An adjective is a word that modifies a noun (kata benda) by describing it in some way: shape, color, size, nationality.
Melanau adjectives are very different from english and malay adjectives. English adjectives are always in front of the noun eg: big book, cute girl and Malay adjectives are always after the noun eg: buku besar, gadis cantik. In melanau however adjectives can be either in front of the noun or after the noun. The meaning is the same only differs in emphasis. This is the beauty of melanau language that utilize less word to convey many different context and concept :)
The following rules apply to most of the adjectives:
1. Any adjective after the noun have the same meaning as in english or malay.
Example:
bup nyat= buku besar = big book
a-mahou jinih= gadis cantik = beautiful lady
a-lai jed = lelaki gagah = strong man
2. Any adjective before the noun have the same meaning as in english or malay with more emphasis.
Example:
Gauk aneak yen = what a naughty boy =budak yang sangat nakal
Jinih a mahou yen = what a beautiful lady = gadis yang sangat cantik
Jed a-alai yen= what a strong man= lelaki yang sangat gagah
3. To change some adjective into a noun the prefix ( imbuhan) "ke-" is used:
Example:
Adjective: nyat ( big, besar)
Noun: Kenyat ( Hugeness, Kebesaran)
Adjective: jinih ( beautiful, cantik)
Noun: Kejinih ( beauty, kecantikan)
Adjective: temih ( sweet, manis)
Noun: Ketemih ( sweetness, kemanisan)
Adjective: masin( salty, masin)
Noun: Kemasin (saltyness, kemasinan)
Note: the adjective "Jed" does not have noun form. So "Kejed" is not posibble.
4. Special case:
Certain words can have a different meaning depending on the position of their adjective.
The noun "Ji" ( english: look, condition malay: rupa, keadaan)
adjective: "diak" ( good)
Adjective before the noun: diak ji = good look or good condition ( rupa baik, keadaan baik)
Example: siyen diak ji = he's good looking
Adjective after the noun: ji diak = look like good ( seperti baik, seperti bagus)
Example: siyen ji diak un = he looks (like) okay.
The adverb "agei" (again)
Because the introduction of this adverb to an adjective, when some melanau who speaks malay in "melanau grammatical sense ", they may be misunderstood by other malays.
Example:
adjective: "idak" ( many,more, banyak)
In malay "lagi banyak" means "more than" & "banyak lagi" is "still more" which in melanau however the other way round.
agei idak= still more = banyak lagi.
idak agei = more than = lagi banyak
Akou bacak idak agei bup keman nou. ( idak + agei )
saya membaca lagi banyak buku dari awak: i read more than you
Akou bei agei idak bup bak nebacak. ( agei + idak)
saya ada banyak lagi buku yang hendak dibaca: i still have more books to read.
Written by Learn Melanau
Learn Melanau by Nativeglot.com provides insider information about melanau unique cultures and language
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