Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar

James Neil Sneddon, Michael C Ewing

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781135873516
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Filología
• Subtopic: Idiomas

This grammar is a complete reference guide to the language of Indonesia as used by native speakers.

The book is organised to promote a thorough understanding of Indonesian grammar. It presents the complexities of Indonesian in a concise and readable form. An extensive index, cross-referencing and a generous use of headings will provide readers with immediate access to the information they require.

Key features:

• to aid clarity, all word groups and structures discussed are illustrated by natural examples of frequently used words and expressions
• each section can be read independently, enabling the reader to focus on a specific aspect of the language, if required
• all major structures of Indonesian, from words to complex sentences are described in detail
• common grammatical terms used are all clearly defined in an extensive glossary.

By providing a comprehensive description of Indonesian in a clear and non-technical manner, this grammar makes an ideal reference source for all users of the language, whether in colleges, universities or adult education classes of all types.

James Neil Sneddon was Associate Professor in the Faculty of Asian and International Studies at Griffith University, with long experience teaching Indonesian language and linguistics. He is also author of Understanding Indonesian Grammar.

Alexander Adelaar is Principal Fellow in the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne. He is author of a number of books on Austronesian linguistics.

Dwi Noverini Djenar lectures in the Department of Indonesian Studies at the University of Sydney. She is author of Semantic, Pragmatic and Discourse Perspectives of Preposition Use: A study of Indonesian locatives.

Michael C Ewing is a senior lecturer in Indonesian Studies at the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne. He is author of Grammar and Inference in Conversation: Identifying clause structure in spoken Javanese.

1 WORDS

1.1 Words can be simple or complex. A simple word consists solely of a base, which cannot be broken down into smaller units. A base carries the essential meaning of a word and is the part of the word listed alphabetically in a dictionary. Examples of simple words are buku ‘book’, lebar ‘wide’, duduk ‘sit’.

This chapter describes how complex words are formed. It begins with a short outline of Indonesian spelling and pronunciation in section 1.2. A word can be complex in a number of ways. It can consist of reduplicated bases, such as buku-buku ‘books’. Reduplication is discussed in sections 1.10–29. It can be a compound of two bases, such as asal-usul ‘origin’. Compounds are discussed in sections 1.30–5. A word can also consist of a base with one or more affixes, such as membukukan ‘enter in a book’, diperlebar ‘widened’, kedudukan ‘situation’.

The description of affixes and their functions forms the major part of this chapter, beginning at section 1.38.

There are three types of affix in Indonesian: prefixes, suffixes and circumfixes. A prefix is attached before the base. When a prefix is discussed separately it is indicated by a hyphen after it, such as ber-. A suffix comes after a base, indicated by a hyphen before it: -an. A circumfix contains two parts, one occurring before the base and one after. When a circumfix is mentioned separately the two parts are separated by three dots, this indicating the position of the base: ke-…-an. When only the first part of a circumfix is referred to, the term ‘prefix’ is used. A fourth type of affix, the infix, is not part of the system of modern Indonesian, although its earlier occurrence is seen from a few fossilised forms, discussed in sections 1.36–7. 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-.

NOTES ON SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION

1.2 The spelling and pronunciation of Indonesian are generally very easy and straightforward. Most sounds belonging to Indonesian also occur in English, although they may be written in a different way. Furthermore, every letter or combination of letters stands for one sound, except for e, which is ambiguous (see below).

Consonants

Indonesian has the following consonants: p, t, k, c, ’, b, d, g, j, z, m, n, ng, ny, r, l, f, v, s, sy, h, kh, w and y, which are treated individually below.

p, t, k like English ‘p’, ‘t’, ‘k’, but without aspiration (compare English p, t, k, as pronounced by many non-native speakers).

At the end of a word, these consonants remain ‘unreleased’; that is, the consonant is formed and then held momentarily without releasing the airflow.

c like English ‘ch’, as in ‘choke’, ‘check’, ‘itchy’, but less emphatic; in fact, with many speakers it tends to become pronounced more like ‘ts’, as in ‘Betsy’, ‘flotsam’. Examples are cantik ‘beautiful, pretty’, cacing ‘worm’.

‘ indicates a glottal stop, which is the sound heard in the English expression ‘uh-oh!’ It is also heard in the Cockney English pronunciation of words like ‘matter’ [ma’er]¹, ‘sick’[si’]. This ‘ is mainly found in words of Arabic provenance such as ma'af ‘sorry’, do'a (also written and pronounc...