Learn Hardcore Malay: Tiba-tiba seekor lipas lari keluar dari bawah tilam lama saya. - Suddenly a cockroach runs out from under my old mattress.

The hyphen marks reduplication: the base word tiba becomes tiba-tiba.
In this case, tiba-tiba is no longer “arrive-arrive”; it’s a fixed expression meaning “suddenly”.

Some points:

Many adverbs are formed through reduplication:
- pelan-pelan – slowly
- diam-diam – quietly, secretly
You don’t usually write tiba tiba as two separate words; it’s normally hyphenated as tiba-tiba because it functions as one unit.

What is seekor, and why not just say lipas by itself?

Seekor is a classifier + number:

se- = “one”
ekor = classifier used mainly for animals (literally “tail”)

So seekor lipas = “one (animal) unit of cockroach” → “a cockroach”.

About omitting it:

Seekor lipas lari keluar… – explicitly “a cockroach”.
Lipas lari keluar… – more like “the cockroaches ran out” or “cockroaches ran out” in a general sense, depending on context.

Malay often uses classifiers with numbers, especially when introducing a new, countable object in a story. Using seekor here is very natural.

Can I say satu lipas instead of seekor lipas?

You can say satu lipas, and people will understand you, but:

seekor lipas is more natural and standard Malay, because:
- satu = the number “one”
- ekor = classifier for animals

So the more complete structure is:

satu ekor lipas → which normally contracts to seekor lipas.

satu lipas sounds a bit like direct English-influenced “one cockroach” without the classifier. Informally, Malaysians might say it, but if you want to sound more native-like, use seekor lipas.

Why use lari for a cockroach? Isn’t lari “to run” for humans?

Lari means “to run”, and it’s not limited to humans. You can say:

Anjing itu lari. – The dog ran.
Kucing itu lari. – The cat ran.
Seekor lipas lari… – A cockroach ran…

In Malay, it’s fine to use lari for animals and even insects that move quickly.

Also:

lari and berlari are related:
- lari – base verb, very common in speech.
- berlari – more formal/literary, or used when you want to highlight the action as “running” rather than just “bolting / dashing off”.

Here, lari fits the idea of a cockroach suddenly darting out.

What’s the difference between lari and lari keluar?

lari = “run”
keluar = “go out / come out”
lari keluar = “run out (of somewhere)”

Malay often uses a verb + direction verb pattern:

lari masuk – run in
jalan keluar – walk out
terbang masuk – fly in

In lari keluar, lari tells you how it moved (running), and keluar tells you the direction (outward). So lari keluar is stronger and more specific than just lari.

Why do we say dari bawah, and not daripada bawah?

Both dari and daripada can translate as “from”, but they’re used differently.

dari is usually for:

Physical origin:
- dari rumah – from the house
- dari bawah tilam – from under the mattress
Time:
- dari pagi – from morning

daripada is usually for:

Source of something abstract:
- nasihat daripada ibu – advice from mother
Comparisons:
- lebih besar daripada itu – bigger than that

Since bawah tilam is a physical location, the correct one here is dari bawah tilam.

Why is it dari bawah tilam, not dari di bawah tilam?

You don’t need di after dari because:

dari already means “from”.
bawah = “under / underneath”.

So:

dari bawah tilam = “from under the mattress” (already complete)

Using dari di bawah tilam would be redundant (“from at under the mattress”) and sounds wrong.

Compare:

di bawah tilam – under the mattress (location)
dari bawah tilam – from under the mattress (movement/origin)

How is tilam lama saya structured? Why is saya at the end?

Word-by-word:

tilam – mattress
lama – old
saya – I / me → “my” (when placed after a noun)

Malay noun phrase order is typically:

Noun
Adjective
Possessor

So:

tilam (mattress)
tilam lama (old mattress)
tilam lama saya (my old mattress)

Putting saya at the end is normal:

buku baru saya – my new book
kereta besar saya – my big car

What’s the difference between tilam lama saya and tilam saya yang lama?

Both can mean “my old mattress”, but there’s a nuance:

tilam lama saya
- Neutral description: “my old mattress”.
- Simply tells you the mattress is old.
tilam saya yang lama
- Literally: “my mattress that is old”.
- The yang clause often adds emphasis or contrast:
  - Bukan tilam baru, tapi tilam saya yang lama.
    Not the new mattress, but my old mattress.

In many contexts they’re interchangeable, but tilam lama saya is the more straightforward description; tilam saya yang lama can sound slightly more specific or contrastive.

Could I say tilam lama aku or tilam lamaku instead of tilam lama saya?

Yes, but the tone and register change:

saya – polite, neutral, common in formal and semi-formal situations.
- tilam lama saya – safe, neutral.
aku – more informal/intimate, used with friends, family, or casually:
- tilam lama aku – my old mattress (casual).
-ku – a possessive suffix that attaches to the noun:
- tilam lamaku – my old mattress.
- Sounds a bit literary/poetic or somewhat old-fashioned in modern speech, though still used.

So your options:

Formal/neutral: tilam lama saya
Casual: tilam lama aku
Literary/poetic: tilam lamaku

Is the sentence word order S–V–O like in English?

Yes, the core structure is Subject – Verb – (Adverbial phrase):

Subject:
seekor lipas – a cockroach
Verb (compound):
lari keluar – ran out
Adverbial (from where):
dari bawah tilam lama saya – from under my old mattress

So the whole sentence follows a familiar S–V–(extra information) pattern, though the noun phrase internals (like tilam lama saya) follow Malay order (noun–adjective–possessor).

Is lipas specifically Malaysian? What about Indonesian?

Lipas is standard in Malay (e.g., Malaysia, Brunei, parts of Singapore).

In Indonesian, the common word is:

kecoak or kecoa – cockroach

Indonesians will still usually understand lipas, especially from context or media, but in everyday Indonesian you’d more likely hear kecoak/kecoa.