Learn some common noun suffixes in Indonesian
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some noun suffixes in Indonesian? |
| Blanca: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At IndonesianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Ben hears a new word that sounds familiar, but he isn't sure about the meaning. He asks his friend, |
| "What does 'karyawan' mean?" |
| Ben Lee: "Karyawan" artinya apa? |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: "Karyawan" artinya apa? |
| Farah Fauzi: Artinya "worker." |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: "Karyawan" artinya apa. |
| Michael: "What does 'karyawan' mean?" |
| Farah Fauzi: Artinya "worker." |
| Michael: "It means 'worker.'" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, we will be exploring some Indonesian noun suffixes. The first one we will look at is: |
| Blanca: -wan |
| Michael: This suffix is attached to the root word and is used to indicate person in the categories of skill, profession, character, or specialization. There is another suffix which is used in the same way but only when referring to the feminine forms. It sounds like this: |
| Blanca: -wati |
| Michael: While this suffix is gender specific, the suffix - |
| Blanca: -wan |
| Michael: can refer to males or females. We heard an example also in the dialogue. Do you remember what Ben was asking about? |
| (4 second pause) |
| Blanca: karyawan |
| Michael: As you might remember, this word means "worker." And you can use this word to refer to either a man or a woman. Now, let's see the word - |
| Blanca: karyawati |
| Michael: This clearly refers to a female employee or worker. In the same way, if you want to refer to a female journalist, you can say: |
| Blanca: wartawati |
| Michael: But, if you want to refer to a male journalist or if you don't want to be specific about the gender, you can say: |
| Blanca: wartawan |
| Michael: The word - |
| Blanca: warta |
| Michael: means "news" or "report," |
| There are several nouns which cannot be made gender-specific and only take the suffix: |
| Blanca: -wan |
| Michael: For instance, the word for "scientist." which is: |
| Blanca: ilmuwan |
| Michael: The word for "science" in Indonesian is: |
| Blanca: ilmu |
| Michael: Did you hear the suffix? Another example of a non-gender-specific word is the word for "sportsman" or "sportswoman" is: |
| Blanca: olahragawan |
| Michael: The root word is: |
| Blanca: olahraga |
| Michael: As you will have guessed, it means "sports" or "athletics," |
| Now, you know a little more about the two suffixes that are used to make person-related nouns in Indonesian. Next, let's explore the suffix: |
| Blanca: an |
| Michael: This is a very common suffix in Indonesian. When added to a verb, it denotes the product or result of an action that is semantically related to the root verb. For example, the word for the verb "eat" in Indonesian is: |
| Blanca: makan |
| Michael: And the word for "food" is: |
| Blanca: makanan |
| Michael: Could you hear the suffix? Here's another example. This time, we are looking at the Indonesian verb "assist." which is: |
| Blanca: bantu |
| Michael: And the word for "assistance" is: |
| Blanca: bantuan |
| Michael: This suffix can also be attached to the end of an adjective root word. In this case, it will refer to a place or thing that is related in nature to the root adjective. For example: |
| Blanca: lapangan |
| Michael: which means "field," is comprised of the root adjective: |
| Blanca: lapang |
| Michael: which means "open" or "spacious." and the suffix: |
| Blanca: an |
| Michael: Another instance of this usage is: |
| Blanca: masakan |
| Michael: This refers to "cuisine" or a "course of food dishes," The root is: |
| Blanca: masak |
| Michael: which means "cook," Another way in which the suffix - |
| Blanca: an |
| Michael: can be used is to attach it to a noun root word. The resulting word has a meaning that is usually more specifically applied but is still related in nature to the root word. Consider the word: |
| Blanca: isian |
| Michael: This refers to a form that can be filled in. The root word means "contents." and it sounds like this: |
| Blanca: isi |
| Michael: As you can see, without the addition of the suffix, the root word has a broad application. When the suffix is added, it becomes a lot more specific. |
| And that's it! We have now discussed some very important noun suffixes. Once you know these, you will be able to easily broaden your Indonesian vocabulary. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, we learned about the two Indonesian suffixes that are used to form person- and gender-related nouns. They are: |
| Blanca: wan |
| Michael: which forms the male noun, and: |
| Blanca: wati |
| Michael: which can only be used to form female nouns. We also explored the noun suffix - |
| Blanca: an |
| Michael: which is used to form nouns from adjective, verb, and noun root words. When attached to a noun root word, the semantic application of the new noun is often more specific than the original root word. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Another suffix that is useful to know, even though it isn't actually used to form nouns, is: |
| Blanca: nya |
| Michael: This one is used in several different ways. It can indicate the possessive, or form the object pronoun as well as indicate indefinite numbers. We are interested in it because it can also act as the determiner in a sentence. When it attaches to a noun, it takes on a semantic function similar to that of "the" in English. For example, the Indonesian word for noodles is: |
| Blanca: mie |
| Michael: If we then attach the suffix to it, we get an expression meaning "the noodles": |
| Blanca: mienya |
| Michael: Let's look at the example in this sentence: |
| Blanca: Jika Anda lapar, mienya ada di dapur. |
| Michael: This means, "If you are hungry, the noodles are in the kitchen," |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Interestingly, the suffixes - |
| Blanca: wan |
| Michael: and |
| Blanca: wati |
| Michael: are borrowed from Sanskrit and they are the only suffixes that facilitate gender distinction in Indonesian. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Blanca: Dadah. |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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