Malay self-taught by the natural method : with ... - Sabrizain.org

OUTLINE OF GRAMMAR. 67
Articles.
Rule 9. Strictly speaking, there is no article in Malay
exactly equivalent to the English "a"' and "the". Itu
(literally = " the") is actually equivalent to "that yonder" or
" those yonder ". /^/(literally = "this ")is actually equivalent
to " this here " or " these here ".
Rule 10. The position of itu or ini is not before the
noun it qualifies, but after it, e.g.
English.
Malay.
that house
rania itu
these horses
kudo, ini
Rule II. For emphasis, itu or ini is placed before the
noun it qualifies, and generally -lah is added to it, e.g
that is my house |
itu-lah
: :
Adjectives.
riimah sahaya
Rule 12. Qualifying adjectives come after the nouns
they qualify, not before them, e.g.
cold water ayer sejok
ripe plantain pisang uiasak
Rule 13. When two or more adjectives qualify a noun
at the same time, the word yang is used before the
qualifying adjectives and after the noun qualified, e.g.
a fat, old man Sa-orang yang gemok lagi
tua
Rule 14. The comparative degree in Malay is formed
by using (i) ISbeh before the adjective, (ii) lagi after the
adjective, e.g. :
(positive) good
(comparative) (i) better
(ii) better
(}) yang .
baik
lebeh baik
baik, lagi
Rule 15. The superlative degree is formed by using
. . sakali, (U) yang .
(positive) good
(superlative) (i) best
(superlative) (ii) best
^ For the equivalent of
"Auxiliary Numerals", p. 49.
sa-hahis-habis . . ., e.g..:
baik
yang baik sakali
yang sa-habis-habis baik
see footnote p. 48. Also see
: