Manado Malay

Word stress

Most words have stress on the pre-final syllable:

But there are also many words with final stress:

Possessives

Possessives are built by adding "pe" to the personal pronoun or name or noun, then followed by the 'possessed' noun. Thus "pe" has the function similar to English "'s" as in "the doctor's uniform".

The W-Words

why = kyápa?

where = di mána?

who = sápa?

which one(s) = tu mána?

Grammatical aspect

Ada ('to be') can be used in Manadonese Malay to indicate the perfective aspect e.g. :

Dorang ada turung pigi Wenang = "They already went down to Wenang"

Torang so makang = "We ate already", or "We have eaten already".

kita- me, myself, i or we, us

torang- we, us

Nasal finals

The final nasals /m/ and /n/ in Indonesian are replaced by the "-ng" group in Manado Malay, similar with Terengganu dialect of Malaysia, e.g. :

makang (Indonesian makan) = "to eat",

jalang (Indonesian jalan) = "to walk",

sirang (Indonesian siram) = "to shower" etc.

"ba-" prefix

The ber- prefix in Indonesian, which serves a function similar to the English -ing, is modified into ba- in Manado Malay. E.g.: bajalang (berjalan, walking), batobo (berenang, swimming), batolor (bertelur, laying eggs)

"ma(°)-" prefix

° = ng, n, or m depending on phonological context.

The me(°)- prefix in standard Indonesian, which also serves a function to make a verb active, is modified into ma(°)- in Manado Malay. E.g.: mangael (mengail, hooking fish), manari (menari, dancing), mancari (mencari, searching), mamasa (memasak, cooking), manangis (menangis, crying).

Other words

Several words in standard Indonesian are shortened in Manado Malay. For example:
pi (standard Indonesian: pergi, to go)

mo pi mana ngoni? (where are you people going?)

co (standard Indonesian: coba, to try)

co lia ini oto (try have a look at this car)

so (standard Indonesian: sudah, have/has done)

so klar? (have you finished?), "so maleleh?" (has it molten?), so kanyang?" (are your stomachs full yet?)

ta (standard Indonesian: awalan ter, passive prefix)

tasono? (fallen asleep) , tajatung? (fallen), tagoso (being rubbed)

Indonesian loanwards from Manado Malay

Several words in Manado Malay are loaned to the standard Indonesian:

baku (which indicates reciprocality) e.g. : baku hantam (to punch each other), baku ajar (to hit each other), baku veto (to debate one another), baku sedu (to laugh oneselves off), baku dapa (to meet each other).

Manado Malay loanwords from other languages

Due to the past colonisation by the Dutch and the Portuguese in Sulawesi, several words of Manado Malay originate from their languages.