Understanding the Language
The official language is Bahasa Malaysia (Malay), but English is the language of business and technology. The Chinese also use Mandarin and various Chinese dialects, while the Indians use Tamil and other Indian languages. The indigenous people retain their own languages.
Bahasa Malaysia
Bahasa Malaysia is an Austronesian language also spoken in Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines and southern Thailand. Although there is a standard Bahasa Malaysia taught in schools and used formally, there are actually many regional Malay dialects that are not mutually intelligible. This is in addition to a simplified form of Bahasa Malaysia known as “bahasa pasar” or “bazaar Malay”.
Bahasa Malaysia is also known as Bahasa Melayu and popularly abbreviated as BM. Since it is the official language, all signboards and public displays of writing are in Bahasa Malaysia, so it is useful to learn some words. It is written in the Latin alphabet, and is an easy language to learn.
The language is polysyllabic, with variations in syllables to convey changes in meaning. Words are pronounced as they are spelt. However, spelling can be tricky, for despite standardisation efforts, place and street names, for example, still follow different spellings. For instance, baru (new) is standard but also appears as bahru, bharu and baharu. Another example is cangkat (hillock), which is sometimes spelt changkat, and tingkat (lane) as tengkat.
Root words are either nouns or verbs and prefixes and/or suffixes are added to change the meaning. Therefore, while makan is “to eat”, makanan is “food” and memakan is “eating”. The adjective always comes after the noun, so “my husband” is suami saya. To indicate plural, you often just repeat the noun, so “many rooms” are bilik-bilik.
When constructing a sentence, the order is subject-verb-subject: Dia (he) makan (eats) nasi (rice) goreng (fried). Dia makan nasi goreng = He eats fried rice.
You will find Sanskrit, Arabic, Tamil, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese and English words in Bahasa Malaysia. English words are also increasingly being incorporated into the language, particularly in relation to business and technology.
Forms of Address
When addressing someone formally, the form for men is encik (sir), which can be used on its own, or to precede a person’s name, eg Encik Razak. The female equivalent for married or older women are puan (Madam) and Puan Miriam (Mrs Miriam), and for single or younger women, Cik (Miss) and Cik Ros (Miss Ros). For men and women who are the same age, you may use “comrade”, as in saudara (men) and saudari (women).
The informal form for older men of your father’s age is pakcik (literally “uncle”) and abang (literally “older brother”) for men slightly older than you. For women the equivalent is makcik (literally “aunty”) and kakak (literally “older sister”). Meanwhile the gender-free informal form for younger men and women as well as children is adik (“younger brother/sister”).
The terms “abang”, “kakak” and “adik” are sometimes truncated when used in conversation. Thus, “abang” becomes “bang”, “kakak” becomes “kak”, and “adik” becomes “dik” (pronounced as “dake”). However, truncation is not used for terms used to address the elders, ie “pakcik” and “makcik”.
Regardless of formal or informal use, the word for “you” (anda, etc.) is rarely used as it is considered rude. Instead replace it with the form of address or name, for example, Encik dari mana? or Encik Razak dari mana? (“Where are you from?”) Note that other than for older people, the English pronoun “you” has become common, for example, “You dari mana?”
Pronunciation Tips
In general the pronunciation is the same as in English, with some exceptions. The “a” is pronounced “ar” as in “tar” when it appears in the middle of a word. But when it ends a word, it is pronounced with an “er” sound as in “observe”. Therefore apa (what) is pronounced as “arper”. The “e” also has an “er” sound as in “observe”.
“I” is pronounced with an “ee” sound unless it ends as an “-ik” or “-ih”, in which case it is pronounced like the “a” in “agent”, so bilik (room) is pronounced “bee-lake”. The “u” has an “oo” sound unless it ends as an “-uk”, “-up”, “-uh” or “-ur”, in which case it has an “oh” sound. Therefore sepuluh (ten) is pronounced “sir-poo-loh”. “C” is pronounced “ch” as in “chair”; “sy” is pronounced “sh”; and “ai” is pronounced “i”. A tricky one involving “ai”, which you are likely to use, is air (water) – is pronounced “i-yeah”.
“G” is always hard, as in “gun”; the “h” is always pronounced, and you may come across “ny” and “ng” sounds that may not be common in your native language.
Although nearly all syllables are given equal stress, sometimes the final syllable of a word is emphasised, especially the last word in an utterance. This has led to the widespread use of the appendage -lah to the important word, whose purpose is purely emphatic. However, -lah is also liberally used in English; for instance, you could get thrown a “Cannot-lah!” when you are trying to bargain.
Useful Words/Phrases
Greetings
How do you do? Apa khabar?
Fine/good Baik
Good morning Selamat pagi
Good afternoon Selamat tengah hari
Good evening Selamat petang
Goodbye Selamat tinggal
Bon voyage Selamat jalan
At the Hotel
sleep tidur
bathe mandi
Can I see the room first? Boleh saya tengok bilik dulu?
I want to change rooms Saya hendak tukar bilik
Does the room rate include breakfast? Adakah kos bilik ini termasuk sarapan pagi?
Where is the breakfast place? Di mana tempat sarapan pagi?
What time is breakfast? Pukul berapa sarapan pagi?
Shopping
shop kedai
How much? Berapa harga?
That’s too expensive Mahal sangat
Can you reduce the price? Boleh kurang?
Too big Besar sangat
Too small Kecil sangat
Any other colour? Ada warna lain?
Don’t have any left Tak ada lagi
money wang, duit
I would like to change money Saya hendak tukar duit
buy beli (membeli)
sell jual (menjual)
Travelling
airport lapangan terbang
What time does the bus leave? Pukul berapa bas bertolak?
Where are you going? (Pergi) ke mana?
I want to go to… Saya hendak pergi ke…
Turn right Belok (ke) kanan
Turn left Belok (ke) kiri
Go straight Jalan terus
Please stop here Sila berhenti di sini
Where is this place? Di mana tempat ini?
How far? Berapa jauh?
How long? Berapa lama?
How long more? Berapa lama lagi?
Right kanan
Left kiri
Turn belok
Go pergi
Stop berhenti
Follow ikut
Near dekat
Inside dalam
Outside luar
Front hadapan or depan
Behind belakang
Here sini
There sana
Eating Out
Is there any eating place nearby? Ada tempat makan dekat sini?
eat makan
drink minum
coffee shop kedai kopi
Menu Decoder
Bread roti
Beef daging lembu
Chicken ayam (pronounced “ah- yarm”)
Lamb daging kambing (pronounced “da-ging come-bing”)
Fish ikan (pronounced “ee-karn”)
Vegetables sayur
Fried noodles mee goreng
Fried rice nasi goreng
Salt garam
Spicy pedas
Sweet manis
Less spicy kurang pedas
Delicious sedap
A cup of coffee (with milk) kopi satu
A cup of coffee (without milk) kopi oh satu
A cup of tea (with milk) teh satu
A cup of tea (without milk) teh oh satu
Water air (pronounced “i-yeah”)
Less sweet kurang manis
Without sugar tanpa gula
Without milk tanpa susu
Without ice tanpa ais (pronounced “ice”)
Not enough tak cukup
Not hot/cold enough tak cukup panas/sejuk
Add tambah
A little sedikit [sikit]
A lot banyak
On the Road
Road jalan
Lane lorong
Street lebuh
Highway lebuhraya
Bridge jambatan
Junction simpang
Danger awas or merbahaya
No overtaking dilarang memotong
Slow down kurangkan laju
Speed limit had laju
Enter masuk
Exit keluar
Keep left/right ikut kiri/kanan
One-way street jalan sehala
North utara
South selatan
East timur
West barat
Emergencies
Emergency room bilik kecemasan
I want to go to the nearest hospital Saya nak pergi ke hospital terdekat
Where’s the nearest clinic? Di mana klinik terdekat?
General
I saya
you (to someone the same age or younger) awak, anda or kita (in Borneo Malaysia only)
you (formal) encik/puan/cik
he, she dia
we kami (excluding the speaker), kita (including the speaker)
they mereka
what? apa?
who? siapa?
where (place)? di mana?
where (direction)? ke mana?
when? bila?
how? bagaimana?
why? mengapa?
which? yang mana?
come datang
road, walk jalan
post office pejabat pos
minute minit
hour jam
day hari
week minggu
What time is it? Jam berapa sekarang? Yes Ya
No Tidak
Thank you Terima kasih
You’re welcome Sama-sama
Please Tolong/sila
Excuse me Maafkan saya [Maaf]
May I ask you a question? Tumpang tanya?
Can you help me? Bolehkah cik tolong saya?
I am sorry Minta maaf [Maaf]
Please come in Sila masuk
Please sit down Sila duduk
Thank you very much Terima kasih banyak-banyak
You’re welcome Sama-sama
Where do you come from? Asal dari mana?
I come from... Saya datang dari...
What is your name? Siapa nama anda?
My name is... Nama saya...
Can you speak Bahasa Malaysia? Boleh anda bercakap Bahasa Malaysia?
Only a little Sedikit sahaja
Where is the toilet? Di mana tandas?
Wait a minute Tunggu sekejap
Please wait here Sila tunggu di sini
Days of the Week
Monday Isnin
Tuesday Selasa
Wednesday Rabu
Thursday Khamis
Friday Jumaat
Saturday Sabtu
Sunday Ahad
Months of the Year
January Januari
February Februari
March Mac
April April
May Mei
June Jun
July Julai
August Ogos
September September
October Oktober
November November
December Disember
Numbers
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
22 dua puluh dua
30 tiga puluh
40 empat puluh
100 seratus
263 dua ratus enam puluh tiga
1,000 seribu