Sunday, October 4, 2009

Redundancy in Malay usage

Learners of the Malay language often make mistakes because of redundancy in its usage. In this post, I will talk about such mistakes so as to promote the correct usage.

1 "saling" which means "mutual" is often used together with duplicated words, causing redundancy.
For example, hormat-menghormati means respect each other or one another. It carries the sense of mutuality. Hence it is wrong to write "Mereka saling hormat-menghormati." The correct sentences should be:
a) Mereka saling menghormati. [They respect one another.]
b) Mereka hormat-menghormati. [They respect one another.]

2 "antara satu dengan yang lain" also shows the mutual sense. Hence it is wrong to write:
Mereka bantu-membantu antara satu dengan yang lain.
The correct sentences should be:
a) Mereka bantu-membantu. [They help one another.]
b) Mereka membantu antara satu dengan yang lain. [They help one another.]

So much for redundancy in Malay usage.

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