Thursday, August 23, 2007

Dr. Zimbel's Treatise on Paragraph (11) of the Kifli Text


Final paragraph:

Selamat menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan Malaysia ke-50!

Words with question marks are guesses.

Words with * are from Francis's research.

Words with + are from free.translated.net's Indonesian->English translator

Words with ++ are from kamus

roots
-an frequency?
ber- after?
se- one?

Hari - day
ke - to+
Kemerdekaan - (++) fredom/liberty/liberties
Malaysia - (the country)


menyambut - (++) to greet/to welcome/welcome/do with/greet/hail/receive
Selamat - safe,e.g. "SELAMAT, meaning safety in the Malay language, aims at creating a network for international co-operation on food safety issues between Europe and Asia." Selamat.Net

Selamat Jalan Tour Malaysia

So:

Selamat menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan Malaysia ke-50!

Becomes:

Safe greet day freedom Malaysia to 50!

Note that Malaysian independence (from Britain) was gained on August 31, 1957. So I think a less literal translation might be something like:

"Welcome the 50th anniversary of Malaysia's freedom!"

Hari Kemerdekaan Malaysia ke-50

Hari Kemerdekaan Malaysia ke-50: Pengisytiharan Kemerdekaan Tanah Melayu

Here are some odd links, referencing the 50th anniversary of Malaysia's independence from Great Britain.

Cuban artists salute Malaysian independence.



Malaysia at 50: Independence has not resolved ethnic issues.

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