kenal

Indonesian

Etymology

Inherited from Malay kenal.

Pronunciation

(Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /kəˈnal/ [kəˈnal]
Rhymes: -al
Syllabification: ke‧nal

Verb

kênal (active mengenal, passive dikenal)

(transitive) to recognize, to know, to be acquainted with (a person).
Kami kenal siapa penyedia jasanya.
We know who the service provider is.

Derived terms

berkenal-kenalan
berkenalan
kenal-mengenal
kenalan
memperkenalkan
mengenal
mengenali
mengenalkan
pengenal
pengenalan
perkenalan
terkenal

Further reading

“kenal”, 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

(schwa-variety, Baku, Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /kəˈnal/ [kəˈnal]
Rhymes: -nal, -al
Hyphenation: ke‧nal

Verb

kenal (Jawi spelling کنل)

to know; to be acquainted with (a person).
Synonym: tahu

Adakah awak kenal lelaki itu?
Do you know that man?
to recognise; to identify.
Synonym: cam

Anjing itu masih kenal bau tuannya.
The dog still recognises its master's scent.
to distinguish; to differentiate.
Dia tidak dapat kenal mana intan, mana kaca.
He cannot distinguish which is diamond and which is glass.

Usage notes

Kenal generally implies familiarity or acquaintance (like German kennen or French connaître). For knowing facts or information, tahu is usually used, although they can overlap in casual speech.

Derived terms

Affixations

berkenalan (“get to know each other”)
dikenali (“be known”)
kenalan (“acquaintance”)
memperkenalkan (“introduce”)
mengenali (“recognise; identify”)
pengenalan (“introduction”)
perkenalan (“acquaintanceship”)
terkenal (“famous; well-known”)

Compounds

kenal pasti (“identify”)

Descendants

> Indonesian: kenal (inherited)

Further reading

"kenal" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017