Indonesian language system

The Indonesian language has a rather easy way of forming words. There are base words (kata dasar) that can be used with prefixes (awalan) and suffixes (akhiran). To gain vocabulary, one only has to memorize the base word and the possible extended meanings may be apparent. Here are the simplified, general definitions:

Prefixes:

• ber- have..., uses..., make...
         Example: angin wind, berangin have wind circulating
• di- passive verb form (replaces me*)
         Example: melepas remove, dilepas has been removed
• dwi- double, two (rarely used)
         Example: dwibahasa bilingual
• ke- abstract form, used with -an (could mean anything, one has to know the individual meaning). 
         Example: tinggi high / ketinggian height, semut ant / kesemutan go to sleep of a limb
         Also used for ordinal numbers: kelima fifth, keenam sixth
• me*- verb form,  makes base word into a verb
         Example: tali rope, menali tie wih rope (t is dropped, see below for rules)
• pe*- the person or thing that does the base word. Often used with -an.
         Example: takut be afraid, penakut coward
• per- noun form. Often used with -an.
         Example: rusuh restless, disturbed perusuhan riot, disturbance
• se- 1.one, 2.the same as...
         Example: (1) sebulan one month, (2) semuka having the same appearance
• ter- 1. the most, 2. accidentally happened
         Example: (1) tertinngi the highest, (2) tejatuh fall suddenly, (1) tertinggal left behind

Suffixes:

• -an noun form
         Example: pikir think, pikiran thought
• -i indicates direction, application, movement toward...
         Example: naik climb, menaiki climb onto something
• -in same as -kan (Jakarta slang)
• -kan make, cause to happen (often used with me*)
         Example: lari run, melarikan cause something to run
• -pun also, even, ever it might be
         Example: bagaimana how, bagaimanapun however
•  pronouns:
  • -ku mine (first person possessive) (informal)
  • -mu, -kau your (second person possessive) (informal)
  • -nya his, hers, its (third person possessive)

Suffixes and prefixes can be used in combinations, too. Example: memperbaiki repair

Me* and pe* may have additional letters following depending on the first letter of the base word. Both have the same rules:

The first letter of some foreign-sounding base word is often not removed for clarity. Example: protes / memprotes.

Some examples follow. You may see that the above definitions are not exact, but an indication of how the prefixes and suffixes affect the word.

Reference for word definitions: An Indonesian-English dictionary / by John M. Echols and Hassan Shadily

There's an on-line dictionary "Kamus Indonesia-Inggris" .

See also:

• Indonesian Etymology Database
• English words of Indonesian / Malay Origin
• Addressing women in Javanese