Why Some Malay Words Cannot Really Be Translated into English

There is a common assumption when learning a language:

Every word must have an equivalent in another language.

If you know the English word, you should be able to find the Malay word.

If you know the Malay word, you should be able to find the English equivalent.

But languages don't work that neatly.

Sometimes, you can translate a word.

Sometimes, you can explain it.

And sometimes, the closest translation is a whole sentence.

This is because words carry culture, relationships, emotions and ways of seeing the world.

Malay is full of these words.

Take “lepak”

You can translate lepak as “to hang out”.

But is that really what it means?

If I say:

“Jom lepak.”

I could mean, “Let's hang out.”

But lepak can carry a particular Malaysian feeling — spending time together casually, without necessarily having a specific activity or purpose.

You might sit at a mamak.

Drink teh tarik.

Talk about absolutely nothing important.

Stay for two hours longer than you planned.

The dictionary translation tells you the meaning.

The experience tells you what the word really means.

“Kak” and “Abang” are not simply “sister” and “brother”

This is another beautiful example.

Kak literally relates to an older sister.

Abang relates to an older brother.

But in everyday Malaysian Malay, we use these words much more broadly.

You might call a woman you don't know kak.

You might call a man abang.

They don't necessarily have to be your siblings.

The words can communicate familiarity, politeness, warmth or social relationship.

So what is the English translation?

“Miss”?

“Ma'am”?

“Brother”?

“Sir”?

None of them quite captures it.

Because the word isn't only describing who someone is.

It is also describing how you relate to them.

“Segan”

Then there are words like segan.

You might translate it as:

“shy”

“embarrassed”

“reluctant”

“awkward”

But segan can mean something more subtle.

You may feel segan to ask someone for a favour because you don't want to impose.

You may feel segan accepting something because you feel you haven't done enough in return.

You may feel segan speaking too directly to someone older than you.

There is a social awareness inside the word.

It reflects a sensitivity towards other people and the situation you are in.

English can explain it.

But one English word doesn't quite contain it.

“Malu”

Malu is another example.

It can be translated as “shame”, “embarrassment” or sometimes “shyness”.

But malu can operate in many different situations.

You can malu because you made a mistake.

You can malu because people are looking at you.

You can malu because you don't want to inconvenience someone.

You can even say:

“Tak malu ke?”

And depending on the situation, that can carry far more meaning than simply:

“Aren't you embarrassed?”

The emotional weight changes with context.

And context is part of language.

“Jemput”

Consider the word jemput.

In English, we might translate it as “invite”.

But Malaysians often say:

“Jemput makan.”

Literally, something like “please invite/eat”.

But nobody is asking you to formally accept an invitation.

They are expressing hospitality.

It means:

Please eat. Make yourself comfortable. Don't feel shy. You are welcome here.

The translation doesn't capture the whole social meaning.

Because jemput makan is not just about food.

It is about hospitality.

Sometimes, Malay expresses relationships that English doesn't

Malay is particularly interesting because the language often tells us something about our relationship with the person we are speaking to.

We have:

aku / saya

kau / awak / kamu / anda

abang / kakak

pakcik / makcik

encik / puan

And the appropriate choice depends on the relationship, age, familiarity and situation.

You cannot always translate these directly without losing something.

This is one of the reasons learning Malay from a dictionary alone can be difficult.

You can know what a word means and still not know when it feels right to use it.

A language contains a worldview

This is what makes language so fascinating to me.

Languages don't simply give us different labels for the same things.

They can encourage us to notice different aspects of human relationships and everyday life.

Some concepts are easy to translate because human experiences overlap.

Others are deeply connected to a particular culture.

And sometimes, a word survives translation precisely because there is no perfect equivalent.

We borrow it.

We explain it.

We give examples.

Or we simply learn to feel what it means.

That is how language works.

This is why I believe you cannot learn Malay through translation alone

When someone asks me:

“What does this Malay word mean in English?”

I can give them the English definition.

But that is only the beginning.

The more important questions are:

When do Malaysians use it?

Who can you say it to?

Does it sound formal or casual?

Does it sound warm, distant, respectful or rude?

What does it communicate beyond the literal meaning?

That is the difference between knowing a word and knowing a language.

And this is why Munshi exists

At Munshi, we don't want learners to simply memorise Malay vocabulary and search for an English equivalent every time they speak.

We want them to understand Malay in context.

Because sometimes the best way to understand a Malay word is not to translate it.

It is to see it being used.

Hear it.

Experience the situation.

Understand the relationship between the speakers.

And eventually, recognise the feeling behind it.

Because the beauty of learning another language is discovering that some things cannot be carried perfectly from one language to another.

You have to cross the bridge yourself.

And somewhere along the way, you stop asking:

“What is the English word for this?”

And start thinking:

“Ah. I understand what this means.”

That moment is when you are no longer simply translating.

You are learning to think in another language.

And perhaps that is one of the most beautiful things a language can give us.