Seorang rakyat biasa seperti Wan, hanya dapat menyumbang buah fikiran kepada negara tentang isu sebiji telur.

Tunggu...sebiji telur ataupun sebutir telur? Menurut cerita Kamus Dewan, kedua-dua biji dan butir ialah penjodoh bilangan untuk benda "kecil", perbezaannya butir digunakan untuk benda "bulat"

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Egg Trivia

An ordinary person like Wan can only contribute to my country by discussing the issue of an egg.

Wait...is the numeral coefficient for egg, "biji" or "butir"? The authoritative Dewan Kamus says both "biji" and "butir" are numeral coefficients for small objects, the difference is that "butir" is used for small and round objects.

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Tetapi Kamus Dewan kita ini memberikan contoh sebutir telur dan sebutir peluru -- benda "bujur"! Mungkin telur dan peluru itu boleh dianggap "bulat" jika dilihat dari bahagian hujung. Mengapa pula lazimnya dikatakan "sebiji" bola dan bukan "sebutir" bola, padahal bola itu terang-terang bulat? Hairan...

Kalau "biji" dan "butir" itu kecil, adakah ini bermaksud sama kecil? Ataupun "biji" lebih besar daripada "butir"? Wan berkata demikian kerana buku rujukan tatabahasa sering menggolongkan benda yang lebih kecil di bahagian "butir". Telur kita ini ada kalanya diletakkan di bahagian "biji", ada kalanya di bahagian "butir". Tidak pernah Wan terjumpa penjelasan tentang perbezaan saiz "biji" dan "butir".

Lagipun sebutir telur yang dikelaskan sebagai "kecil" itu ada yang boleh menjadi senjata berbahaya kerana saiz. Contoh: Ketuk kepala Wan dengan sebutir telur burung unta, kecilkah ini? Kesimpulannya Bahasa Malaysia terlalu longgar dengan erti "kecil" dan "bulat" sehingga pengguna pun turut liberal.

Yang paling penting, tukang roti canai selalu memberi telur yang sama untuk roti telur, tidak kira sama ada kita minta "sebiji" atau "sebutir".

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However, for "butir" our Kamus Dewan gives egg and bullet as examples--oval objects! Maybe egg and bullet look round at the ends. Why is "biji" often used as the numeral coefficient for ball instead of "butir" when ball is obviously round ?

If "biji" and "butir" are "small", does this mean they are the same in size? Or, is "biji" bigger than "butir"? Wan says so because Malay grammar books often classify smaller objects as "butir". Our egg is sometimes put under "biji", sometimes under "butir". Wan never comes across explanation whether there is a difference in sizes between "biji" and "butir".

Moreover, an egg that is defined as "small" can become a dangerous weapon due to its size. For example, hit Wan's little head with an ostrich egg, is this small? The conclusion is, Bahasa Malaysia is too liberal with its meaning of "round" and "small", so is its users.

Anway, either we say "biji" or "butir", the roti canai man always gives us the same roti telur and that's more important.

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Siapa Belum lagi Kenal Si Botak? Dia ialah utusan penjodoh bilangan Wan, alamatnya di...

Who hasn't get to know my Si Botak yet?He is my Malay numeral coefficient boy and this is his address...

www.bahasa-malaysia-simple-fun.com/penjodoh_bilangan.html