Indonesian/Grammar/Noun

Nouns in Bahasa Indonesia are similar to nouns in english and almost every other language as it follows basic principles of nouns and corresponds to class of nouns used in various languages around the world. Classes Concrete nouns (Nomina Konkret) Things, living or not, that we can see, feel, or touch. Examples with sentences (Contoh dengan kalimat): Meja (Table); Ada banyak buku di atas meja itu. (There are a lot of books on that table.) Binatang (Animal); Binatang yang baru saja kita lihat tadi sangat besar. (The animal we just saw was very big.) Buku (Book); Saya punya beberapa buku di kamar saya. (I have some books in my room.) Rumah (House); Saya memiliki rumah yang lumayan kecil. (I have a fairly small house.) Pensil (Pencil); Pensilnya dipatahkan temannya. (His/her pencil was broken by his/her friend.) Abstract nouns (Nomina Abstrak) The opposite of common nouns; something we cannot see, feel, or touch. Examples with sentences (Contoh dengan kalimat): Udara (Air); Udara pagi ini sangat segar. (The air this morning is very fresh.) Ilmu (Knowledge); Mungkin kelas ini akan memberikanmu sedikit ilmu. (Perhaps this class will give you some knowledge.) Cinta (Love); Cinta adalah topik yang sangat rumit. (Love is a very complex topic.) Keberanian* (Bravery); Keberaniannya harus diakui. (His bravery should be acknowledged.) Keadilan* (Justice); Apakah keadilan masih ada di negara ini? (Does justice still exist in this country?) Ide (Idea); Idemu sangat bagus! (Great idea!) *Adjectives. Both words originate respectively from base words berani (brave) and adil (fair) and will change into and be able to be used as a noun if used with circumfixes (in this case, Ke-...-an). Using circumfixes will make the noun a derived noun (nomina turunan). 'Special'/proper nouns (Nomina Khusus) For specific things, such as names of people, places and countries, institutions, and so on. Proper nouns will always start with capital letters. Examples (Contoh): Meli, Udin (names of people), Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing (cities), Indonesia, Belanda, Amerika Serikat, Afrika Selatan (Countries), Universitas Indonesia, Pertamina, Wikibooks (Institutions and companies) Common nouns (Nomina umum) For non-specific or broadly definable things; can be anything such as occupations, places (not followed by name), animals, and so on. Examples with sentences (Contoh dengan kalimat): Siswa (Student); Dia masih menjadi siswa di sekolah itu. (He/she is still a student at that school.) Stasiun (Station); Saya menunggunya di stasiun itu, namun sayangnya ia tak kunjung datang. (I waited for her at that station, but she unfortunately never came.) Sungai (River); Arus di sungai ini sangat kencang! (The current on this river is really fast!) Kucing (Cat); Kucingmu lucu sekali. (Your cat is so cute.) Peraturan (Rules); Ada peraturan tak tertulis yang harus anda ketahui. (There is an unwritten rule you have to know.) Collective nouns (Nomina Kolektif) Nouns that refer to things or people in a group. Examples with sentences (Contoh dengan kalimat): Peserta (participants)*; Banyak peserta yang mengikuti acara tersebut. (Many participants took part in the event.) Masyarakat (people; society); Masyakarat di sini cukup harmonis. (The people here are mostly harmonic.) Panitia (Committee); Panitia pada lomba ini ternyata disuap. (Apparently the committee on this competition was bribed.) Kawanan (Flock/herd); Kawanan sapi itu sedang makan di padang rumput. (The herd of cows are grazing on a meadow.) Armada (Fleet); Armada bus kami sangat lengkap. (Our fleet of buses are very complete.) Semua (All); Apakah kalian semua bisa tenang? (Can all of you calm down please?) *'Peserta' can mean both participant (singular) and participants (plural) depending on context and use. Types Base nouns (Nomina dasar) Nouns in their purest form without alterations. Derived nouns (Nomina turunan) Nouns with alterations. a. Duplicate/repeated nouns (Nomina Reduplikasi) Nouns that are repeated to show plurality; more than one thing. Full duplication The entire word gets repeated twice. Examples (Contoh): Meja-meja (Tables) Buku-buku (Books) Rumah-rumah (Houses) Sayur-mayur (Vegetables) Partial duplication The word gets "partially" repeated; a prefix corresponding to the first letter of the base word, added with an e (e.g., Be-, Pe-, Re-, etc). Bebatuan (Stones) Pepohonan (Trees) Rerumputan (Grass (plural)) b. Compound nouns (Nomina Majemuk) Nouns that will differ in meaning if joined together, and vice versa. Examples (Contoh): Rumah sakit (Hospital, lit. sick house); without the word 'Sakit', 'Rumah' will mean house. Without 'Rumah', 'Sakit' will mean sick. Tanah air (Homeland, lit. land water); If separated, the word 'Tanah' means land, while the word 'Air' means water. Mata pelajaran (Subject(s), lit. eye lesson); 'Mata' itself means eye, while 'Pelajaran' means lesson. Uang muka (Down payment, lit. money face); 'Uang' means money, while 'muka' means face. c. Affixated nouns (Nomina berafiks) Nouns with prefixes and suffixes (circumfixes). Verbs and adjectives can also be changed into a noun with these circumfixes by replacing verb/adjective-exclusive prefixes with prefixes for nouns, with several words requiring an additional suffix (-an) to have a meaning. Prefixes Pe- (Pe-; Pen-; Per-; Pem-; Peng-) Pra- Ke- Ter- Suffixes -an (-an; -wan) -anda (-anda; -nda) Examples (Contoh): Pe- and its variants Permainan (Game(s)); Pe(r) + (ber)main (verb, means play) + an Pemantik (lighter); Pe + (me)mantik (verb, to light something up) Penyelam (Diver); Pe + (me)nyelam (verb, to dive) Penghalus (Smoother); Pe(ng) + halus (adjective, smooth) Pemalu* (Shy (person)); Pe + malu (adjective, shy) Penjual (Seller/merchant); Pe(n) + (men)jual (verb, to sell) Perawat (Nurse); Pe + (me)rawat (verb, to take care of) Pegunungan (Mountain(s)/mountain range); Pe + gunung (noun, mountain) + an Pemandangan (View/landscape); Pe + (me)mandang (verb, to view) + an Peradaban (Society); Pe(r) + adab (noun, manners) + an Perempatan (Intersection); Pe(r) + empat (four) + an *Pemalu may still be used in an adjective context (e.g., Dia pemalu. (she is shy.)) Ke- Keabadian (Eternity); Ke + abadi (adjective, eternal) + an Keadilan (Justice); Ke + adil (adj., just/fair) + an Kefasihan (Fluency); Ke + fasih (adj., fluent) + an Ketinggian (Height); Ke + tinggi (adj., high) + an Keringanan (Relief); Ke + ringan (adj., light) + an Ke- (with negation) Negated adjectives will remove the space between the word 'tidak' (no) and the adjective itself with the prefix and suffix. Ketidakpastian (Uncertainty); Ke + tidak (negative, no) + pasti (adj., certain(ly)) + an Ketidaknyamanan (Discomfort); Ke + tidak (neg., no) + nyaman (adj., comfortable) + an Ketidakjujuran (Dishonesty); Ke +tidak (neg., no) + jujur (adj., honest) + an Ke- (morphological derivation) Adding the prefix Ke- and the suffix -an to certain words (optional for some others) will change their meaning and may cause it to have two or more meanings. Kemunduran (Decline/setback/deterioration/regression/too far back); Ke + mundur (verb, to go backwards) + an Kemajuan (Progress/improvement/advancement/too far forwards); Ke + maju (v., to go forwards) + an Kenaikan (Increase/rise/increment); Ke + naik (v., to go up) + an Keturunan (Offspring); Ke + turun (v., to go down) + an Ketua (Leader/head/chief); Ke + tua (n., old/elderly) Kehendak (Will/desire); Ke + hendak (adverb, (a) want) Ter- Words containing the prefix 'Ter-' are commonly used in jurisdictional environments. Tersangka (Suspect); Ter + sangka (noun, estimation/assumption) Terdakwa (Defendant); Ter + dakwa (n., confession) Terpidana (Convict); Ter + pidana (n., criminal) Pra- Pre-; before. Prasejarah (Prehistoric); Pra + Sejarah (noun, history) Prabayar (Prepaid); Pra + bayar (verb, to pay) Prasyarat (Prerequisite(s)); Pra + syarat (n., condition(s)) No prefix (-an only) Bebatuan (Stones); Batu-batu (noun, stone; repeat variant of 'Batu') + an Letusan (Explosion); (me)letus (verb, to explode) + an Makanan (food(s)); (me)makan (v., to eat) + an Orang-orangan (Humanoid toy; toy that resembles a human being); Orang-orang (n., people) + an No prefix (-wan/-wati) For occupations. '-wan' is a masculine suffix, used for male members of a certain occupation, and '-wati' is a feminine suffix, used for female members. Cendekiawan/Cendekiawati (Scholar(s)); Cendekia (noun, scholar (neutral)) + wan/wati Karyawan/Karyawati (Employee(s)); Karya (n., creation) + wan/wati Wartawan/Wartawati (Reporter(s)); Warta (n., news/report) + wan/wati the suffix '-wan' can also be used neutrally. Relawan (Volunteer(s)); Rela (noun, willing/compliant) + wan Ilmuwan (Scientist(s)); Ilmu (n., knowledge) + wan Sejarawan (Historian(s)); Sejarah (n., history) + wan No prefix (-anda/-nda) The suffix is rarely used in current day-to-day conversations in Indonesia. Words using the suffix are formal in manner and are typically greetings for people close to one another such as family members. Ayahanda ((one's) father/dad); Ayah (noun, father/dad) + anda Ibunda ((one's) mother/mom); Ibu (n., mother/mom) + nda Adinda ((one's) younger brother/sister); Adik (n., younger brother/sister) + nda Kakanda ((one's) older brother/sister); Kakak (n., older brother/sister) + nda