bilakah

Bilakah is a Malay interrogative word meaning "when." It is used to ask about time or timing and is most commonly found in formal, literary, or religious contexts. In everyday Malay, speakers often use bila for questions about time; bilakah remains a marker of formality and is frequently seen in written texts or formal speech.

The form bilakah is typically analyzed as a fusion of the time word bila (when) with the question particle kah, which marks a question. This fusion yields a single word that functions as a yes/no or content question marker within a temporal inquiry. In practice, bilakah usually appears at the beginning of a sentence: Bilakah kita akan bertemu? or Bilakah masa yang sesuai untuk memulakan projek?

Usage and nuance: Bilakah conveys a slightly more ceremonial or elevated tone compared with bila. It is appropriate in official documents, academic writing, speeches, and translations aiming for a formal register. The normal spoken equivalents in less formal contexts are bila or, in Indonesian, kapan. In modern Malay prose, bilakah can be used to evoke a classical or literary atmosphere.

Examples:

- Bilakah tarikh tamatnya pertandingan itu?

- Bilakah kamu akan pulang daripada percutianmu?

See also: Malay question words, temporal expressions in Malay, Malay grammar.