Lesson IV On Intensives
Substantives reception-hall, balei.
room, bilek.
stairs, tangga.
a play, per-main-an.
conduct, ka-laku-an.
body, tuboh.
head, kapala.
year, tahun.
month, bulan.
price, harga.
country, nĕgri.
queen, permeisuri.
king, raja.
minister, mantri.
patience, sabar.
Adjectives ill, painful, sakit.
cheap, morah.
dear, mahal.
wide, luas.
astonished, heiran.
thin, kurus.
fat, gumok.
illustrious, mulia.
narrow, simpit.
glad, suka.
Verbs to see, lihat.
to demand, minta.
to be able, buleh.
to hear, dengar.
to play, main.
to look, tengok.
to enter, masok to order, suroh.
On Intensives.— To express an intensive degree the particle ter is prefixed to adjectives and adverbs; as ter-bĕsar, very large; ter-kuasa, very powerful; ter-lebeh, most; ter-lalu, excessively; ter-lampau, surpassing; ter-amat, most exceedingly.
The adjective may also be intensified by duplication; as ikan yang besar-besar, great big fish; burong kechil-kechil, very small birds; nĕgri jauh-jauh, far-distant lands; dia harti baik-baik, he understands very well.
The following adverbs are of frequent use in heightening the sense of words:—
baniak, very.
amat, exceedingly.
sangat, very.
sakali, quite, most.
ter-lebeh, most.
ter-lalu, excessively.
ter-langsong,
ter-lampau, surpassingly.
ter-amat, most exceedingly.
All of these precede the positive except sakali, which invariably follows it. Amat and sangat are also sometimes placed after the adjective which they qualify.
It is common to use more than one of these words with the same adjective, just as we say “the very most.”
Examples
There were a very great number of people in the reception-hall— Di balei itu ter-amat-lah baniak orang.
His body was very thin— Tuboh-nia sangat kurus.
The performance was exceedingly pretty— Sangat-lah chantek itu per-main-an.
He was immensely astonished at seeing it— Dia ter-lalu heiran me-lihat-kan.
This year all fruit is very plentiful and cheap— Tahun ini sagala buah-buah sangat-lah baniak dan morah harga-nia.
You must be exceedingly patient— Handak-lah dengan sabar sangat.
Very stupid in appearance— Ter-lalu bodoh rupa-nia.
The road is very bad— Jalan itu burok sakali.
Most exceedingly painful— Yang ter-lebeh sangat sakit.
It was a very large country— Ter-lalu amat besar negri itu.
His conduct was too bad— Ter-lampau jahat ka-laku-an-nia.
The adjective maha, great, is similarly used; as maha besar, very great; maha mulia, most illustrious; maha kuasa, all-powerful.
Exercise
He demanded a very high price. He is very ill. Your father was exceedingly wise. It is a very large river. I am very frightened. The water is very deep. Those Chinese are very wicked. The most illustrious and most mighty queen. The old man’s cow is very thin. I was much surprised at hearing it. He brought some very big horses. Some very large ships have arrived. This month fish is very cheap. The room is very wide. The river was much too narrow, the ship could not enter. I have a very bad headache.