Bosnian to Malay: contrasting two alternatives changes the negative construction
A correction is different from a plain negative report
Bosnian can deny an action, reject an identity or correct one alternative by supplying another. Malay negative choices depend on that function. A target should not be selected from an isolated equivalent of not while ignoring what part of the source is being denied.
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka describes tidak with verbs and adjectives, while bukan ordinarily rejects noun phrases and prepositional phrases. It also documents bukan before verbal or adjectival material when information is contrasted. A simplified rule based only on the next word’s dictionary category would miss that use.
For a Bosnian correction meaning that someone is doing one activity rather than another, the contrast is part of the message. A plain negative target may deny the first activity while fail to supply the intended alternative. Conversely, turning an ordinary denial into a contrast can imply that the writer is correcting a previous assumption.
The target example’s contrast belongs to the whole sentence
DBP illustrates Dia bukan belajar tetapi bermain, contrasting studying with playing. The bukan construction here does not establish that belajar has become a noun; the following alternative contributes to the interpretation.
This is useful when a Bosnian source distinguishes what a child did from what another person expected them to do. Preserve the actual activity and the denied alternative without introducing a new actor. The source specification’s case and number information can help establish who participates in each clause before the target contrast is assembled.
If the source instead reports that a person is not honest, the ordinary adjective-negative pattern described by DBP is relevant. The same third-person reference can appear in both messages while the negative construction differs. The target personal word alone cannot determine which denial the source makes.
Not only adds information rather than simply excluding it
DBP separately describes bukan sahaja … tetapi juga as a paired construction adding a compatible second item or activity. Its meaning differs from the correction pattern that replaces one alternative with another.
A Bosnian message saying that someone not only studies but also works asserts both activities. It should not become a target denying study and replacing it with work. A correct translation must retain whether the second clause supplements or corrects the first.
The article also documents bukan tidak combinations that intensify a particular denial. Such sequences should not be simplified merely because two negative-looking words appear together. The scope and discourse function of the source determine whether an apparent double negative is appropriate.
For this direction, distinguish three source structures before choosing Malay: a plain denial, a correction replacing one alternative, and an addition asserting two compatible points. Bosnian inflection helps identify who does each activity, but the target negative pattern determines how the activities are related. A sentence can retain every participant and verb root yet still reverse the writer’s claim if that relationship is changed.
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