Verb Affixes & Voice (me-, ber-, di-)

Asimilasi me- pada konsonan berikut

me- assimilates to the following consonant

me+pukul→memukul, me+tulis→menulis

The prefix changes shape depending on the root's first sound

Alomorf me-: me-, mem-, men-, meng-, meny-, menge-

Full set of me- allomorphs

Six variants of the same prefix, chosen by sound rules

ber- membentuk kata kerja aktivitas/keadaan

ber- forms verbs of activity/state

berjalan (to walk), berbahagia (to be happy)

A distinct, very productive verb-forming prefix

ter-

accidental/involuntary action or resultative state

terjatuh (to accidentally fall)

Marks something that happens unintentionally or as a result

Pilihan suara aktif (me-) vs pasif (di-)

Active (me-) vs passive (di-) voice choice depends on focus

Voice is chosen based on what the speaker wants to highlight

Bola itu ditendang oleh Budi.

The ball was kicked by Budi. (passive)

oleh introduces the agent in a passive sentence

Budi menendang bola itu.

Budi kicked the ball. (active)

Same event, active voice with Budi as the topic

pe-

forms an agent noun

pembaca (reader)

pe- + baca (read) → the person who reads

-an

forms a noun from a verb

makanan (food)

makan (eat) + -an → the thing that is eaten

ke-...-an

circumfix forming abstract nouns

kesehatan (health)

sehat (healthy) wrapped in ke-...-an becomes an abstract noun