Leaving out 'penjodoh bilangan' when they are needed

I was waiting for my turn to pay my electricity bill when I spotted one poster with the photo of a hen and a chick which has just hatched out from the egg. The words in Malay read 'Elektrik meringankan beban menetaskan lebih sejuta ayam setiap hari.' When translated into English it is 'Electricity lightens the burden of hatching one million chicks every day.

There are two errors in the Malay sentence. The first mistake is 'lebih sejuta' which should be 'lebih daripada'. This mistake often occurs in Malay newspapers when accidents are reported. For example, 'Lebih sepuluh orang terkorban dalam nahas jalan raya' [The correct sentence should be 'Lebih daripada sepuluh orang terkorban dalam nahas jalan raya. (More than ten people died in the road mishap.)]

The second mistake is the absence of 'penjodoh bilangan' (numerical coefficient). In the above sentence, 'sejuta ayam' should have been 'sejuta ekor ayam'. 'Ekor' is the 'penjodoh bilangan' that must be used beween sejuta and ayam. The use of 'penjodoh bilangan' is one of the special features of the Malay language. By the way 'ekor' is the numerical coefficient used before fish, animals and birds.

There are occasions when 'penjodoh bilangan' need not be used. This happens only if the nouns after the words denoting numbers (kata bilangan) are abstract nouns.

An example is 'dua perkara'(two matters) because 'perkara' (matter)is abstrak in nature. Another example is 'tiga pendapat' (three opinions) as 'pendapat' (opinion) is an abstract noun.

Let us not spoil the beauty of the Malay language by leaving out 'penjodoh bilangan' when they are needed.