This r is commonly written in all cases in literary Malay, but it is often omitted in colloquial Malay. Dr. Fokker's analysis gives a widespread but not universal practice. ‘A genuine Malay stem ending in r and having another initial than a never takes a prefix closed by r.’ bakar forms těbakar; labur, pělabur; layar forms bělayar, pělayaran; chichir, běchichir-chichiran; tengkar, bětěngkar. Similarly, ‘Malay stems with medial r and having another initial than a.’ From kirim we get běkirim; from sĕrta, běsĕrta, pěsĕrtakan; from siram, běsiram; from dorong, tědorong; from pěranjat, těpěranjat; from kěrja, běkěrja, pěkěrjaan; from pěrměna, těpĕrměnaï. ‘Before a stem with initial s the prefix without r is preferable; thus běsisek is better than bĕrsisck.’ From ribu we get měribu, běribu not měrribu, bĕrribu; from rangga, mĕrangga; from ragi, měragi; from ragong, tĕragong-ragong; from rajok, pěrajok and so on.
In the Kedah dialect to quote an example from the Peninsula, this r is never sounded at all.
(c) A few crystallized survivals[1] like kěndudok, sěndudok, sěkědudok a plant; diri, sěndiri, kěndiri self; sĕngkarut interlaced; sembělit costiveness; sěnjolong long-snouted gavial; sěmbuang offering; sěmbulu rough-
- ↑ Dr. Fokker calls my attention to the fact that Kern considered any prefix to the name of animal, plant, thing, &c., an indefinite article; he suggests, rightly to my mind, that such a prefix may more probably be defined as a definite article, and instances siakap, kakap name of a fish with protruding eyes, with which one may compare kakap a spy, a mata-mata.
