Kami menyalut tembikar dengan licau sebelum mengeringkannya.

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Breakdown of Kami menyalut tembikar dengan licau sebelum mengeringkannya.

• sebelum: before
• kami: we/us
• tembikar: pottery

Questions & Answers about Kami menyalut tembikar dengan licau sebelum mengeringkannya.

Why is kami used here instead of kita?

In Malay, kami means we, but it excludes the person being spoken to.
So Kami menyalut... means We coat..., but not including you.

By contrast, kita means we in an inclusive sense: you and I / all of us including the listener.

So the sentence uses kami because the speaker is talking about what their group does, without including the listener.

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What does menyalut mean, and where does that form come from?

Menyalut means to coat, to cover with a layer, or to apply a coating to something.

It comes from the root salut.
When the active verb prefix meN- is added to a root beginning with s, the s usually drops and the prefix becomes meny-:

• salut → menyalut
• compare:
  • sapu → menyapu
  • sebut → menyebut

So menyalut tembikar = to coat the pottery.

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Why is it tembikar and not something like sebuah tembikar?