intransitive, and where the prefix is m that the verb is transitive; in the latter case one of the suffixes kan or i is sometimes given to show which of these forms is most commonly used; in some cases either may be used. Some roots may be used either transitively or intransitively, in which case the derivatives with ber and m are both given. It must be understood that the prefix m can always be used with derivative verbs formed with the suffix kan or i; this being the case it has not been thought necessary to give the derivative formed with m as a distinct form of the word.
In derived words formed with the prefixes ber, ter, per, di- and k, the first syllable of the root undergoes no change, and the word can therefore usually be discovered without any difficulty, but with the prefixes m and p the root in many cases changes its form. A reference to the following list of changes will usually enable the student to decide what the root is:―
If the root commences with
l, m, n, or r, it undergoes no change;
b, the prefix becomes mm or pm, as buka, mmbuka;
p, the prefix becomes mm or pm, and the initial p of the root is elided, as putus, mmutus;
d or j, the prefix becomes mn or pn, as dapat, mndapat;
t or ch, the prefix becomes mn or pn and the initial t or ch of the root is elided, as taroh, mnaroh;
g or h or a vowel, the prefix becomes mng or png, as gali, mngali;
k, the prefix become mng or png and the initial k of the root is elided, as karang, mngarang;
s and sometimes ch, the prefix becomes mny or pny and the initial s or ch of the root is elided, as suroh, mnyuroh.
The chief difficulty in discovering the root arises when the root commences with p, t, or k, from the fact that when the initial letter has been elided there is no means of knowing what that letter may have been; thus the root of mmutus might be either mutus or putus, and that of mnaroh and mngararg might be either naroh or taroh, or karang or arang respectively. When in doubt the student must look for both forms. Thus with derivatives commencing with mny, the root should first be sought for under the more common letter s and then under ch, those commencing with mn should be looked for first under t and then under n, those commencing mm under p or m, and those commencing mng under k or under the vowel which follows the mng. Similarly of course with derivatives formed with p in its various forms.
Words of Foreign Origin.
The Malays have a remarkable aptitude for adopting foreign words, which in most cases become assimilated to the Malay style of pronunciation, the spelling being sometimes changed to suit the new
