Extras: Going Back to My Home Kampong

I am. 
For two weeks beginning 23rd April 2012 (It's my birthday FYI).


But why did I write kampong instead of kampung (italicised)?


It is because kampong is accepted in English as a valid word, borrowed completely. Validate here. But they adapted the spelling kampong instead of kampung. I suspect it has to do with how they pronounce it. Kampung will sound [kaym-pang] from their tongue, while kampong will sound very similar to our kampung [kaym-pong]. But I guess, mat salleh who has been here long would pronounce like us, kampung [kahm-poong].


But there are no worries as to how to translate it. Copy directly. That's acceptable too. But be careful, because the more acceptable spelling of kampong in Malay is kampung.


Now, don't fret over it and get more confused. Go have some tea.


I'll have my favorite coffee for now, Kopi Che Nah, the pride of Teluk Intan.

Grammar Matters: antara / di antara

Malay speakers (and writers) these days, have become more and more complacent. At least that was what the facilitator in our class opined the other day. Interestingly, as she stressed out later, when speaking or writing in English we take a more careful approach, so as to not make a mistake. Why didn’t we do the same in Malay?

Arguably, complacency? We take being born Malay, or born into a Malay speaking environment for granted.

The fact that the English equivalent is pretty vague doesn’t help either. My suggestion is use your common sense and rule of thumb when translating. In English, there are ‘between’, ‘among’ and ‘amid’ (sometimes ‘amongst’ and ‘amid’ but they don’t carry any different meaning, just a variation of spelling). The following is what dictionary.com describes ‘between’ and ‘among’ (I left 'amid' because it is very similar to among):

Among expresses a relationship when more than two persons or things are involved. Example: Three children were among the passengers killed in that accident.

Between is used when only two persons or things are involved. Example: I sat between Anok and Uchop.

Using this and a reference from Blog Cikgu Azemi, I gathered that there are similarities. He says:

Antara menunjukkan perbandingan. (shows comparison)

Di antara menunjukkan kedudukan/tempat. (shows position/place)

Based on that, it can be safely said that ‘antara’ is the Malay equivalent of ‘among’, and ‘di antara’ is that of ‘between’. But Cikgu Azemi’s explanation has some variation. Here is how the examples given above should be translated, and a few more examples from me too:

E: Three children were among the passengers killed in that accident.

BM: Tiga kanak-kanak antara yang terbunuh dalam kemalangan itu.

E: Shih Li, Qamar and Alaudin are among the students selected from class 5 Beta.

BM: Shih Li, Qamar dan Alaudin adalah antara pelajar yang dipilih daripada kelas 5 Beta.

E: I sat between Anok and Uchop.

BM: Saya duduk di antara Anok dan Uchop.

E: Shah Alam lies between Klang and Petaling Jaya.

BM: Shah Alam terletak di antara Klang dan Petaling Jaya.

But Cikgu Azemi says, when comparing two persons or things, use 'antara', because there is no subject between the two objects. Example: Antara Adnan dan Zamzuri, Adnan nampak lebih pendiam. Although in English we still say, Between Adnan and Zamzuri, Adnan seems the quieter. Now in this sentence: Perbualan di antara Shakinah dan Mashitoh berlarutan sehingga tiga jam. (The conversation between Shakinah and Mashitoh extends to three hours). 'Perbualan' (Conversation) is the subject and it sits between the two objects, that is why we use ‘di antara’. Whereas in the former example, Adnan and Zamzuri are the objects, and Adnan (the subject) does the verb 'nampak' (seems).

Also when using 'antara', do not pluralise the object because 'antara' has already indicated a plural subject e.g. antara pelajar ---not- antara pelajar-pelajar, antara negara Eropah -not- antara negara-negara Eropah. Also 'di antara' are two words, always.

Hmmm… among all of you who can understand what you’ve just read? How about a chat between you and your spouse, that can help, I suppose. 

Provided that it didn't extend to three hours and later create an invisible wall between you and your spouse.


That will be very bad, and do not point those fingers on me.

FYI: Revisited: Ministry of Defence's "Poke the eye"

Remember the Defence Ministry’s guideline on attire some time ago?
The poor chap who translated the Malay term ‘menjolok mata’ into ‘poke the eye’ must have now laid dormant in some rabbit hole or something, hoping he would find a new ‘parallel universe’ there.

The strange thing is, ‘menjolok mata’ isn’t even the right term. What? Yes, according to Kamus Dewan it is ‘mencolok mata’. The following explanation can be found at http://appw05.dbp.gov.my/dokumen/pedoman%20bahasa.pdf
Menurut Kamus Dewan (1994: 245), kata mencolok mata bermakna 1. mencucuk mata; 2. (bahasa kiasan) tampak jelas, kelihatan jelas benar, 3. membangkitkan marah orang yang melihat, menyakitkan hati, memberi malu.

Kata menjolok pula bermakna 1. menusuk (merodok) sesuatu dengan galah dll. supaya gugur, menusuk ke dalam lubang dll. 2. memasukkan jari tangan ke dalam lubang hidung (kerongkong dll.); 3. memancing-mancing keterangan dll.; daripada orang, mengajuk atau menduga hati.

Jadi, antara mencolok mata dengan menjolok mata, yang tepat ialah mencolok mata, iaitu bahasa kiasan yang bermakna tampak jelas atau kelihatan jelas benar. Contoh penggunaannya:

• Kakitangan kerajaan dilarang memakai pakaian yang mencolok mata.

This is what I understand. It has to be that the difference is whether the action is physical or not. You can still poke someone’s eye (‘menjolok mata’) provided that it means you use something for example your fingers to do that. This may be the result:

You must have very strong fingers. Can I borrow them?

As for something that you wear, for example, they are so skimpy that your labia are nearly visible or in case of a man, your ‘wrinkled fruit’, they are so distastefully worn, that it is a sore to your eyes and makes you uncomfortable especially when you can't avoid but look at them. You may look like this when it happens:

Not long ago (circa the turn of the millennium) Spritney Bears and Kristina Akugila involved in a media tussle as to who wears the most ‘mencolok mata’ outfit, in other words, it means the least put on. 

Here to remind you, ‘mencolok mata’ is not limited to skimpy outfit only or outfit only. Another example: Sampah yang dilambakkan di tepi jalan raya itu mencolok mata. (The rubbish heaped on the roadside is a sore to the eye)

I do apologize if some examples I gave above are distasteful. So, can we say ‘mencolok perasaan’ (hurting one’s feeling)?

Any expert out there?

FYI: Being Technical Vs Being Sensible

A lot of Malay words, standing alone or within a phrase, are initially and generally accepted as the correct term for its English equivalent. But as we progress, confusions seem to rise as to its exact meaning or when a variation suddenly appears as a result of re-classification (for example a disease that expands into several sub-diseases in the same family). A very good example of this is diabetes.

A generally accepted term for Diabetes in Malay is Kencing Manis. As you may know now, diabetes is not just kencing manis as in 'your urine is sugar-laden' or 'your urine is sweet as gula-kabung, ants just love them'. We are now informed about the various types of diabetes (mainly Type 1, 2 and 3. Know about them HERE). But, I am not going to delve deeper into what they are.


DBP recognised this long ago. That's why now diabetes is the Malay translation of diabetes. The problem is, can all the people in the general population, in this case Malaysians, actually comprehend that diagnostic term especially when a doctor is supposed to relay the bad news? Tell diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus or maybe diabetes berkaitan obesiti, to a Makcik or an Ah Soh or an Achii their 70's, mostly who at best graduated a night reading class circa the sixties a-la P. Ramlee movies. What you get from them is this: Mouth agape, eyes blinking and nervous hands wiping off sweat with tissues or the end of their selendang.


That's why doctors and translators alike address the issue sensibly by telling an uninformed person a more generally understood term of certain words to avoid an unnecessary new coronary-related disease being diagnosed at the same time. Bahasa Melayu translators would normally use diabetes as diabetes in formal translation texts, by reason that those who read it has a certain degree of knowledge to it. In a text known to be distributed to a lesser informed population, we are advised to include terms that minimize confusions.


Did you notice that these days over teh tarik, we sometimes refer diabetes as diabetes and not kencing manis in our normal Bahasa  Basahan conversation? Did you realize also teh tarik is a big contributor to Type 2 Diabetes.. he he..


Well, time and sensibility made us well aware and informed.


Tell me if you agree.

Translate this: Policy

Browsing through the ever so reliable Gerbang Maya DewanBahasa Dan Pustaka, it can be deduced that the word ‘policy’ has two definitive translations. They are:

English: Policy

Bahasa Melayu: 1. Polisi, 2. Dasar.

You may wonder though, which one should one use? Are they interchangeable? Unfortunately, they are not interchangeable, as I found out later, from a very established translator friend, Shakira Zain. She informed me these two words can only be used in these circumstances, respectively:

Polisi – is to be used ONLY in articles related to insurance. Polisi will always be a noun (kata nama). Don’t go clever (memandai-mandai) and create a new word like ‘mempolisikan’.

Dasar – for all other usage. In this case it is always a noun too.


But, for other meanings, it can be a noun or a verb, and with affixes, the derivation (kata terbitan) can be a noun, verb, adjective and so on. For example: berdasarkan (based on), dasar lautan (ocean bed).

The confusion that could arise from this is that you may have stumbled upon, somewhere that says, for example, Polisi Syarikat XYZ Berhad. What follows then, is a list of the company’s policy. This is an example of a wrong usage of the word polisi. It should be ‘Dasar Syarikat XYZ Berhad’ because it is not about ‘an insurance policy’ or anything related, but a policy that may mean, among others, a guideline to performing at a workplace.

Easy way out, eh? Senang-senang je terjemah ikut bunyi...

Of which... had I been given the power to police this wrong usage of the word polisi, I will knock on every door of every company here in Malaysia, and give them my own 'personal policy' on it. And it may contain some very colorful terms, and the colors are not going to be beautiful.

Erm.. by the way, can you do that for me, please? Maybe until I received my Kad Kuasa Polis Bahasa. Can ar? 

Can...? 

Thanks….

Translate this: Roadshow

Would you say... that you wouldn’t have known it until someone told you, as was in my case? It is only until recently that I know...


Roadshow is translated as Jerayawara.


We don’t see it that frequently though, maybe that’s why, but the Malay word for it is right here > Gerbang Maya Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka.


Here is an example of a very popular roadshow that has become a household name in Malaysia. It's purpose though, remains vague:



Here is a cut and paste from PRPM on its meaning:
Jerayawara
persembahan, pameran, ceramah dsb yg diadakan oleh seseorang atau se­kum­pulan orang (penyanyi, ahli politik dsb) yg ber­­kunjung dr satu tempat ke tempat lain dgn tujuan memberikan hiburan, menjelaskan sesuatu isu kpd orang ramai, mempromosikan sesuatu dsb: persatuan itu melaksanakan program pendedahan dan pendidikan, termasuk beberapa siri ~ yg meliputi seminar dan pa­meran.

But I couldn’t fine the meaning of jeraya in PRPM which prompted me to scour the Internet. Then, I stumble upon a link that took me to a very established English-Malay translator who goes by the name of Mek Yam. She pointed out the origin of jeraya, which is a slang in Sarawak meaning jalan raya (road). Fair enough, I thought. What about wara? Well that's an easy one because PRPM has its meaning. It’s pemberitahuan, pengumuman, pengisytiharan.


Personally, I feel like the resulting word is plucked out of the wind. But they do have a solid explanation to it. And it is way much better than if we were forced to use a stupido-and-lazyo-sounding ‘rodsho’.

Translation Tips #1: Read thoroughly

This is not a tip, but actually a rule. Once you get your text it should be the first thing that you do.


If it's a very long text, for example containing 5000 or more words, it is OK if you just read the first few paragraph because the rest of the text would normally be written in the same mood. Once you get yourself in the mood, you'll find it really easy to work on.


But here is a tip: Make this website your main reference - Gerbang Maya Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka

They are the forerunner in championing the rights and status of Bahasa Melayu in Malaysia, and they are the ones who attend any conference pertaining to Malay Language within and around Nusantara (Malay Archipelago).

FYI: How and when to use the suffixes 'i' and 'kan'

Let's find a few examples first, just to have a grab of what is going to be discussed this time. To be safe (on my side at least), I am going to list down examples given by a reliable source (sumber yang boleh dipercayai). She is a Bahasa Melayu teacher at St. John's Institution. I can't name her because I haven't gotten her permission yet. Here are the examples:

a. menjatuhkan, menjatuhi

b. menidurkan, meniduri

Here's what she told me about the related grammar rule.

a. When a verb is used with an object to affect a receiver, we should always use the suffix 'kan'.

b. When a verb is used without an object, and directly point to a receiver, we should use the prefix 'i' but not always necessary.

Confused? I was too, initially. But with these sentences as  examples, perhaps you can understand what it means.

1. Hakim menjatuhkan hukuman tiga tahun penjara ke atas pesalah tersebut.

2. Hakim menjatuhi pesalah tersebut dengan hukuman tiga tahun penjara.

In sentence (1), Hakim is the doer, hukuman is the object and pesalah is the receiver.

Sentence (2) is the same thing all over, but this time, notice now Hakim menjatuhi pesalah, meaning Hakim (doer) does the verb menjatuhi directly to pesalah (the receiver). The object comes later and it doesn't matter. Sentence (1) says Hakim (the doer) does the verb menjatuhkan, hukuman (the object) to pesalah (the receiver). Still confused? Study these sentences, take note when and how the suffixes 'kan' and 'i' is used:

Normah menghamburkan kata-kata kesat kepada bekas suaminya.

Normah menghamburi suaminya dengan kata-kata kesat.

I do hope you can understand that now, otherwise you really need to resit your SPM BM Paper.

Which comes to the second example of menidurkan, meniduri. This is the only exception in using 'kan' and 'i', because, something will turn out awfully not right when,

Saya meniduri anak perempuan saya di dalam biliknya. (I slept with my daughter in her room). That is why this is an exception. It should always be written as, Saya menidurkan anak perempuan saya di biliknya (I tuck my daughter into bed in her room).

Well, you know what, I knew someone who 'meniduri anaknya' and later with a little bit of my help, hakim telah menjatuhkan hukuman enam belas tahun penjara ke atasnya. I had wished he got a maximum of twenty years, but sixteen is not that bad, I guess. It made sure his libido is completely depleted by the time he got out. And you know what, cell people hate incest.

But sorry, I digress.

FYI: Bahasa Melayu Sub-divisions

I suspect, so far that we know, or at least until recently that I found out, Bahasa Melayu consists only two sub-divisions, Bahasa Baku and Bahasa Pasar. Their descriptions are as follows. (Reference: PRPM) These are cut and paste, so don't blame me later. A simple English translation follows after their description respectively, for the benefit of all.

Bahasa Baku

Bahasa yang teratur dan mantap pelbagai aspeknya (seperti ejaan, bentuk kata, tatabahasa, dll) dan diterima oleh masyarakat sebagai norma penggunaan yang betul atau sahih, bahasa standard;

Ragam bahasa yang diakui betul dan diterima oleh penutur aslinya yang terdidik dlm bahasa berkenaan (ditandai oleh bentuk kata dan ayat yang mengikut kaedah tatabahasa dan digunakan dalam perhubungan rasmi, tulisan ilmiah atau perbicaraan umum).

(A language regarded as correct (in spelling, words, grammar etc.) and acceptable, as agreed by language scholar of a language. Used in formal communication).

Bahasa Pasar

Ragam bahasa Melayu yang tidak betul jalan bahasanya (terutamanya seperti yang dituturkan oleh orang asing yang tidak tahu akan kaedah bahasa Melayu).

a) Bahasa Melayu seperti yg dituturkan oleh orang bukan Melayu yang tidak menguasainya atau seperti yang dituturkan oleh orang Melayu apabila bertutur dengan orang bukan Melayu yang diketahuinya tidak pandai bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu yang betul; b) bahasa yang berupa campur aduk antara bahasa ibunda penutur dengan bahasa kedua yang cuba dituturkannya (biasanya digunakan dlm hubungan perdagangan), pijin;

(An incorrect usage of a language especially by a speaker other than mother tongue users, especially a foreigner, and/or when a native speaker tries in vain to make a non-native speaker understand, he/she mixes and jumbles it with language of the speaker and the second language. It can be vice versa)

But wait, I don’t think I speak either of those most of the times. Do you agree too?

Apparently, Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka (DBP) agrees. So they come up with a new sub-division, here:

Bahasa Basahan

Bahasa yang digunakan sehari-hari dlm keadaan tidak rasmi.

Bahasa yang digunakan dlm percakapan sehari-hari;

(A language that is used in a day to day conversation, informally)

But mother tongue or not, I believe most all of my friends- Malays, Non-Malays, Aliens, Djinns- speak reasonably good Bahasa Melayu. So now we know, we normally speak Bahasa Basahan.

Even though ‘basah’ is translated as wet, it has nothing to do with wetness, or dreams that cause you to get wet. Which FYI, I haven't experienced in a looooong time.

Yes?

Translate this: In retrospect

According to dictionary.com, retrospect is:

1. (noun) contemplation of the past, survey of past time, events etc; 

2. (verb w object) to look back in thought, refer back (often followed by to);

3. (verb wo object) to look back upon.

In retrospect, meanwhile, is categorized as an idiom. The meaning: do this: combine all the meanings from all three above, then, rearrange the words as sensibly as you can. In other words, they all carry the same meaning.

With such an extensive description, you might think that the translation is easy peasy, didn’t you? Well, as we found out the other day, given as a challenge by yet again Tuan Syed Nurulakla, we required a brain-cracker, just to come out with a lame 'melihat ke belakang'. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

Melihat ke belakang is what we do physically when we turn our head to look at what is behind us. So our genius senior lecturer with UPM (him lah!) simply uttered 'apabila ditinjau kembali'. Which received a very long "ooooooohh! Ya tak ya jugak!"

If you are a Malay speaker, native or not, you know it already, it’s self-explanatory. The thing here this time is picking the correct word(s) from a pool of words that has the same meaning. The essence of the translation is a word that carry the meaning of 'look': pandang, lihat, tengok, tinjau. While the rest are dead-straight meaning ‘look’ physically, it is left to tinjau, which can flexibly mean ‘look back’ to do the trick.

Or did we actually forget the existence of the word tinjau? (excuse, excuse, excuse)

There you go.

Translate this: Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae (CV) essentially is a piece of document deluged with what have ya! Here in Malaysia, jobseekers, especially new ones, tend to cramp it with every little detail that they might think is useful to future employer, for example the colour of one's underwear. Far-fetched you might think? Don't be surprised if you come across some ridiculous entry into their CV.

But I digress.

What is its translation in Malay? Biodata? Profile?

Those two suggestions doesn't quite fit the meaning, so explained by one of our facilitator, Tuan Syed Nurulakla, at the Translation Course organised by Persatuan Penterjemah Malaysia, that I currently attend. So then we asked, what Sir, might be the best translation of Curriculum Vitae?

His answer: Butiran Jaya Diri

He then told us, it is sort of an update from the current translation of CV, which is VK (Vitae Kurikulum), a simple borrowing from its source language, customised into Malay phonetic and grammar. But, does it sound Malay? No, of course not. So in order to Malaynise (sorry...) it, Malay Linguists had brainstormed themselves and then come up with BJD (as above).

Their reason is, as explained by Tuan Syed again, CV is essentially a list of your personal data plus your achievement in education and career. [ Butiran=Details; Jaya=Success (or to succeed); and Diri=Self ]. Which is very true as we (in the class) all agreed. But managing to wear the same pink underwear for 20 years cannot be and never will be considered an achievement. Don't ever put that in your BJD.

You may want to try it though. I mean the wearing, not the putting.

So, it's time to tell your newly graduated children to update their BJD, especially when applying for a government post. Good luck!