Questions
Halo semua,

please I need to know the following:

1) "Tungkai" means always only "leg"or sometimes can it also indicate just the "foot"?
2) "kaki"means only "foot" or can it sometimes indicate the whole leg too?
(I ask this since the dictonaries for each term indicate both meaning, foot and leg)

3)in order to mean "I have written a tale", can I say "saya tertulis cerita" or do I have to say "saya sudah/telah menulis cerita” ?
4) If I want to say "I want to dance", so "saya ingin..." what is the difference between "Menari/Bertari/Menarikan"? can they be used indifferently or is there a subtle difference?

Terima kasih banyak

Question

Questions
Halo semua,

please I need to know the following:

1) "Tungkai" means always only "leg"or sometimes can it also indicate just the "foot"?
2) "kaki"means only "foot" or can it sometimes indicate the whole leg too?
(I ask this since the dictonaries for each term indicate both meaning, foot and leg)

3)in order to mean "I have written a tale", can I say "saya tertulis cerita" or do I have to say "saya sudah/telah menulis cerita” ?
4) If I want to say "I want to dance", so "saya ingin..." what is the difference between "Menari/Bertari/Menarikan"? can they be used indifferently or is there a subtle difference?

Terima kasih banyak

Answer

1) The word "Tungkai" is the whole leg 
2) Yes, you're right. "Kaki", it can be foot or leg.
3) The second one
4) 
Menari = to dance (intransitive). I want to dance / Saya ingin menari.
Bertari = We, or me as a native speaker, never use this. It's just sound strange. Although it's gramatically correct (ber-tari). So, forget about this word.. :)
Menarikan = to dance (transitive) I want to dance Salsa / Saya ingin menarikan (tarian) Salsa

You could say "Saya ingin menarikan" to Indonesian native speakers, and they will ask you "tari apa?" or "menarikan apa?" ("Dance what?")

Answer

Terima kasih!

Answer

1,2) The right meaning of 'tungkai' and 'kaki' are 'leg' and 'foot', but indonesian people misuse the word 'kaki' for both 'leg' and 'foot'. The word 'tungkai' is very rarely used in written or spoken communication.

3) "saya sudah/telah menulis cerita”

4) I want to dance. = Saya ingin menari.
He/ She dance the dance well. = Dia menarikan tarian itu dengan baik.
Bertari is not commonly used.