Bukannya membeli piringan hitam, kamu malah membeli mesin tik.

This is a very common Indonesian pattern used to show that the result is the opposite of what was expected.

So:

• bukannya membeli piringan hitam = instead of buying a vinyl record
• malah membeli mesin tik = you went and bought a typewriter instead

A natural English equivalent is:

• Instead of buying a vinyl record, you bought a typewriter.
• Rather than buying a vinyl record, you actually bought a typewriter.
• You were supposed to buy a vinyl record, but instead you bought a typewriter.

It often carries a tone of surprise, criticism, or mild reproach.

Bukannya is an idiomatic form often used to introduce a contrast like instead of... or rather than...

Compare:

• bukan = not / no
• bukannya = often instead of, rather than, or it’s not that...

In this sentence, bukannya membeli... does not simply mean not buying... It sets up an expectation and then contrasts it with what actually happened.

So here, bukannya is part of the fixed contrast pattern bukannya ..., malah ...

Here malah means something like:

• instead
• actually
• on the contrary
• to make matters more surprising

It highlights that the second action is unexpected or contrary to what was intended.

So:

• kamu malah membeli mesin tik = you actually bought a typewriter instead

In many contexts, malah adds emphasis, often with a feeling of that’s not what you were supposed to do.

Because the subject is understood from the second clause: kamu.

Indonesian often omits repeated subjects when they are clear from context. So the sentence is understood as:

• Bukannya (kamu) membeli piringan hitam, kamu malah membeli mesin tik.

In English, we usually repeat or make the subject explicit more often, but Indonesian does not need to.

Membeli is the meN- form of beli and is the standard active verb form in careful or neutral Indonesian.

• beli = buy
• membeli = to buy / buying

In formal or standard Indonesian, transitive verbs often appear with meN-:

• membeli buku
• menulis surat
• makan nasi is also common, though some verbs behave a little differently

In casual speech, people often drop the prefix:

• Bukannya beli piringan hitam, kamu malah beli mesin tik.

That sounds more conversational.

Piringan hitam means vinyl record or gramophone record.

Literally, it means:

• piringan = disc
• hitam = black

So the literal meaning is black disc, but in actual usage it refers to a record.

Even if records are not always black now, piringan hitam is still the normal term for a vinyl record.

Mesin tik means typewriter.

Both mesin tik and mesin ketik can be understood, but mesin tik is a well-established expression for typewriter.

Related forms:

• mengetik = to type
• ketik = type / typing
• mesin tik = typewriter

So this is just the standard noun phrase you should learn as a set expression.

Yes, but indirectly.

The sentence implies:

• the expected action was buying a record
• that did not happen
• instead, the person bought a typewriter

So it is not just a plain factual negative. It is a contrastive negative: not X, but Y instead.

That is why translating bukannya simply as not is often too weak here.

Usually, yes.

The pattern bukannya ..., malah ... often sounds like:

• surprise
• annoyance
• disappointment
• criticism

For example, it can suggest:

• That’s not what you were supposed to do.
• Why did you do that instead?

The tone depends on context and intonation, but this structure very often has some emotional force.

No, the sentence itself does not mark tense the way English does.

Membeli can mean:

• buy
• bought
• are buying
• were buying

The time is understood from context.

So depending on the situation, this sentence could mean:

• Instead of buying a vinyl record, you bought a typewriter.
• Instead of buying a vinyl record, you’re buying a typewriter.

In most contexts, English will choose a tense, but Indonesian often leaves it unstated unless time words make it clear.

Yes. A very natural alternative is:

• Kamu bukannya membeli piringan hitam, malah membeli mesin tik.

This puts kamu earlier and may sound a bit more straightforward.

Both versions are natural. Indonesian is fairly flexible with this kind of structure as long as the contrast remains clear:

• bukannya ...
• malah ...

That contrast is the important part.