4.4. Grammar Focus

Circumfix pe(N)-an, per-an, and ke-an 

Circumfix pe(N)-an and per-an

As mentioned in Chapter 3.4, most pe(N)-an nouns are based on me(N)- verbs and per-an nouns are based on ber- verbs. You can refer to the details of the functions of these circumfixes and the contrast between the two in that chapter.

Circumfix ke-an

The circumfix ke-an forms abstract nouns, mostly from adjectives, such as kebersihan “cleanliness” (from bersih “clean”), kecantikan “beauty” (from cantik “beautiful”). A few are based on intransitive verbs, such as kedatangan “arrival” (from datang “come”), kehidupan “life” (from hidup “live”), and simple nouns, such as keanggotaan “membership” (from anggota “member”), kedaerahan “regionalism” (from daerah “region”).