PENANG MALAY. 71 
“This party would like to come to a settlement but the others 
don’t want to.” Dent suka nak buat sélésar, denu ta mahu. 
“ Why did you strike him?” Awat hang pukw detu? 
The word téntang “ facing,” when contracted to tang is com- 
bined with ni “ this ” and tw “‘ that ” to mean “in this or that spot 
or place” :— 
I am in pain about this spot. Saya sakit tang nm 
Go and put it over there. Hang pr taroh tang tu. 
I don’t know where it has got lost. Yang mana dia pi hilang pun 
ta’ tahu-lah. 
He was sitting at the table Dia dudok tang meja. 
That portion is alright but this 1s defective Tang tu bagus dah, 
tapi tang ni-lah nampak chachat. 
The word tkut “ to follow ” when used in the sense of “along” 
or “ through ” is usually contracted to kut (kot), thus :— 
“ By which road did you come?” Hang mai kot jalan mana? 
“The thief came through by the back” Pénchurt tu masok kot 
: bélakang. 
The verb dudok “to sit, to dwell,” is frequently shortened 
to dok :— 
“Where do you live, sir?” Tuan dok di-mana? 
“Pray remain seated. I am going.” Dok-lah. Saya nak pulang. 
7 Dok-lah is a common substitute for our “ good-bye.” 
The final h in the intensifying article lah is not pronounced. 
in Penang, the word being enunciated as /a with a long @ sound. 
Sudah “ to finish,” naturally becomes dah :— 
“He has gone.” Dia dah pr. 
“ He has finished doing it.” Dna buat, dah or dia dah buat. 
The more usual query in Singapore of méngapa “ why,” or. 
apa sébab “for what reason,” is almost invariably expressed in 
Penang by the one word awat, a contraction of apa buat * what’s 
to do” etc., though pasal apa “ for what reason,” pronounced as 
pasar apa, is also frequently heard. 
“Why were you dismissed?” Awat hang kéna buang kérja? 
“Why is the train late?” ~ slwat kéreta api m lambat? 
“Why did you not do it?” Awat ta’ buat? 
“What do you want? What is the matter?” Awat? 
The usual abbreviations of ta for tidak, nak for héndak and 
ta'andak for ta’ héndak hold good in Penang as elsewhere :— 
plidon i want iit Saya ta mahu or Saya tandak. 
“ Where are you going?” Nak pt mana or ka-mana? Nak ka-mana? 
is a common greeting to a person met on the road, usually 
replied to by ta’ pt mana * Il am not going anywhere in 
particular; ” or saja aku bérjalan, “just out for a walk,” 
or some definite statement of fact as, nak pi hédai, “am 
going shopping.” 
R. A. Soc., No. 85, 1922. = 
