _ka-salah-an_, guilt, offence; _ka-korang-an_, want, deficiency.

III. ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives, like nouns, are indeclinable. They are always placed _after_ their substantives; as _kuda baik_, a good horse; _orang jahat_, a bad man; not _baik kuda_, _jahat orang_.

IV. PRONOUNS.

The proper use of the personal pronouns and of the nouns which are used for them presents some difficulty.

The following words may be used to express the first person singular, _I_:--

1. _Aku_, I.
2. _Sahaya_ (lit. companion, slave; Sansk. _sahâya_).
3. _Hamba_ (lit. slave), or _hamba tuan_ (lit. master's slave).
4. _Perhamba_ (lit. lowest slave).
5. _Beta_ (lit. slave).
6. _Patek_ (lit. slave).
7. _T[)e]man_ (lit. companion).

The appropriate use of these pronouns is dependent upon the relative positions of the persons between whom communication takes place.

_Aku_ is generally used by natives among themselves. Its use implies familiarity and equality. It should not be used by Europeans addressing natives, or by natives addressing Europeans.

_Sahaya_ is the ordinary polite form used by Europeans in conversation with natives of all classes, and by natives of the upper class in addressing Europeans.

_Ha ba_, _ha ba tuan_, and _perhamba_ are used by persons of inferior rank when addressing superiors. _Hamba_, if used by a chief or native of high rank, implies a certain affectation of modesty.

The use of _beta_ is confined to literary composition, and it is incorrect to employ the word colloquially. It may be used by Europeans and natives.

_Patek_ is used only by natives, and by them only when addressing a person of royal blood.

_T[)e]man_ is used only in intercourse between natives of the upper class and of approximately equal rank.

The first person plural is _kita_ or _kami_, we. _Kita_ is used when the person addressed is intended to be included. _Kami_, on the contrary, like the royal "we" in English, excludes the person addressed.

Sometimes the word _orang_ is added without changing the signification; as _kita orang_, we.

Other forms are also in use, but they are generally provincialisms confined to particular states or districts. _Sahaya apa_, _kita apa_, and _hamba tuan apa_ are used in Kedah, and _sahaya-ma_ in Perak, for _kita orang_.

Colloquially the personal pronouns are often omitted to avoid repetition. This is done especially in narration or description; as, for example, in the following sentence: _Lepas itu jalan pula ka-kampong singgah di rumah Haji Ismail hari pun sudah p[)e]tang langsong pulang ka-rumah maka nasi_-- Afterwards (I started) again (and) walked to the _kampong_, (and) stopped at the house of Haji Ismail, (and then), as it was evening, (I) went straight home (and) had my dinner.

Here the personal pronoun _I_ is understood throughout.

The second person singular is _angkau_, you. Each syllable of this word may be used separately for the whole. _Ang_ or _hang_ is much employed in Kedah and Perak, and _kau_ in other parts of the peninsula and in Borneo. In Perak _mika_, in Malacca _awah_, in Borneo _kita_, and in Batavia _kweh_, are also used. The preceding words are used by a superior addressing an inferior, or by the common people in ordinary (not in polite) conversation.

In polite conversation the use of _angkau_, or of most of the words given above, must be avoided, as it is considered by Malays to be vulgar or harsh. In addressing servants or followers, the name of the individual addressed is often inserted in the sentence instead of the pronoun _you_; as, in addressing Ismail: When you were at the bazaar just now who was with you?-- _Apabila Ismail di pekan tadi siapa sama?_ In the same way _tuan_, sir, master, is employed in addressing a haji or sayyid; _tuan-ku_ or _tunku_, my lord, in addressing a raja; _datoh_, grandfather, in addressing a chief or _penghulu_.

Other words similarly employed are--

_Abang_ (elder brother) or _wah_ (uncle), to a man older than the
speaker.
_Kakak_ (elder sister), to a woman older than the speaker.
_Adek_ (younger brother).
_Inche_ (sir or madam), to respectable persons of either sex.

EXAMPLES.

When did you arrive? (to a haji)--
_Bila-mana tuan sudah tiba?_
I must ask one thing of you (to a raja)--
_Sahaya handak minta satu kapada tunku._
If you give the order (to a chief)--
_Jikalau datoh suroh._
Do not be angry (to an elderly man)--
_Jangan abang marah._
Please help yourselves to water (to guests of various ranks)--
_Datoh-datoh, tuan-tuan, inche-inche sakalian, sila berayer._

The use of the word _lu_, a form of the second person singular, derived from the Chinese, and generally used by Europeans, is offensive to Malays of all classes, and is altogether to be avoided.

In the plural _kamu_, ye, corresponds to _angkau_, you, in the singular; that is to say, it is used by a superior addressing inferiors. It is found in its contracted form _mu_ in literary composition, but seldom colloquially; as _ka-tahu-i uleh-mu_, be it known unto ye.

_Kamu_ is sometimes used in the singular also.

THIRD PERSON SINGULAR.

_Dia_ or _iya_, he, she, it.

_Dia_ and _iya_ are used indifferently, but perhaps _dia_ is more common in conversation and _iya_ in literature.

The plural is _dia orang_ (and sometimes, though less commonly, _iya orang_), they.

Another form of the third person plural is _marika-itu_, they, these, or those persons; but it is found in literary compositions only, and is not used in conversation.

A pronoun of the third person only used in conjunction with other words is _-nia_, a contraction of _inia_, he, she, it.

The indefinite form "one" (the French "on" and German "man") is expressed in Malay by _orang_; as _orang tiada b[)e]rani pergi sana_, one dare not go there; _kalau orang handak kawin_, if one is about to marry.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.

The possessive pronouns, _my_, _thy_, _his_, _our_, _your_, _their_, are usually denoted by placing the personal pronoun after the word expressing the object possessed; as _rumah sahaya_, my house; _pada pikir-an hamba_, in my opinion; _apa pen-chari-an angkau?_ what is your occupation? _apa nama dia?_ what is his name?

Possessive pronouns are also formed by the word _punya_ or _ampunya_ (lit. owning, owned) placed after the personal pronoun; as _aku punya_, my or mine; _tuan punya suka_, as you please (your pleasure); _yang ampunya tanah_, (he) whose land it is.

_Singular._ | _Plural._
My, mine, _sahaya punya_. | Ours, _kita punya_.
Thy, thine, _angkau punya_. | Yours, _kamu punya_.
His, hers, its, _dia punya_. | Theirs, _dia-orang punya_.

Frequently where the word "your" would be used in English Malays leave out the pronoun altogether. "Bring your gun with you," would be correctly rendered in Malay, _bawa snapang sama_ (lit. bring gun together), not _bawa angkau punya snapang sama angkau_.

In literary composition _ku_ and _mu_ (abbreviated forms of _aku_ and _kamu_) are affixed to the noun denoting the thing possessed; as _rumah-ku_, my house; _bapa-mu_, your father.

The affix _-nia_ is used in the sense of _his_, _hers_, or _its_, as well as the other forms of the possessive pronoun; as _patah kaki-nia_, his leg was broken; _bauh-nia terlalu wangi_, its smell is very sweet.

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS.

_Ini_, this, these. _Itu_, that, those.

The demonstrative pronouns, like adjectives, follow the word to which they belong; as _rumah ini_, this house; _hari ini_, this day, to-day; _aku ini_, I myself; _sakarang ini_, this moment; _orang itu_, that man or those men; _waktu itu_, that time; _iya itu_, that is to say. It is not unusual to hear _ini_ and _itu_ placed before the noun, but this is not idiomatic.

The INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS are

_Siapa_, who? _Apa_, what? _Mana_, who? what?

EXAMPLES.

_Apa mahu?_-- What do you want?
_Rumah ini siapa?_-- Whose house is this?
_Siapa panggil?_-- Who called?
_Gajah mana ini?_-- What elephant is this?
_Siapa akan tahu?_-- Who knows?

The RELATIVE PRONOUN is

_Yang_, who, which.

EXAMPLES.

_Burong yang liyar_, a bird that is wild.
_Raja yang adil_, a king who is just.
_Ada yang tuah, ada yang muda_, some are old and some are young
(lit. there are who are old, &c.).

The Menangkabau word is _nen_. This is often found in composition, but is seldom used in the dialect spoken in the Straits of Malacca. Example: _Patek nen fakir_-- I who am but a beggar.

REFLECTIVE PRONOUNS.

_Diri_, _sendiri_, or _kendiri_, self, are used with or without the personal pronouns to signify myself, yourself, himself, ourselves, &c.

EXAMPLES.

_Bunoh diri_, to kill oneself.
_Meng-ajar diri_, to take oneself to task.
_Hamba sendiri handak pergi_, I shall go myself.
_Baik tuan sendiri suroh_, you had better order it yourself.
_Kemdian turun-lah raja sendiri_, afterwards the king himself
descended.
_Dia lari masok hutan membawa diri-nia_, she escaped to the jungle
with her life (lit. taking herself with her).
_Biar-lah hamba sa-orang diri me-lawan dia_, let me fight him myself
alone.

V. VERBS.

Verbs are either primitive or derivative; the former are those which in their original signification are verbs; the latter are formed from primitive verbs, or from substantives, adjectives, or adverbs, by the application of particles.

Examples of primitive verbs are _pukul_, to strike; _makan_, to eat; _lari_, to run; of derivative verbs, _ber-kaki_, to have feet, from _kaki_, a foot; _panjang-kan_, to lengthen or make long, from _panjang_, long.

The primitive verb, which is generally a dissyllable, is either transitive, as _tangkap_, to seize, or intransitive, as _tidor_, to sleep; but a transitive sense may be given to an intransitive verb by the addition of the particle _-kan_, as _lari_, _me-lari_, to run; _me-lari-kan_, to carry off.

Though the examples of primitive verbs given above are translated for the sake of convenience by our infinitive, their signification is not necessarily rendered by that mood. Favre translates them by the past participle (as _ambil_, taken, _buang_, thrown[2]), but this is rather fanciful than accurate. The fact is, that the meaning of the radical or primitive is indefinite, and depends for its precise signification on its position (with respect to other words) in the sentence, or on the particles which may be added before or after it. Thus _lari_ means simply run, though syntax will show that it may mean to run, I run, he runs, run thou, &c., according to its position in the sentence.

[Footnote 2: Grammaire de la Langue Malaise, 56.]

Marsden distinguishes the following moods--the imperative, the indicative or assertive, the conditional, and the infinitive or indefinite--"which admit, for the most part, of being expressed in the present, the past, and the future tenses or times."

It is not proposed, in an elementary work like the present, to go deeply into a scientific arrangement, which, however well suited to the Latin and Greek languages, is adapted with less propriety to uncultivated languages like Malay. It is believed that an explanation of the use of auxiliaries and particles, and a paradigm showing the most common changes of which the verb is susceptible, will be sufficient, and that the student may be left to gain further knowledge as to the mode of expressing variations of mood and tense as he advances in the study of the language.[3]

[Footnote 3: "It is difficult to eradicate the belief that the
forms in which we think are identical with the thought itself; and
it is only linguistic science that enables us to see that many of
the forms of grammar which we imagine necessary and universal are,
after all, but accidental and restricted in use. The cases of
Latin and Greek do not exist in the majority of languages; the
Polynesian dialects have no true verbs; and the Esquimaux gets on
well enough without 'the parts of speech' that figure so largely
in our own grammars." --_Sayce, Introduction to the Science of
Language_, ii. 328.]

USE OF PARTICLES.

The inseparable affix _-kan_ always denotes a verb used in a _transitive_ sense; as _men-jalan-kan_, to cause to walk. It is an abbreviation of the preposition _akan_. Thus _buat-kan_ (to do) means to do something _to_ (_akan_) something or somebody.

The inseparable affix _-i_ also denotes the transitive sense; as _kras-i_, to oppress (from _kras_, hard); _halus-i_, to treat carefully (from _halus_, fine, close).

The inseparable prefix _ber-_ (_bel-_, _be-_) is the mark of a verb which expresses a state or condition of being; as _ber-jalan_, to walk, or to be in the act of walking; _ber-wang_, to have money; _ber-misei_, to wear moustaches; _ber-pukul_, to strike, _i.e._, to be in the act or condition of striking (not to strike another, _transitive_, which would be expressed by _pukul-_ or _me-mukul-kan_).

The inseparable prefix _me-_ (in all its various forms, _mem_, _meng_, _men_, and _meny_) is the mark of a verb which expresses an action; as _men-jalan-kan_, to cause to walk, _mem-buat_, to make; _menyakit-kan_, to afflict (from _sakit_); _meng-ambil_, to take.

According as the primitive verb has a transitive or intransitive sense, the derivative verbs formed from it will take _ber-_ or _me-_ as the case may be. Thus from _adu_, to sleep, is formed _ber-adu_, not _meng-adu_; while from _adu_, to complain, is formed _meng-adu_, not _ber-adu_.

Often both particles may be used, and both transitive and intransitive derivative verbs may be formed from the same primitive. Thus from _taroh_, to put, are formed _menaroh_, to put (the act of a person who puts), and _ber-taroh_, to bet (the condition of a person who stakes). From _tidor_, to sleep, are formed _menidor-kan_, to put to sleep, and _ber-tidor_, to be sleeping or lying down; and from _ajar_, instruct, _meng-ajar_, to teach (impart instruction), and _bel-ajar_, to learn (get instruction).

_Mem-bawa_, to bring, _mem-bunoh_, to kill, and _me-makan_, to eat, are formed from _bawa_, _bunoh_, and _makan_ respectively, which, as they express actions, not states, do not take the prefix _ber-_. _Ber-gantong_ is to hang (intransitive), that is, to be in a state or condition of hanging; _meng-gantong-kan_ is to hang (transitive), that is, to perform the action of hanging something.

The particle _per-_ (Sansk. _pra_), a prefix used with transitive verbs, does not seem always to effect a change in the sense. It is used more generally in literature than in the colloquial dialects, and seems to be introduced frequently for the sake of euphony only. The difference, for instance, between _meng-himpun-kan_, to assemble, to collect persons together, and _mem-per-himpun-kan_, to cause persons to collect together, is not very marked. No general rule applicable to all transitive verbs can be laid down for the use of this form with _mem-per-_; practice and experience must form the only guide.

AUXILIARIES.

The auxiliary verbs and adverbs are--

_Ada_, is, was, are, were.
_Sudah_, was, did, has been.
_T[)e]lah_, was, did, has been.
_Mahu_, will, shall, would, must.
_Handak_, will, shall, would, must, is, was, or were about to.
_Jadi_, is, was, become, became.

PARADIGMS.

_Tidor_, sleep.

_Sahaya tidor_, I sleep, or I was sleeping.
_Tidor-lah dia_, he was sleeping or slept.
_Ber-tidor_, asleep, sleeping.
_Sahaya sudah tidor_, I have slept.
_Dia telah tidor_, he had slept.
_Sahaya maku tidor_, I will sleep, or I want to sleep.
_Sahaya handak tidor_, I shall sleep, or I am about to sleep.
_Dia akan tidor_, he will sleep or is going to sleep.
_Tidor-lah_, sleep thou.
_Mahu-lak angkau tidor_, you must sleep.
_Biar iya tidor_, let him sleep.
_Handak-lah di-tidor-nia_, it must be slept by him, _i.e._, he
intends to sleep.
_Menidor-kan_ or _menidor-i_, to lay down (transitive).
_Mem-per-tidor-kan_ or _mem-per-tidor-i_, to cause to sleep.
_Penidor_, a soporific; that which causes to sleep.
_Penidor-an_, act of causing to sleep.
_Per-tidor-an_, that which belongs to sleep; a bed.
_Ka-tidor-an_, the act of sleeping; there was sleeping on the part
of ----.
_Sa-ka-tidor-an_, the act of sleeping with another; there was
sleeping with ----.
_Si-tidor_, the sleeper.
_Ter-tidor_, gone to sleep.

_Lari_, run.

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A Manual of the Malay languageChapter IV: Introduction (2)

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