VII Prepositions
The principal prepositions of place and motion are di, at, in, on; ka, to, towards; deri, from. A great many so-called prepositions are formed from these three compounded with certain other words, such as:—
di-atas, on the top of.
ka-atas, to the top of.
deri-atas, from the top of.
di-dalam, in the interior of.
ka-dalam, to the interior of.
deri-dalam, from the interior of.
di-bĕlakang, at the back of.
ka-bĕlakang, to the back of.
deri-bĕlakang, from the back of.
di-sabĕrang, on the farther side of.
ka-sabĕrang, to the farther side of.
deri-sabĕrang, from the farther side of.
di-bawah, at the bottom of.
ka-bawah, to the bottom of.
deri-bawah, from the bottom of.
di-hadap-an, in front of.
ka-hadap-an, to the front of.
deri-hadap-an, from the front of.
di-luar, at the outside of.
ka-luar, to the outside of.
deri-luar, from the outside of.
These twenty-one words are used like prepositions, and are often classified as such, but the true prepositions are the three initial words.
Atas, bawah, dalam, hadap-an, bĕlakang, luar, and sabĕrang here are really substantives governed by the prepositions di, ka, and deri. Some of these words aptly illustrate the difficulty of classifying Malay words according to the parts of speech usually recognised by grammarians. Dalam, for instance, has already been classified in the preceding section as an adverb. It is also substantive, adjective, and preposition.
Dalam (subs.), interior, depth; as penghulu dalam, the guardian of the interior (inner apartments); dalam-nia tiga depa, its depth is three fathoms.
Dalam (adj.), deep; as ter-lalu dalam sungei ini, this river is very deep.
Dalam (adv.), inside; as ada orang dalam, there are people inside.
Dalam (prep.), in; as kain yang dalam gĕdong itu, cloth in that warehouse.
In Malay a substantive in the possessive case immediately follows the substantive denoting the possessor (supra, p. 47). In the sentences bĕlakang gunong, the back of the mountain; hadap-an raja, the presence of the king; sabĕrang sungei, the farther side of the river, all the words are substantives, gunong, raja, and sungei being in the possessive case.
Now let the prepositions di, ka, and deri be added to these sentences.
Di-bĕlakang gunong, at the back of the mountain, may be more shortly translated behind the mountain; so ka-hadap-an raja may be rendered before the king, and deri-sabĕrang sungei from beyond the river.
Here, though the purport of the Malay phrases di-bĕlakang, ka-hadap-an, and deri-sabĕrang are correctly rendered by English prepositions, only the first portion of each phrase is a Malay preposition.
Of the remaining prepositions the following are the chief:—
pada, kapada, at, to, on, towards.
deri-pada, from, than.
akan, to, for, as to, as for.
uleh, by.
atas, on, upon.
datang,
sampei,
hingga,
until, as far as.
antara, between.
samantara, until.
ganti, instead of.
balik, behind.
serta, with.
sama, with, to.
dengan, with.
dalam, in, into.
lĕpas, after.
karana,
krana,
sebab,
on account of.
sa-kadar, according to.
demei, by.
dĕkat, near.
tentang, concerning, opposite.
bagi, to.
trus, through.