tuan suka bli? do you wish to buy it?
ta’suka or ta’mau, no.
68. It should, however, be remarked, that Malays generally avoid giving a direct negative, by using such expressions as, blum, not yet; mana boleh, how is it possible, certainly not; kurang preksa, I have not inquired; blum tahu, I do not know yet.
69. In the negative bukan there is implied the copula “to be.” Bukan is therefore the direct negative in reply to any question in which the copula is implied in the Malay, as,
orang ini dia? is this the man?
bukan, it is not.
tuan orang Inggris? are you an Englishman?.
bukan, I am not.
70. Similarly bukan or bukan-nya is used in negative declarative sentences, and bukan-kah in negative interrogative sentences, where the copula is implied, as,
ia bukan bangsa-ku, he is not of my nationality.
bukan-kah temparg kuda ini? is not this horse lame?
71. In such sentences as described in 70, if the verb is expressed, the negative auxiliary tiada is almost invariably used, though occasionally the simple negative tidak takes its place. In conversation tiada is abbreviated to t’ada.
tiada orang datang, no person came.
tiada-kah angkau datang? are you not coming?
Tiada may itself be the verb, if it expresses presence or existence, as,
tiada-kah kuda di sini? is there no horse here?
72. Blum is much more frequently used than the English equivalent “not yet.” For instance, in reply to such questions as, “is the water boiling,” “is the fruit ripe,” the Malay would invariably say blum, where in English we should often say simply “no.” It may in fact be taken as a rule that blum must be used where there is a probability, or an intention on the part of the speaker, that the statement which now requires a negative will eventually require an affirmative. Examples:
I am not ready, sahya blum sdia.
he is unmarried, dia blum kahwin.
73. In imperative sentences, the negative is always expressed by jangan, as,
jargan datang sini lagi, do not come here any more
