Circumfix ke-...-an in Bahasa Indonesia

Circumfix ke-...-an in Bahasa Indonesia

Written by James Neil Sneddon in Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar. 1996.London: Routledge.pp. 35-38



Circumfix ke-...-an forms nouns from adjectives, verbs and other classes. Such nouns are generally of an abstract nature.

1. Ke-...-an nouns can have an adjective base.
The nouns are all abstract, identifying the characteristic of the adjective:

baik good : kebaikan goodness, kindness
bebas free : kebebasan freedom
bersih clean : kebersihan cleanliness
cantik beautiful : kecantikan beauty
sehat healthy : kesehatan health
sulit difficult : kesulitan difficulty

2. In general the meaning of the noun can be predicted from the meaning of the adjective base. In a few cases this is not so:

berat heavy : keberatan objection
malu shy : kemaluan genitals
terang clear : keterangan explanation

3. The negative tidak 'not' can combine with some adjectives to form a compound base for ke-...-an nouns.
These correspond to English nouns with prefix dis- or in-:

adil just : ketidak-adilan injustice
jujur honest : ketidak-jujuran dishonesty
puas satisfied : ketidak-puasan dissatisfaction
senang pleased : ketidak-senangan displeasure

4. Several adjectives derived with prefix se- can form the base of a ke-...-an noun:
seimbang balanced : keseimbangan balance, equilibrium
sesuai appropriate, suitable : kesesuaian suitability, compatibility
seragam uniform, of the same kind : keseragaman uniformity

5. The noun can be formed from an intransitive verb:
datang come : kedatangan arrival
hidup live : kehidupan life
ingin wish : keinginan wish, desire
lahir be born : kelahiran birth
menang win : kemenangan victory
naik go up : kenaikan rise, increase

6. The base can be a verb with prefix ber- or ter-. 
In this case the prefix remains:

berangkat depart : keberangkatan departure
berhasil succeed : keberhasilan success
terbatas limited : keterbatasan limitation
tersedia available : ketersediaan availability

7. A few nouns are formed from a negated verb or have a compound verb base:
tahu know : ketidak-tahuan ignorance
ikut serta participate : keikut-sertaan participation

8. A few ke-.„-an nouns are based on modals or adverbs:
boleh may : kebolehan ability, skill
harus must : keharusan necessity, a must
kerap frequently : kekerapan frequency
lebih more : kelebihan excess
mungkin possible : kemungkinan possibility

9. ke-...-an nouns can be based on nouns; this use is very productive and many forms are recent in the language.
The ke-...-an forms in general mean 'having to do with [base]'. Some forms have a different translation from the base:

anggota member : keanggotaan membership
daerah region : kedaerahan regionalism
ibu mother : keibuan motherliness
pemimpin leader : kepemimpinan leadership
wanita woman : kewanitaan femininity

10. Many ke-...-an nouns with noun bases typically modify another noun. Thus keagamaan 'having to do with religion' occurs in such phrases as upacara keagamaan 'religious ceremony'. Sometimes the translation depends on context; thus kebangsaan is translated differently in the phrases kebangsaan kapal itu 'nationality of the ship' and lagu kebangsaan 'national song'. When modifying another noun it is frequently translated by an adjective, as in the case of keagamaan above. In other cases the ke-...-an noun has the same translation as the base. Thus penduduk 'population' and (teori) kependudukan 'population (theory)'. In either case such nouns are best glossed 'having to do with [base]',except where context makes their meaning clear, as in thefollowing examples:

kedokteran medical, having to do with doctors : fakultas kedokteran faculty of medicine
kehutanan forestry, having to do with forests : petugas kehutanan forestry official
kepolisian having to do with police : akademi kepolisian police academy
keuangan finance, finances : departemen keuangan department of finance; soal keuangan financial matters
kemasyarakatan social, having to do with society or community : masalah kemasyarakatan community
problem
kemahasiswaan having to do with students : hidup kemahasiswaan student life
keimigrasian having to do with immigration : undang-undang keimigrasian immigration laws

11. In a few cases ke-...-an nouns are formed from nouns already having prefix peN-, such as kependudukan 'having to do with population' (penduduk population menduduki occupy) and kepemimpinan leadership (pemimpin leader, pimpin lead).

12. With noun bases indicating a person holding a rank or office, ke-...-an forms nouns meaning 'the domain administered by [base]':
duta ambassador : kedutaan embassy
kaisar emperor : kekaisaran empire
lurah village head : kelurahan administrative unit headed by a lurah
menteri minister : kementerian department headed by a minister
raja king : kerajaan kingdom
sultan sultan : kesultanan sultanate

13. With a very few noun bases ke-...-an forms nouns indicating a collection of [base]:
pulau island : kepulauan archipelago
pustaka book (archaic) : kepustakaan bibliography, list of references

14. A few nouns are derived from numbers, both definite and indefinite , meaning 'a group which consists of [base]:
satu one : kesatuan unit
sebelas eleven : kesebelasan eleven (soccer team)
seluruh whole : keseluruhan entirety