Malay Affixes And Root Words (A Beginner's Guide)
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One of the first things people tell you is that Malay’s easy.
There are no genders, no plural forms, and no verb conjugations based on time.
So, you start learning confidently.
Then, you see a word like makan (eat). But in the next sentence, it’s memakan. Then it becomes makanan, dimakan, and even termakan.
What is going on here?
Welcome to the world of Malay affixes.
If you want to move past “Tarzan speak” (using just single words) and sound like a fluent speaker, you need to understand how we build words.
Think of Malay words like building blocks.
You have a base piece, and you attach other pieces to the front or back to change what it does.
Once you know the pattern, you can actually guess the meaning of words you’ve never seen before.
Table of Contents:
What are root words (Kata Dasar)?
Before we look at the additions, we need to look at the base.
A root word (called Kata Dasar in Malay) is the simplest form of a word. It carries the core meaning. If you look up a word in a Malay dictionary, you usually have to look for the root word, not the modified version.
Here are common examples:
- Jalan (Walk/Road)
- Makan (Eat)
- Tidur (Sleep)
- Besar (Big)
- Ajar (Teach)
In casual conversation, you can often use just the root word and people will understand you. But to be precise, we add affixes (called Imbuhan).
The magic of prefixes (Awalan)
Prefixes are little text chunks added to the front of a root word. In Malay, these often tell you “who” is doing the action or what “state” the action is in.
Here are the four most important ones you need to know as a beginner.
1. Ber- (Intransitive Verbs / Possession)
This is one of the easiest prefixes. It usually turns a noun into a verb, or indicates that the subject is doing something that doesn’t necessarily need an object.
Meaning: To have, to do, or to be in a state of.
| Root Word | With Prefix | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Jalan (Walk) | Berjalan | To walk / Walking |
| Kereta (Car) | Berkereta | To have a car |
| Cakap (Talk) | Bercakap | To speak / communicate |
2. MeN- (Active Verbs)
This is the most common prefix you will see in writing. It indicates an active verb - meaning the subject is doing the action to an object.
Note: The capital ‘N’ in MeN- means the spelling changes depending on the first letter of the root word. It can become mem-, men-, meng-, or meny-.
Meaning: Active action (Subject does action to Object).
| Root Word | With Prefix | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Beli (Buy) | Membeli | Buying (active) |
| Tulis (Write) | Menulis | Writing (active) |
| Goreng (Fry) | Menggoreng | Frying (active) |
3. Di- (Passive Verbs)
If you learn only one prefix today, learn this one. It is incredibly useful. Di- turns a word into the passive voice.
In English, we say “The rice is eaten by me.” In Malay, Di- does that job.
Meaning: Passive action (Object has action done to it).
Nasi itu dimakan oleh Ali.
Buku itu ditulis oleh Aina.
4. Ter- (Accidental or Superlative)
This prefix is fun because it adds specific flavor to the meaning. It usually means the action happened accidentally, or it means “the most” (superlative).
Meaning: Accidental action OR “The most” (adjectives).
Saya termakan kek dia.
Ini rumah terbesar.
Understanding suffixes (Akhiran)
Suffixes are added to the end of the word. While prefixes usually deal with who is doing the action, suffixes often change the type of word it is (e.g., changing a verb into a noun).
1. -an (Makes it a noun)
This is the easiest suffix. If you take a verb and add -an, it usually becomes the result of that action or the noun version.
| Root Word (Verb) | With Suffix (Noun) | Meaning Change |
|---|---|---|
| Makan (Eat) | Makanan | Food |
| Minum (Drink) | Minuman | Beverage/Drink |
| Tulis (Write) | Tulisan | Handwriting/Writings |
2. -kan (Causative / Make it happen)
This suffix turns a word into a transitive verb (a verb that needs an object). It often carries the meaning of “make it happen” or “do it for someone.”
- Beli = Buy
- Belikan = Buy for someone
Tolong belikan buku itu.
Bersihkan bilik ini.
Using circumfixes (Apitan)
A circumfix is when we wrap the root word with both a prefix and a suffix at the same time. These are very common in formal Malay.
Ke-…-an
This wrapper usually turns adjectives into abstract nouns. It turns a description into a concept.
- Cantik (Beautiful) $\rightarrow$ Kecantikan (Beauty)
- Sihat (Healthy) $\rightarrow$ Kesihatan (Health)
- Manis (Sweet) $\rightarrow$ Kemanisan (Sweetness)
PeN-…-an
This usually describes the process of doing something.
- Belajar (Study) $\rightarrow$ Pembelajaran (Learning process)
- Bangun (Build/Wake) $\rightarrow$ Pembangunan (Development)
Spoken vs. Written: Do you really need them?
This is the secret that textbooks often hide from you.
When you are reading newspapers, signs, or books, correct affixes are mandatory. However, in spoken Malay (Bahasa Pasar or Colloquial Malay), we often drop them!
If you are speaking casually to a friend, you don’t need to stress too much about the MeN- prefix.
Formal Malay:
Saya sedang membeli nasi.
Casual Spoken Malay:
Saya beli nasi.
See the difference? We dropped sedang (currently) and the prefix mem- from beli.
However, some affixes are kept because they change the meaning entirely, like -kan or ter-.
Tip: As a beginner, focus on learning root words first. Then, learn -an (to make nouns) and di- (passive voice). These will give you the most “bang for your buck” in communication.
Don’t let the grammar rules stop you from speaking. We Malaysians are very forgiving with grammar errors!
Ready to practice?
Try taking a simple root word like Rasa (Feel/Taste) and see how many variations you can find in a dictionary.
