Breakdown of Pembesar suara dikawal dengan alat kawalan jauh.
dengan
with
mengawal
to control
pembesar suara
the loudspeaker
alat kawalan jauh
the remote control
Questions & Answers about Pembesar suara dikawal dengan alat kawalan jauh.
Why is pembesar suara used for speaker? What does it literally mean?
Pembesar suara literally means something like sound enlarger/amplifier.
It is built from:
- besar = big
- pembesar = something that makes something bigger / an enlarger
- suara = sound, voice
So pembesar suara is the standard Malay term for a loudspeaker/speaker. Even though the literal meaning sounds different from English, this is the normal expression.
Why does the sentence use dikawal instead of mengawal?
Because this sentence is in the passive voice.
- mengawal = to control
- dikawal = is controlled / being controlled
So:
- Alat kawalan jauh mengawal pembesar suara. = The remote control controls the speaker.
(active) - Pembesar suara dikawal dengan alat kawalan jauh. = The speaker is controlled with a remote control.
(passive)
Malay often uses di- to form the passive when the thing receiving the action comes first.
What exactly does the prefix di- mean here?