Jangankan sotong, udang pun abang saya tidak makan kalau dia sudah terlalu letih.

It is a very common Malay pattern meaning:

let alone A, (someone) does not even B

So in this sentence:

• Jangankan sotong = let alone squid
• udang pun ... tidak makan = (he) does not even eat shrimp

A natural English rendering is often:

He won’t even eat shrimp, let alone squid, if he is already too tired.

Notice that English often sounds more natural if you reverse the order when translating.

No. In this sentence, jangankan is a fixed expression and does not mean a command like don’t.

Here, jangankan means something like:

• let alone
• never mind
• much less

So learners should treat jangankan ... pun ... as a set structure, not as a normal jangan command.

Here pun adds the meaning of even.

So:

• udang pun = even shrimp

In this kind of sentence, pun highlights something smaller, easier, or more expected, and says that even that does not happen.

Compare:

• Seringgit pun dia tak ada. = He doesn’t even have one ringgit.
• Udang pun abang saya tidak makan. = My older brother does not even eat shrimp.

That is how the jangankan ... pun ... structure works.

The first item after jangankan is the stronger or more extreme case:

• sotong = the thing being ruled out first

The second item with pun is the lower threshold:

• udang pun = even shrimp

So the logic is:

If even shrimp is out of the question, then squid is certainly out of the question too.

This is exactly the same logic as English:

Let alone squid, he won’t even eat shrimp.

or more naturally:

He won’t even eat shrimp, let alone squid.

Because Malay possessives usually come after the noun.

So:

• abang saya = my older brother
• literally: older brother my

This is normal Malay word order.

A few more examples:

• rumah saya = my house
• kereta dia = his/her car
• ibu kami = our mother

Also, abang specifically means older brother (or sometimes an older male in address), not just any brother.

Here dia refers to abang saya.

Malay dia is generally gender-neutral. It can mean:

• he
• she

You know which one it means from context. Since abang is male, English translates dia here as he.

Sudah often means already, and it is not simply a past tense marker like English -ed.

So:

• letih = tired
• terlalu letih = too tired
• sudah terlalu letih = already too tired / has become too tired

Malay does not mark tense the way English does. Sudah usually shows completion or a change of state, not just past time.

In this sentence, it suggests that by that point, he is already in a state of being too tired.

Tidak makan literally means does not eat / will not eat.

In context, because of kalau (if), it means something like:

if he is too tired, he won’t eat

This can imply refusal, lack of appetite, or simply not doing the action. It is broader than tak mahu makan, which more specifically means:

doesn’t want to eat

So tidak makan is a more neutral statement of what happens.

Because Malay allows some flexibility in word order for emphasis.

Here, udang pun is moved forward to highlight it and to match the earlier jangankan sotong phrase. This makes the contrast stronger.

So the sentence is emphasizing:

• As for shrimp, even that my older brother won’t eat...

A more neutral order would be something like:

Jangankan sotong, abang saya tidak makan udang pun kalau dia sudah terlalu letih.

But the original order is useful if the speaker wants stronger focus on udang pun.

Yes. Malay often allows the if-clause to come either before or after the main clause.

So you could also say:

Kalau dia sudah terlalu letih, jangankan sotong, udang pun abang saya tidak makan.

Both are grammatical. The difference is mainly in emphasis and rhythm:

• at the end: the condition comes after the main statement
• at the beginning: the condition is set up first

They are very close, and both can often be translated as tired.

• letih = tired, fatigued
• penat = tired, worn out

In everyday speech, many speakers use both, though preferences can vary by region and style. In this sentence, letih sounds completely normal.

So a version with penat would still make sense:

Jangankan sotong, udang pun abang saya tidak makan kalau dia sudah terlalu penat.

Yes, very often.

The pattern jangankan A, B pun ... tidak/tak ... usually appears in a negative or impossible context. It expresses that if even the smaller or easier thing does not happen, then the bigger or more extreme thing certainly does not happen either.

Examples:

• Jangankan kereta, basikal pun dia tak ada.
  Let alone a car, he doesn’t even have a bicycle.

• Jangankan lari, jalan pun dia susah.
  Let alone run, even walking is hard for him.

So in your sentence, the negative idea is:

He is so tired that he won’t eat even shrimp, much less squid.