Anjing itu menyalak kuat.

In Malay, demonstratives like ini and itu usually come after the noun.

So:

• anjing itu = that dog / the dog
• anjing ini = this dog

This is a very common pattern in Malay:

• rumah itu = that house
• buku ini = this book

In everyday Malay, itu can also make the noun feel more definite, so anjing itu often means something like the dog even if English would not always use that.

Menyalak is a derived verb.

Its root is salak, which is related to the sound or act of barking.
When the verbal prefix meN- is added, it becomes menyalak.

This happens because of a common sound change in Malay:

• roots beginning with s often change with meN- so that the s disappears and ny appears
• salak → menyalak

This is part of a larger pattern in Malay verb formation. For learners, the main thing to remember is:

• salak = root
• menyalak = to bark

Yes, kuat often means strong, but it can also mean loudly, hard, or forcefully depending on context.

In Anjing itu menyalak kuat, kuat describes how the dog barked, so it functions like an adverb in English:

• menyalak kuat = bark loudly

This is very normal in Malay. Words that are often called adjectives in English-based grammar can also describe actions directly.

For example:

• bercakap kuat = speak loudly
• hujan lebat = rain heavily
• lari laju = run fast

So although kuat often means strong, here it means something closer to loudly.

Because this sentence does not need one.

Malay does not use a verb like to be in the same way English does in many simple sentences.
Here, the structure is just:

• Anjing itu = the dog
• menyalak kuat = barked / is barking loudly, depending on context

Malay often leaves tense unstated unless time is important. Context tells you whether something is happening now, happened before, or happens habitually.

If you want to make time clearer, you can add time words:

• Anjing itu sedang menyalak kuat. = The dog is barking loudly.
• Anjing itu menyalak kuat semalam. = The dog barked loudly last night.

The basic order is:

Subject + Verb + Description

So here:

• Anjing itu = subject
• menyalak = verb
• kuat = describes the verb

You can think of it as roughly:

The dog + barked + loudly

Malay word order is often quite similar to English in simple sentences, especially with subject and verb order.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are possible:

• Anjing itu menyalak kuat.
• Anjing itu menyalak dengan kuat.

The second version is a bit more explicitly like barked loudly / with force because dengan means with.

In many everyday sentences, Malay allows the shorter version without dengan, especially when the meaning is obvious. So:

• menyalak kuat sounds natural and efficient
• menyalak dengan kuat is also correct and may sound a little more formal or explicit

That is possible, but the meaning becomes less specific.

• Anjing itu menyalak kuat = the/that dog barked loudly
• Anjing menyalak kuat = dogs bark loudly or a dog is barking loudly, depending on context

Without itu, anjing is more general or indefinite.
With itu, you are pointing to a specific dog that speaker and listener can identify.

Not exactly.

• Anjing itu menyalak kuat = The dog barked loudly.
• Anjing itu kuat menyalak = The dog is prone to barking / good at barking / barks a lot or intensely.

In menyalak kuat, kuat describes the manner of the barking.
In kuat menyalak, kuat more naturally describes the dog's tendency or strength in doing the action.

So the original sentence is the better choice if you specifically mean the bark was loud.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• menyalak ≈ muh-nya-lak
• anjing ≈ an-jing
• itu ≈ ee-too
• kuat ≈ koo-at (usually two syllables)

A few useful notes:

• ny in menyalak sounds like the ny in canyon for many English speakers
• ng in anjing is the same sound as in sing
• kuat is usually pronounced as two syllables: ku-at

It is basically neutral and natural.

It works in normal spoken or written Malay. It is not especially formal, and it is not slangy either.

A few alternatives by style:

• Anjing itu menyalak kuat. = neutral, natural
• Anjing itu menyalak dengan kuat. = a bit more explicit/formal
• Anjing itu sedang menyalak kuat. = neutral, with clearer present-progressive meaning

So the original sentence is perfectly fine for standard everyday Malay.