Bahasa Indonesia/Melayu - Caitlín

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Multiturquoise
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Bahasa Indonesia/Melayu - Caitlín

Postby Multiturquoise » 2014-07-29, 12:29

This is my Indonesian/Malay thread. I'll share my progress here. I can form basic sentences, but I need to improve.

Some sentences:
Aku sedang menulis sebuah buku. - I'm writing a book.

And a question: Which is correct?
Saya punya
or
Saya mempunyai
?

Thanks!
native: (tr)
advanced: (en) (el)
intermediate: (fr) (ka)
focus: (de) (sl) (hr)

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Re: Bahasa Indonesia/Melayu - Caitlín

Postby linguoboy » 2014-07-29, 16:45

Caitlín wrote:And a question: Which is correct?
Saya punya
or
Saya mempunyai
?

What are you trying to say?

Both verbs mean "have, own", but punya is more colloquial whereas mempunyai is more formal. (Originally, punya was a noun and mempunyai was a verb derived from it. But since then, punya has come to be used as a verb as well. Cf. milik "property" > memilik "own (v.)".)
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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atalarikt
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Re: Bahasa Indonesia/Melayu - Caitlín

Postby atalarikt » 2014-10-20, 13:57

Caitlín wrote:And a question: Which is correct?
Saya punya
or
Saya mempunyai
?

Thanks!

If you're talking to you friend(s), use "Saya punya", but if you're in a formal situation (e.g. making some kind of ID card for a company), it is more recommended to use "Saya mempunyai", though there's actually nothing wrong with using "Saya punya".
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافُ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَأَلْوَانِكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِلْعَالِمِينَ۝
"And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and your colors. Indeed in that are signs for those of knowledge." (Ar-Rum: 22)

Jika saya salah, mohon diperbaiki. If I make some mistake(s), please correct me.
Forever indebted to Robert A. Blust for his contributions to Austronesian linguistics


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