The Circumfix ke-...-an

Abstract ke-...-an Nouns

Circumfix ke-...-an forms abstract nouns from mainly adjectives and verbs. Occasionally ke-...-an nouns are formed from bases with the prefixes se- (kesepakatan), ber- (keberangkatan) or ter- (keterlambatan), and from compounds (keikutsertaan).

From Adjectives:

baik good : kebaikan goodness, kindness
rajin dilligent : kerajinan handicraft (Topik 5)
putus cut off, broken : keputusan, decision (Topik 6)
merdeka free : kemerdekaan freedom (Topik 6)
selamat safe : keselamatan safety (Topik 7)
terlambat too late : keterlambatan delay (Topik 7)
cepat fast : kecepatan speed (Topik 9)
meriah joyful : kemeriahan joyfulness (Topik 10)
sepakat agreed : kesepakatan agreement (Topik 11)

From Verbs

ingin to wish, want : keinginan desire
naik to go up : kenaikan increase (Topik 6)
berangkat to depart : keberangkatan (Topik 7)
ikutserta to participate : keikutsertaan participation (Topik 10)
berhasil to succeed : keberhasilan success (Topik 11)

From Nouns:

Based on nouns the meaning of the circumfix ke-...-an is 'having to do with [base]':

hutan forest : kehutanan forestry
polisi police : kepolisian police authorities (Topik 9)

For more information about the circumfix ke-...-an refer to paragraphs 1.72-86 in Sneddon's grammar.

Adjectives with circumfix ke-...-an

The number of adjectives that can be created with the circumfix ke-...-an is limited to colors and a few other adjectives, and typically occurs with reduplicated bases. Its meaning is 'resembling to some degree the characteristic of the base':

kebiru-biruan bluish
kecoklat-coklatan brownish
kegila-gilaan slightly crazy
kebarat-baratan westernised
kekanak-kanakan childish

Adversative Verbs with circumfix ke-...-an

The meaning of the circumfix ke-...-an is 'to be adversly affected.'

Saya kehilangan sepeda saya.
I lost my bike (meaning that it was stolen).

Kami kehujanan.
We got caught in the rain.

kedapatan caught in the act
ketakutan terrified
kesakitan to be in pain
kepanasan to suffer from heat
kedinginan to suffer from cold
kelaparan to suffer from hunger
kedatangan to be unexpectedly visited
kebanjiran to be subjected to flood
ketinggalan to be left behind

Only two ke-...-an verbs are not adversative: kelihatan 'visible, looks, seems' and kedengaran 'audible, sounds, seems' .

For further information consult Sneddon's Indonesian Reference Grammar, 1.72-86, 1.123-5, 1.276-84

Reciprocal ber-...-an verbs

These verbs indicate that two people do the same thing to each other, such as bersalaman 'to greet each other by shaking hands', or that two people or things stand in the same relationship to each other, such as berdekatan 'to be near each other'.

For more information about the circumfix ber-...-an refer to paragraphs 1.255-60 in Sneddon's grammar.

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