mereka

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /məˈreka/ [məˈre.ka]
• Rhymes: -eka
• Syllabification: me‧re‧ka

Etymology 1

From Malay mereka, from earlier mareka, from Old Javanese marika. Displaced Proto-Malayic *sida(ʔ) (whence Iban sida).

Pronoun

mêreka

1. third person plural pronoun: they, them, their

   Mereka akan mengunjungi rumah kita.

   They will visit our house.

   Sekolah mereka bersih.

   Their school is clean.

See also

Indonesian personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person exclusive	regular	aku, saya1	kami
	enclitic	-ku	-
	proclitic	ku-	-
1st person inclusive		-	kita
2nd person	regular	kamu, Anda2, kau3	kalian, Anda2, Anda sekalian2, Anda semua2
	enclitic	-mu	-
3rd person	regular	dia, beliau4, ia3	mereka
	enclitic	-nya	-
reflexive		diri5, diri sendiri
emphatic		sendiri

¹ Polite.
² Formal.
³ Now mostly literary.
⁴ Respectful.

⁵ Sometimes used as an emphatic marker instead of being reflexive.

Notes:

• This table only shows personal pronouns that are commonly used in the standard language.
• The second person pronouns are often replaced by kinship terms, titles, or the like.
• The enclitics are only used obliquely (object or possessor), while the proclitic is only used as a subject.

See each entry for more information.

Etymology 2

Affixed reka (“to arrange, create”) +‎ meng-.

Verb

mêreka

1. active of reka

Further reading

• “mereka”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Malay

Pronunciation

• (Standard Southern Peninsula) IPA^(key): /məˈrekə/ [məˈre.kə]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ekə, -kə, -ə

• (Standard Literary) IPA^(key): /məˈreka/ [məˈre.ka]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -eka, -ka, -a
• Hyphenation: me‧re‧ka

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old Javanese marika.

Pronoun

mereka (Jawi spelling مريک)

1. (formal) Third person plural pronoun; they, them.

   Synonyms: dia orang (informal), depa (Kedah)

   Mereka diberi amaran sahaja.

   They were only given a warning.

See also

Malay personal pronouns

	Singular	Plural
1st person	saya1 aku3	kita4 kami2 & 5 kita orang3 & 5
2nd person	awak1 anda2 awda8 (eng)kau3 kamu3	(2nd person) + semua6 kalian2 (eng)kau orang3
3rd person	dia ia beliau7 -nya2	mereka2 dia orang3

¹ Polite.
² Formal.
³ Informal.
⁴ Includes the listener (inclusive).
⁵ Excludes the listener (exclusive).
⁶ Formality depends on the second person pronoun used.
⁷ Honorific.
⁸ Formal (Brunei).

Notes:

• This table mostly only shows personal pronouns that are commonly used in the standard language and within the Klang Valley area.
• The second person pronouns are often replaced by kinship terms, titles, or the like.
• The enclitic -nya is only used obliquely (as an object or possessor).
• The second person pronoun kamu is usually only used when speaking with younger speakers.

See each entry for more information.

Etymology 2

Affixation of me- +‎ reka.

Verb

mereka (Jawi spelling مريک)

1. Active of reka.

Further reading

• "mereka" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017
• Adelaar, K. A. (1992), Proto-Malayic: The reconstruction of its phonology and parts of its lexicon and morphology‎^[1], Pacific Linguistics, →DOI