Malay Grmmar - Afrfixes Hey, I am a native Malay speaker. Today, I wanna share you something about Malay Grammar - Affixes Affixes Root words are either nouns or verbs, which can be affixed to derive new words, e.g. masak (to cook) yields memasak (cooks), memasakkan (cooks for), dimasak (cooked) as well as pemasak (a cook), masakan (a meal, cookery). Many initial consonants undergo mutation when prefixes are added: e.g. sapu (sweep) becomes penyapu (broom); panggil (to call) becomes memanggil (calls/calling), tapis (to sieve) becomes menapis (sieves). Other examples of the use of affixes to change the meaning of a word can be seen with the word ajar (teach): ajar = teach ajaran = teachings belajar = to learn mengajar = to teach diajar = being taught (intransitive) diajarkan = being taught (transitive) mempelajari = to study dipelajari = being studied pelajar = student pengajar = teacher pelajaran = subject pengajaran = lesson, moral of story pembelajaran = learning terajar = taught (accidentally) terpelajar = well-educated berpelajaran = is educated There are four types of affixes, namely prefixes (awalan), suffixes (akhiran), circumfixes (apitan) and infixes (sisipan). These affixes are categorised into noun affixes, verb affixes, and adjective affixes. Here, I just can say that even you change just a letter or just a syllable, the meaning would be changed. Thank you.