Malay has borrowed affixes from other languages to build modern vocabulary. Prefixes include pra- (before), pasca- (after), anti- (against), pro- (for), juru- (expert), tata- (system), maha- (great), dwi- (two) and swa- (self). Suffixes include -wan and -man (a man or person), -wati (a woman), and -isme (a belief).
What your child will learn
- Say what a borrowed affix means
- Work out the meaning of an unfamiliar word from its parts
- Write borrowed prefixes joined to the base word
Reading words by their parts
Juru- words are jobs: jururawat (nurse), juruterbang (pilot), jurutera (engineer). Pra- and pasca- are opposites: prasekolah (pre-school), pascabanjir (after the flood).
The pair -wan and -wati marks men and women: olahragawan and olahragawati (sportsman, sportswoman). Borrowed prefixes are written joined, without a space or hyphen: antidadah, prasejarah, dwibahasa.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. Betul atau salah? “Angkasawan” ialah orang yang pergi ke angkasa lepas.
👨🚀- Betul
- Salah
Show answer
Answer: Betul. Akhiran -wan menunjukkan orang yang terlibat dalam sesuatu bidang.
2. “Dwibahasa” bermaksud…
- dua bahasa
- tiada bahasa
- satu bahasa
- banyak bahasa
Show answer
Answer: dua bahasa. Awalan dwi- bermaksud dua.
3. “Jururawat” ialah…
👩⚕️- bilik rawatan
- orang yang ahli merawat pesakit
- alat perubatan
- ubat
Show answer
Answer: orang yang ahli merawat pesakit. Awalan juru- menunjukkan orang yang ahli.
Tips for grown-ups
- Make a “juru-” list of jobs and add to it for a week.
- Find pra-, anti- and pasca- words in a newspaper.