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When Malay Meets English Trivia Quiz

Malay is the official language of Malaysia. How much do you know about this language? And how does it relate to English? Give it a try and have fun!

A multiple-choice quiz by Matthew_07. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
Matthew_07

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
262,183

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
876

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Some Malay words are borrowed from English. For example, the word "kamera" is borrowed from English's "camera". "Signifikan" is borrowed from "significant". Which of the following words is not a directly borrowed word from English? Hint

Buku

Konklusi

Sains

Sekolah

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. "Terima kasih" means thank you. However, it gives a whole different meaning if we translate the phrase word by word. What do "terima" and "kasih" mean? Hint

Receive, love

Receive, pleasure

Get, love

Get, pleasure

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia. The literal meaning of the phrase "Kuala Lumpur" is __________. Hint

Mud river

Mud mountain

Mud land

Mud confluence

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Question 4 of 10

4. "Kereta" means car; "bapa" means father; "saya" means my or me. "Bapa saya" means my father. "Kereta saya" means my car. So, how do we say my father's car in Malay? Hint

Saya bapa kereta

Kereta bapa saya

Bapa kereta saya

Saya kereta bapa

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Question 5 of 10

5. The word "air" exists both in Malay and English. Observe the following sentence: Matthew drank a glass of "air" (Malay word), then went out to the backyard to take a breath of fresh air (English word). What does the word "air" mean in Malay? Hint

Water

Milk

Coffee

Juice

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Question 6 of 10

6. The Malay word "tatabahasa" has 5 'a' vowels in it. Observe the following sentence: My brother is learning "tatabahasa" in his Malay class. What does it mean by "tatabahasa"? Hint

Pronunciation

Grammar

Composition

Reading

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Question 7 of 10

7. Malay is influenced by English in many ways, and there is this unofficial "Manglish" language or "bahasa rojak" (mixed language) in Malaysia. Which of the following sentences is "Manglish"? Hint

Let's go, kita sudah lambat. (Let's go, we are already late.)

Lu punya anak banyak cantik oh. (Your daughter is very pretty.)

Tonight we go yam cha, want or not? (Do you want to go have a drink tonight?)

Saya mempunyai dua orang anak. (I have two sons.)

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Question 8 of 10

8. "Orang utan" can be found on Borneo Island and its name is derived from Malay language. What is the meaning of "orang utan"? Hint

Man of the kingdom

Man of the animals

Man of the country

Man of the forest

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Question 9 of 10

9. "Negaraku" is the national anthem of Malaysia. Its meaning is _________. Hint

My land

My place

My home

My country

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Question 10 of 10

10. Nowadays, Malay is usually written using Latin alphabet. Apart from that, Malay is also written in __________. Hint

Pallava

Rencong

Kawi

Jawi

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Sekolah

The word "sekolah" means school, which is borrowed from a Portuguese word, escola. "Buku" is book; "sains" is science; "konklusi" is conclusion. Normally, when a word is borrowed from English, the letter "c" will be substituted with the letter "k".

2. "Terima kasih" means thank you. However, it gives a whole different meaning if we translate the phrase word by word. What do "terima" and "kasih" mean?

Answer: Receive, love

"Terima" (a verb) means to receive. Meanwhile, "kasih" means love. Well, some phrases are just lost in translations. ;)

3. Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia. The literal meaning of the phrase "Kuala Lumpur" is __________.

Answer: Mud confluence

"Lumpur" means mud. On the other hand, "kuala" means confluence. A confluence is a meeting place of 2 or more rivers. Kuala Lumpur now houses Malaysia's tallest building, namely the Petronas Twin Towers, with 88 storeys.

4. "Kereta" means car; "bapa" means father; "saya" means my or me. "Bapa saya" means my father. "Kereta saya" means my car. So, how do we say my father's car in Malay?

Answer: Kereta bapa saya

Malay's grammar is different from English's. Most Malay learners find this difficult to comprehend.

Answer: Water

"Air" means water. "Kopi", which is also a borrowed word, means coffee. Milk in Malay is "susu". "Jus", another borrowed word, means juice.

6. The Malay word "tatabahasa" has 5 'a' vowels in it. Observe the following sentence: My brother is learning "tatabahasa" in his Malay class. What does it mean by "tatabahasa"?

Answer: Grammar

The word "tatabahasa" consists of 2 parts, namely its prefix "tata" and its "root word", "bahasa", which means language. Pronunciation in Malay is "penyebutan". Composition is "karangan". Reading is "bacaan".

7. Malay is influenced by English in many ways, and there is this unofficial "Manglish" language or "bahasa rojak" (mixed language) in Malaysia. Which of the following sentences is "Manglish"?

Answer: Let's go, kita sudah lambat. (Let's go, we are already late.)

The sentence "Let's go, kita sudah lambat" is "Manglish". The first part of the sentence before the comma is in English, whereas the rest is in Malay. The sentence "Tonight we go yam cha, want or not?" contains both English and Mandarin (Cantonese) words. "Yam Cha" means to drink.

The sentence "Lu punya anak banyak cantik oh" is spoken in broken Malay, where the word "lu" (not a Malay word) means your. "Sungguh" or "sangat" means very; but many Chinese Malaysians like to use the word "banyak" (which means many) for that purpose.

The sentence "Saya mempunyai dua orang anak." is written in standard Malay.

8. "Orang utan" can be found on Borneo Island and its name is derived from Malay language. What is the meaning of "orang utan"?

Answer: Man of the forest

"Orang utan"'s scientific name is Ponginae Pongo. "Orang" means a man or a person. Meanwhile, "utan", or its original word, "hutan" means forest. It should be noticed that while "orang" means a person, "orang-orang" means scarecrow. In Malay, when some words are duplicated, they give a completely different meaning.

However, there are also some exceptions. For instance, "buah-buahan" means fruits and "kereta-kereta" means cars.

9. "Negaraku" is the national anthem of Malaysia. Its meaning is _________.

Answer: My country

Again, the word "negaraku" consists of 2 parts: "negara"(the "root word") means country, while "ku" (its suffix) means my. Besides Malaysia, Singapore's national anthem, "Majulah Singapura" ("maju" means to progress) is also in Malay.

10. Nowadays, Malay is usually written using Latin alphabet. Apart from that, Malay is also written in __________.

Answer: Jawi

Jawi is a modified Arabic script. Malaysian students are given the options to answer their Malay paper in either Latin or Jawi during their examinations. Most Malay master Jawi very well, but Chinese and Indian do not. Pallava, Kawi and Rencong are used before the introduction of Latin alphabet, which is introduced by the Portuguese, Dutch and British during their colonial era. (Source: www.wikipedia.com)

Source: Author Matthew_07

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
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