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A word can consist of

reduplicated bases
buku-buku 'books.

A word can be
a compound of two bases
asal-usul 'origin'.

A word can also consist of

a base with one or more affixes

membukukan 'enter in a book

diperlebar 'widened
kedudukan 'situation

Three types of affix in Indonesian:

prefixes,
suffixes, and
circumfixes.

infix
A fourth type of affix, the infix, is not part of
the system of modern Indonesian,
An infix is placed after the first consonant
sound of a base;
when referred to separately an infix has
hyphens placed before and after it: -el-.

Three types of affix in Indonesian:

prefixes,
suffixes, and
circumfixes.

SOUND CHANGES IN COMPLEX

WORDS
Prefixes ber-, per-, ter- and circumfixes
having ber- or per- as their prefix
component undergo the changes listed
below:

The r of the prefix is lost

when the base begins with r:
ber- + renang > berenang
per- + rusak > perusak
ter- + rasa > terasa

 renang
v. to swim
berenang v. to swim; to be swimming ( be+renang )
rusak, adj. broken; faulty; defective; damaged;
spoiled; wrecked; haywire; kaput; busted;
inoperative
perusak n. a destroyer; a person who destroys
( pe+rusak )
perusakan n. destruction; vandalism; a crippling;
damaging ( pe+rusak+an )

The r of the prefix is lost

when the base begins with sound
combination CerC, where C represents
any consonant:

ber- + serta >beserta

ber- + terbang + -an > beterbangan
per- + kerja + -an > pekerjaan
ter- + pergok >tepergok

 beserta v. to be enclosed; together with; along with;

joint ( be+serta )
beterbangan v. to scatter; spread; fly about all over;
fly helter skelter ( be+terbang+an )
pekerjaan n. work; task; project; activity; career;
profession; duty; job; occupation; vocation;
assignment; work product ( pe+kerja+an )
terpergok v. met suddenly; detected; ran into;
encountered ( ter+pergok )
terpergoki v. met suddenly; detected; encountered
( ter+pergok+i )

Loss of r before a base beginning with CerC

is not entirely regular; in a few words it
does not occur or is optional:
ter- + percaya >tepercaya, terpercaya
terpercaya v. believed; trusted; relied on
( ter+percaya )

 Prefix ter- usually becomes te- with the

bases lanjur and lantar.
ter- + lanjur > telanjur
ter- + lantar > telantar
lanjur base protracted; drawn out; stretched out
lantar 1 base platform; bench; chair; sitting gallery
lantar 2 base to cause; bring about

The ter- forms are regarded by some

as substandard and are not listed in all
dictionaries.

 In some dictionaries te is regarded as part

of the base rather than as a prefix:
ter- + lanjur > telanjur, terlanjur
ter- + lantar > telantar, terlantar

 telanjur adj. gone too far; overdone

terlanjur v. too late; gone too far; done
unintentionally ( ter+lanjur )
telantar, terlantar v. neglected; dilapidated;
abandoned; rundown; derelict
telantarkan v. to neglect; abandon; to
leave unfinished ( telantar+kan )

Prefixes meN- and peN The capital N represents a sound which

changes depending on the first sound of
the base.
N can appear as one of the nasals m, n,
ny, ng, or as zero.

Sometimes the nasal comes before the

first sound of the base and sometimes it
replaces the first sound.
The rules are illustrated by meN- but apply
equally to peN- and peN-*..-an.

N becomes ng before a vowel

If the word begins with a vowel, prefix
meng- is attached:
meN- + ajar > mengajar
meN- + ekspor > mengekspor
meN- + erang > mengerang
meN- + olah > mengolah
meN- + urus > mengurus

N becomes m with initial b, p, f

If the word begins with b, p or f,
prefix mem- occurs. Initial p is lost:
meN- + beli membeli
meN- + pakai memakai
meN- + fitnah > memfitnah

N becomes n with initial d, t, c, j,

sy, z
If the word begins with d, t, c, j, sy, z prefix
men- occurs. Initial t is lost:
meN- + dengar>mendengar
meN- + tulis > menulis
meN- + cari > mencari
meN- + jual > menjual
meN- + syarat + -kan > mensyaratkan
meN- + ziarah + -i >menziarahi

N becomes ny with initial s

If the word begins with s prefix menyoccurs. Initial s is lost:
meny- + sewa > menyewa

N becomes ng with initial g, k, h, kh

If the word begins with g, k, h or kh,

prefix meng- occurs. Initial k is lost:
meN- + ganggu > mengganggu
meN- + kirim >mengirim
meN- + hilang >menghilang
meN- + khawatir + -kan >
mengkhawatirkan

If the word begins with l, r, m, n, ny, ng, w, or y, prefix meoccurs:

meN- + lihat >melihat
meN- + rasa >merasa
meN- + masak >memasak
meN- + nanti >menanti
meN- + nyanyi>menyanyi
meN- + nganga >menganga
meN- + wakil + -i -> mewakili
meN- + yakin + -i >meyakini

 Sometimes the same sequence of sounds can

result from different combinations of N and initial
base sound so that the initial sound of the base
cannot be predicted from the form of the derived
verb. Thus, ny results both from meny + s
(which is lost) and from me + ny:

menyewa from meny- + sewa

menyanyi from me- + nyanyi

:
N undergoes the same changes with affixes
peN- and peN--an as it does with meN-,
for instance:
peN- + tulis > penulis
peN- + tulis + -an > penulisan

Exceptions to the rules for N

If prefix meN- is followed by prefix per- the
initial p of per- is not lost:
meN- + per- + lebar > memperlebar
meN + per- + oleh -> memperoleh

:
If the base begins with the sequence perC,
that is, per followed by a consonant, the
initial p is lost irregularly:
meN- + percaya + -i >mempercayai
meN- + pergok + -i >mempergoki,
memergoki
meN- + percik + -i - > memerciki

:
The p of prefix per- and of base-initial perC
is lost following prefix peN-:
peN- + per- + satu > pemersatu
peN- + per- + oleh + -an > pemerolehan
peN- + perkosa > pemerkosa

 With some bases initial p, t, s, and k are not lost.

If s is not lost N becomes n. With the exception of verbs
beginning with perC, this is almost entirely confined to
words borrowed from other languages.
The initial sound is most likely to be retained if the word
is still felt to be foreign.
Thus retention of the sound is common in words
beginning with consonant clusters, which do not occur in
indigenous words:
meN- + proklamasi + -kan >memproklamasikan
meN- + traktir > mentraktir
meN- + swadaya + -kan >menswadayakan
meN- + klasifikasi + -kan > mengklasifikasikan

 Initial p, t, s and k are sometimes retained in borrowings

even where there is no initial consonant cluster.
As a borrowing becomes more accepted as an
Indonesian word the tendency increases for people to
use the more regular form without the initial consonant of
the base.
During a transition period both forms occur:
meN- + protes >memprotes, memrotes
meN- + taat + -i >mentaati, menaati
meN- + sukses + -kan > mensukseskan,
menyukseskan
meN- + kritik>mengkritik, mengritik

:
'changeover' occurs differs from word to
word , thus, mentaati and menaati 'obey'
continue to exist side-by-side, while after
many years of use menterjemahkan
'translate' was completely replaced by
menerjemahkan

:
In a few non-borrowed words base-initial p
remains. The word mempengaruhi
'influence, from base pengaruh, may
result from interpretation of the word as
having prefix peN-.

:
However, mempunyai 'possess', from
base punya, must be regarded as an
exception in the modern language.

:
With kaji both possibilities occur but with
different meanings:
mengaji 'recite the Quran',
pengajian 'Quran reading', and
mengkaji 'to research, carry out study',
pengkajian 'study, research'.

:
Prefix peng- occurs with the bases lihat,
rajin and lepas:
penglihatan 'sight',
pengrajin 'craftsman',
penglepasan 'release' (as well as
pelepasan)

:
There was an increasing tendency for
pengrajin to be regularised as perajin.
perajin n. craftsman; handicraft maker ( pe+rajin )

:
Initial sy is lost from the base syair:
menyair 'write poetry,
penyair poet'.

MeN- and peN- with single syllable bases

With single syllable bases, which are all

borrowings from other languages, meNand peN- optionally become menge- and
penge-. The regular form of the prefix can
occur instead, in which case initial p, t, s,
k are not lost

MeN- and peN- with single syllable bases

The frequency of either form depends both on the
individual base and personal preference:
meN- + pel > mengepel, mempel
meN- + cek> mengecek, mencek
meN- + bom >mengebom, membom
meN- + tik >mengetik, mentik
meN- + sah + -kan >mengesahkan, mensahkan
meN- + rem - > mengerem, merem

MeN- and peN- with single syllable bases

Derivatives with peN- and peN-...-an act

similarly:
peN- + bom + -an > pengeboman, pemboman
peN- + sah + -an > pengesahan, pensahan

MeN- and peN- with single syllable bases

With passive prefix di- (see 3.27) the base occurs

in the normal way:
dibom, dipel, and so on.
dibom v.pass. bombed; bombarded
( di+bom )
dipel v.pass. swabbed; mopped up ( di+pel )

MeN- and peN- with single syllable bases

The indigenous word tahu 'know is interpreted as
a single syllable and only the prefixes mengeand penge- occur with it:
meN- + tahu + -i >mengetahui
peN- + tahu + -an > pengetahuan
mengetahui v. to learn; discover;
( meng+(k)e+tahu+i )
pengetahuan n. knowledge; skill; learning;
( peng+(k)e+tahu+an )

MeN- and peN- with single syllable bases

In the passive of this word ke- is retained:
diketahui.
With the borrowed word tik 'type ke- optionally
occurs in the passive: ditik, diketik.
Because of this both ketik and tik are recognised
as bases. Some people regard menge- as
containing a prefix ke-, which functions to form a
twosyllable base, such forms being the most
common base in indigenous words.

Reduplicated bases with meN- and peN-

When a base prefixed with meN- is reduplicated N

is retained on the reduplicated base where the
initial consonant has been lost. The symbol R
represents full base reduplication:
meN- + bagi-R > membagi-bagi
meN- amat-R + -i > mengamat-amati
meN- + minta-R >meminta-minta
meN- + pijit-R > memijit-mijit
meN- + tulis-R > menulis-nulis
meN- + kayuh-R > mengayuh-ngayuh

Reduplicated bases with meN- and peN-

When meN- is realised as menge- before a

one-syllable base, the sequence nge
occurs on the reduplicated base:
meN- + cek-R ->mengecek-ngecek
cek 1 n. a check; cheque; a monetary draft
cek 2 v. to check; check out; inspect; look over;
verify

:
WORD-FORMING PROCESSES

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