Appendix (Use of affixes in the Malay language)

WARNING! Malay affixes (prefixes and suffixes) are very difficult and a foreign student doing "Malay 101" is not expected to make use of them. This appendix intends to help you understand how they are formed. It does not go further than that. Click here for some feedback from a student on this topic.

The pe(N) and me(N) prefixes

The pe(N) prefix indicates that a word is a NOUN whereas the me(N) prefix indicates that the word is a VERB.
The pe(N) prefix can take any of the following five forms:
pe-, pem-, pen-, peng- or peny-
Correspondingly the me(N) prefix can take any of the following five forms:
me-, mem-, men-, meng- or meny-
The form that it takes depends on the initial letter of the root word. This rule is best illustrated by specific examples. In the following tables the second column shows the root word, the third column the same word with the pe(N) prefix and the last column shows the word with the me(N) prefix .
It is unlikely that you will be able to find the word penulis, for example, in a Malay-English dictionary as it will appear under the word from which it is derived (tulis).
On the other hand if you should look up an English-Malay dictionary (eg. if you need to know the Malay word for "use") the dictionary will normally give you the word memakai. You have to know that this is not a word by itself but is actually the word pakai with the me(N) prefix attached to it! Putting myself in the place of the student, I can imagine how difficult this question of prefixes is, especially for verbs. The only way to really master this is to go daily to my page for advanced students (Building Up Your Malay Vocabulary) here.

When to use men- or pen-	If the root word begins with c, d, j or t	With the pe(N) prefix	With the me(N) prefix
The prefix men- or pen- is used when the root word starts with the letter c, d, j or t. However as can be seen from the examples in Column 3 and 4 the initial letter t is dropped in the prefixed word.	curi = to steal cuci = to clean dengar = to listen jual = to sell jemput = to invite tulis = to write tari = to dance tipu = to cheat tukar = to change	pencuri = a thief pencuci = a cleaner pendengar = a listener penjual = a seller penjemput = a guest penulis = a writer penari = a dancer penipu = a cheat penukar wang = money-changer	mencuri = to steal mencuci = to clean mendengar = to listen menjual = to sell menjemput = to invite menulis = to write menari = to dance menipu = to cheat menukar = to change

When to use mem- or pem-	If the root word begins with b, p or f	With the pe(N) prefix	With the me(N) prefix
The prefix mem- or pem- is used when the root word starts with the letter b, p or f. However as can be seen from the examples in Column 3 and 4 the initial letter p is dropped in the prefixed word.	baca = to read beri = to give bantu = to help buat = to make beli = to buy pakai = to use pukul = to beat fitnah = to slander	pembaca = a reader pemberi = person who gives pembantu =a helper pembuat = a manufacturer pembeli = a buyer pemakai = a user pemukul = person who beats pemfitnah = a slanderer	membaca = to read memberi = to give membantu = to help membuat = to make membeli = to buy memakai = to use memukul = to beat memfitnah = to slander

When to use meny- or peny-	If the root word begins with s	With the pe(N) prefix	With the me(N) prefix
The prefix meny- or peny- is used when the root word starts with the letter s. The initial letter s is dropped in the prefixed word.	sapu = to sweep sokong = to support	penyapu = a broom penyokong = a supporter	menyapu = to sweep menyokong = to support

When to use meng- or peng-	If the root word begins with a, g, h, i, k or u	With the pe(N) prefix	With the me(N) prefix
The prefix meng- or peng- is used when the root word starts with the letter a, g, h, i, k or u. The initial letter k is dropped in the prefixed word.	ambil = to take ajar = to teach gosok = to brush hantar = to send hisap = to smoke ikut = to follow kenal = to know karang = to write ulang = to repeat	pengambil = person who takes pengajar = a teacher penggosok = a brush penghantar = a sender penghisap = a smoker pengikut = a follower pengenalan = an acquaintance pengarang = an author pengulang = a reviser, repeater	mengambil = to take mengajar = to teach menggosok = to brush menghantar = to send menghisap = to smoke mengikut = to follow mengenal = to know mengarang = to write mengulang = to repeat

When to use me- or pe-	If the root word begins with l, m, n or r	With the pe(N) prefix	With the me(N) prefix
The prefix me- or pe- is used when the root word starts with the letter l, m, n or r.	lawat = to visit masak = to cook nafi = to deny rokok = to smoke	pelawat = a visitor pemasak = a cook penafian = a denial perokok = a smoker	melawat = to visit memasak = to cook menafikan = to deny merokok = to smoke

The ber- prefix

There are a number of cases where the ber- prefix is used instead of the meN- prefix but I will only deal with the most common ones here. The ber- prefix is used:

for an action that one performs upon or for oneself such as: berjalan (to walk), berlari (run), berdiri (stand), bercukur (shave), bersolek (make up), bermimpi (dream), bersembunyi (hide) and berfikir (think). In the case of verbs that already start with the letter "r" (such as rehat and renang) only "be-" and not "ber-" is prefixed making it berehat (to rest) and berenang (swim).
for verbs that indicate possession eg. Sejak berumur lima tahun dia tidak lagi beribu. (Since he was five he did not have a mother.)
Orang kaya itu berkereta besar. (That rich man has a big car.)
Durian berduri. (The durian has thorns.)
Saya tidak berhak meminta pekerjaan itu kerana saya bukan orang Malaysia. (I don't have the right to apply for that job because I am not a Malaysian.)
for verbs that indicate what a person is wearing eg. Dia berbaju batik. (He is wearing a batik shirt), berkasut putih (wears white shoes), berseluar jean (wears jeans) and bercermin mata (wears spectacles).
for an action between two people or interaction with other people eg berlawan (to fight), bertumbuk (box), berkahwin (marry), bermain (play) and bergurau (joke).
for verbs of "utterance" eg. berkata (to say), bercakap (speak), berdoa (pray), berjanji (promise), berterima kasih (or bersyukur) both meaning to give thanks

The -kan suffix

Note that the meN- prefix, if used together with the -kan suffix, can be used on reflexive verbs (which normally take the ber- prefix) in order to turn them into transitive verbs i.e. verbs that have to be followed by an object eg. Tukang rambut sedang mencukurkan pelanggannya. (The barber is shaving his customer.) But if you want to say that the barber is shaving himself, and not the customer, the sentence will read Tukang rambut sedang bercukur. In such a case sendiri (oneself) is not necessary as it is already implied in the ber- prefix used for reflexive verbs.
Here is another example where the meN- prefix is used with the -kan suffix to turn the verb into a transitive verb: Perempuan itu sedang menidurkan anaknya. (The woman is putting her child to sleep.) If you are wondering what menidurkan is all about, I don't blame you as the root word is tidur (to sleep). Didn't I warn you that Malay affixes are difficult?
The -i suffix
This is a suffix that I didn't think of introducing until I received the following email from a student in Spain asking me about it. He writes as follows: Hello,
I was wondering if you could help me with a little question, if it's not too much of a nuisance.
I came across this sentence:
Kita rentasi gunung ini bersama
So I looked up "rentasi", but I didn't find a translation for it, and after some trial and error I discovered that the actual word was "rentas" (= to cross, to take a shortcut), with -i added as suffix.

Other prefixes in Malay

Please note that the above are not the only prefixes and suffixes that exist in the Malay language. The prefix ter- is quite frequently used and is attached to verbs to show that the action is unintentional or accidental (eg. terjatuh meaning "to fall" or terdengar meaning "to hear accidentally" i.e. to overhear).
Another use of the ter- prefix (when it is attached to an adjective) is to denote the superlative case eg. terbesar meaning "biggest".
Then there is a group of nouns which are formed by adding the prefix ke- and the suffix -an, such as kesihatan meaning "health" from sihat (healthy), kebolehan meaning "ability" from boleh (can) and the word kekalahan meaning "defeat" from kalah (to lose).
By the way please allow me to congratulate you for having come this far! You are really a VERY serious student!