Mereka menyalut tembikar dengan licau.

Menyalut is the active verb form built from the root salut.

In Malay, the prefix meN- often makes a verb meaning to do X to something. When meN- is added to a root beginning with s, the s usually drops and meN- becomes meny-:

• salut → menyalut

So menyalut means to coat / to cover / to glaze something.

This is a very common pattern in Malay:

• sapu → menyapu
• susun → menyusun
• salut → menyalut

Mereka means they.

In this sentence, it is the subject, so it means they rather than them.

A useful point: mereka is normally used for people, not things. So this sentence strongly suggests that the ones doing the coating are human beings.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Malay usually does not force you to mark singular vs. plural the way English often does. So tembikar can mean:

• pottery in general
• a pottery item
• pottery items

In this sentence, English would most naturally translate it as pottery in a general sense.

If Malay wants to be more specific, it can add something:

• sebuah tembikar = a piece/item of pottery
• tembikar-tembikar = pottery items / pots (explicit plural, though often unnecessary)

Dengan means with, and here it introduces the material or means used in the action.

So:

• menyalut tembikar dengan licau
  = to coat pottery with glaze

This is very similar to English structure:

• coat
  • object + with
    • material

So:

• tembikar = the thing being coated
• licau = what is used to coat it

Licau here means glaze, especially the coating applied to pottery or ceramics.

It is the substance put on the surface of the pottery before or during firing to give it a finished surface.

Depending on context, learners may also encounter other terms in ceramics, but in this sentence licau is simply the glaze.

It is active.

The structure is:

• Mereka = subject/doer
• menyalut = active verb
• tembikar = object
• dengan licau = prepositional phrase

So the meaning is They coat pottery with glaze.

A passive version would be:

• Tembikar disalut dengan licau.
  = The pottery is coated with glaze.

You could also add the agent:

• Tembikar disalut dengan licau oleh mereka.
  = The pottery is coated with glaze by them.

Malay verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So menyalut by itself does not tell you whether the action is present, past, or future. The time is understood from context or from extra words such as:

• sedang = currently / in the middle of
• telah / sudah = already / past
• akan = will / going to

Examples:

• Mereka sedang menyalut tembikar dengan licau.
  = They are coating pottery with glaze.
• Mereka telah menyalut tembikar dengan licau.
  = They coated / have coated the pottery with glaze.
• Mereka akan menyalut tembikar dengan licau.
  = They will coat pottery with glaze.

Without any time marker, the sentence is often understood as present, habitual, or general.

Malay normally does not use articles like a, an, or the.

So tembikar can mean:

• pottery
• the pottery
• a pottery item

The exact meaning depends on context.

This is very normal in Malay. English requires articles much more often than Malay does.

Yes, it is quite similar here.

The sentence follows this pattern:

• Subject + Verb + Object + Prepositional phrase

So:

• Mereka = Subject
• menyalut = Verb
• tembikar = Object
• dengan licau = Prepositional phrase

That makes it fairly straightforward for English speakers:

• They coat pottery with glaze.

Usually, mereka refers to a specific group of people, not a vague general they.

English sometimes says things like:

• They say it’s going to rain.

Malay does not usually use mereka that way. For general people, Malay often uses other expressions such as:

• orang
• a passive construction
• another more general phrasing depending on context

So in Mereka menyalut tembikar dengan licau, the most natural reading is that a particular group of people is doing the glazing.

It is pronounced roughly like:

men-ya-lut

A helpful point is the ny sound. In Malay, ny is like the sound in:

• Spanish señor
• the ny sound in canyon for many English speakers

So menyalut sounds approximately like: mə-nya-lut

Not like men-sa-lut.

In normal standard Malay, if you want an active transitive verb meaning to coat something, you would usually use menyalut, not bare salut.

So:

• Mereka menyalut tembikar dengan licau. = correct and natural

Using salut by itself would generally not sound right in this kind of full sentence unless it appears in a different grammatical environment, such as with another affix or in a dictionary-style root form.

It is a prepositional phrase.

• dengan = with
• licau = glaze

Together, dengan licau tells us what material is used in the coating action.

So if you break the sentence apart:

• Mereka menyalut tembikar = They coat pottery
• dengan licau = with glaze

It adds extra information about how or with what the action is carried out.