Radio, Tag lines and Bahasa Malaysia

I couldn't help noticing that tag lines of Malaysian radios are having a problem with "dari" and " daripada".

From "dari" to "daripada"

Hot Fm was introduced as " Lebih hangat dari biasa" at least thrice that I know of- in a press statement and two articles published in Utusan Malaysia.Later, the tag line was corrected to "Lebih hangat daripada biasa".

Why the Confusion?

Let me begin with this example: Klasik Nasional is different from Hot Fm.When translated into Bahasa Malaysia, it is:

Klasik Nasional lain daripada Hot Fm.

Here, you can see that "daripada " is a conjunction to show comparison. Now an example using " dari":

Klasik Nasional memulakan siarannnya dari 12 Ogos hingga sekarang.

Klasik Nasional has begun broadcasting from 12 August until now.

Unfortunately, "dari" has to be translated into "from' in this case, thus the cause of confusion for many people. Whereas in Bahasa Malaysia, " dari" is a conjunction to show the beginning of a time period.

Look at the Context

Hot Fm is portraying its image as a radio station that plays more hot tracks than its competitors. Since this is obviously a case of comparison, its tag line would have to be:

" Lebih hangat daripada biasa". May I also chip in...

" Lebih daripada sekadar muzik" for Thr.Fm?

The Tag line of Nasional Klasik

Utusan Malaysia published a letter from a reader who felt that the tag line of Klasik Nasional is a blunder.

The letter quoted the tag line as:

"Klasik Nasional: Segalanya di sini menggamit memori"and said that it should be:

"Klasik Nasional: Segala yang di sini menggamit memori"

Based on this quote, indeed, there is a problem with the structure of a compound sentence, allow me to separate them into simple sentences:

Segalanya di sini. Segalanya menggamit memori.

You can make join them into a compound sentence using "yang":

Segala yang di sini menggamit memori.

I happened to read very carefully a statement from Kementerian Penerangan which wrote the tag line of the radio as:

"Segalanya di sini, menggamit memori"

Do you notice? That little...

Comma Makes a Difference

A comma reflects a change of idea within a sentence and even the tone of expression. Can you feel surge of those good old memories as you listen to the nostalgic tunes...?

That's why Klasik Nasional sticks to its tag line.

Kiddies' Stuff

I am just an ordinary Malaysian who have to look up school text books of the kids when confronted with issues concerning "dari" and " daripada" under the topic of " Kata Sendi" .

For the kata hubung relative "yang", I also read about "Ayat Majmuk Pancangan Relatif". Hey, do I have to explain about the comma...? :)

Conclusion

Radio tag lines is a fun way to learn Bahasa Malaysia because they are designed to be catchy and easy to remember...that is, if there is no blunder.

I would love to hear about your most memorable blunder in Bahasa Malaysia!

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