Breakdown of Undang-undang dan peraturan di kampus menjaga alam sekitar.
Questions & Answers about Undang-undang dan peraturan di kampus menjaga alam sekitar.
Undang-undang means law / laws.
The repetition with a hyphen is called reduplication. In Malay, reduplication is often used to show:
- Plurality or a set of things:
- buku-buku = books
- undang-undang = (a body of) laws
However, undang-undang is a special case: it is commonly treated as a single lexical item meaning law in general, and context tells you whether it’s singular or plural:
- undang-undang alam sekitar = environmental law / environmental laws
- satu undang-undang baharu = one new law
You don’t normally say undang on its own to mean “a law”; the standard word is the full undang-undang.
Both relate to rules, but there is a nuance:
undang-undang = law(s) in the more formal, legal sense
- Enacted by a legislature or higher authority
- Comparable to acts, statutes, laws
peraturan = regulation(s), rule(s)
- Often more specific, derived from or under the law
- Can also refer to internal rules, guidelines, policies
So in this sentence, undang-undang dan peraturan di kampus suggests both:
- Formal laws that apply on campus (e.g. national or state law)
- Specific campus regulations or rules
It’s not redundant; it’s emphasizing both the laws and the more detailed rules.
Di is a locative preposition meaning at / in / on, depending on context.
Kampus = campus.
So di kampus is best translated as on campus or at the campus in natural English.
In this sentence, di kampus attaches to undang-undang dan peraturan:
- undang-undang dan peraturan di kampus
= the laws and regulations on campus / at the campus
It describes which laws and regulations we mean (those that apply on campus), not where the action of protecting physically happens. English and Malay both allow similar readings, but that nuance can help you see the structure:
- [Undang-undang dan peraturan di kampus] = subject
- menjaga = verb
- alam sekitar = object
The verb menjaga can mean:
- to guard
- to look after
- to care for
- to preserve
- to protect
In this sentence, the most natural English equivalents are:
- to protect the environment
- to preserve the environment
- to take care of the environment
So:
- Undang-undang dan peraturan di kampus menjaga alam sekitar.
→ “The laws and regulations on campus protect the environment.”
The idea is not physical guarding like a security guard, but safeguarding / preserving through rules.
Yes, alam sekitar is a common phrase meaning the environment.
Breaking it down:
- alam = nature, the natural world, universe
- sekitar = around, surrounding
Together, alam sekitar is used in a more technical / formal sense for the environment (as in environmental protection):
- melindungi alam sekitar = to protect the environment
- pencemaran alam sekitar = environmental pollution
Another related word is persekitaran, which can also mean environment / surroundings, often in a more general sense (e.g. work environment, social environment).
Malay does not use a verb like English “to be” (am, is, are) or do-support (do, does) in this type of sentence.
The structure is simply:
- Subject: Undang-undang dan peraturan di kampus
- Verb: menjaga
- Object: alam sekitar
So it literally says:
“The laws and regulations on campus protect the environment.”
There is no need for an extra word like “are” or “do”. The main verb menjaga already carries the meaning of “protect” and also indicates present tense by default, unless context or time words change it.
Malay generally doesn’t mark plural the way English does. Plurality is shown by:
Reduplication (repeating the noun)
- undang-undang → laws / law
- This often, though not always, implies plurality or a set.
Context
- peraturan in this sentence can mean regulation(s) or rule(s) depending on context.
Quantifiers or numbers, if needed
- banyak peraturan = many regulations
- tiga undang-undang baharu = three new laws
So, in Undang-undang dan peraturan di kampus menjaga alam sekitar, both undang-undang and peraturan are understood collectively as laws and regulations without needing a separate plural marker.
Malay verbs do not change according to person or number.
The same verb form menjaga is used for:
- Saya menjaga… = I protect / look after…
- Dia menjaga… = He/She protects / looks after…
- Mereka menjaga… = They protect / look after…
- Undang-undang dan peraturan menjaga… = Laws and regulations protect…
There is no equivalent of English -s (protects) for third-person singular, and no special plural verb forms. Subject–verb agreement in form does not exist in Malay; agreement is understood from context and pronouns, not from verb endings.
Yes, Malay word order is flexible for topicalization (moving information you want to emphasize to the front):
Original:
Undang-undang dan peraturan di kampus menjaga alam sekitar.Acceptable variant:
Di kampus, undang-undang dan peraturan menjaga alam sekitar.
→ “On campus, laws and regulations protect the environment.”
The meaning is essentially the same. Moving di kampus to the front slightly emphasizes the location (“On campus…”) rather than the laws and regulations themselves, but both sentences are grammatical and natural.
The vocabulary and structure are more on the formal side, because of:
- undang-undang (laws)
- peraturan (regulations)
- alam sekitar (the environment)
You’d expect this kind of sentence in:
- official documents or notices on campus
- environmental policy texts
- school essays or presentations
However, it is still perfectly understandable and acceptable in everyday speech if the topic is serious (rules, environment, campus policy). It simply sounds a bit more formal and “written” than casual chit-chat.