Before I start, just an acknowledgement that the mod for [email protected] announced last month their hiatus from posting in this community. For how long, I don’t know. I have plans to continue posting under this section, but my first post is still in draft stage. Until then, here’s a taste of what I will post in the future.

“Cerlang” (phonemic respelling “chur-lung” in English) is a Malay word that’s rarely used, but there is a commonly used word derived from it: “cemerlang”. Cerlang means bright or luminous, while cemerlang means smart or excellent. Another example of deriving words in this way is gilang --> gemilang. In this case both words are commonly paired together and describe something that is glorious, magnificent or resplendent.

The affix or “imbuhan” used here is -em-. Malay users are familiar with various imbuhan added at the beginning and end of words, but this type of imbuhan known as “sisipan” (infix) is seldom taught in schools, since the resulting word usually has a different meaning and can be used independently from the root word. Other examples of sisipan include -er-, -el-, and -in-.

Below are articles in Malay that provides more instances of sisipan. Hope you find this post useful, and let me know what you think about this community in general.

https://www.pressreader.com/malaysia/berita-harian-malaysia/20190924/282089163491035

https://www.pressreader.com/malaysia/berita-harian-malaysia/20191001/282793538142144