verbs 'ter-' in Indonesian Language

Prefix ter- occurs with verbs and adjectives and with some other word classes. With adjectives it forms superlative phrases

At the beginning of a word ter- is not always a prefix; sometimes it is just part of the word base. For example, terbang is a simple verb meaning 'to fly'; teriak is a base which occurs with a number of affixes, such as berteriak 'to shout', teriakan ‘(shout’; terjemah is verb base occurring in menerjemahkan  ‘to translate’ , terjemahan ‘translation’.

Most verbs with prefix ter- can be placed in one of three categories: stative,

accidental and abilitative.

Stative ter- verbs

Stative verbs refer to a state rather than an action; they are the most frequent of the

ter- verbs. Stative verbs cannot occur with an agent. Often they contrast with

verbs, which indicate an action. Thus n 'put (by someone)' refers to an action, while terletak 'located', refers resulting from that action:

Koran siapa yang diletakkan di atas meja?

Whose newspaper has been puto n the table?

Koran siapa yang terletak di atas meja

Whose newspaper is (located) on the table?

As in the above example ,a  suffix on the di- or meN- verb is dropped with the corresponding stative ter- verb.  Another example of this is the following, with both me-N verb (membatasi ‘restrict’ ) and di- verb (dibatasi ‘restricted’ ) shown, along with corresponding ter- verb (terbatas ‘restricted, limited’) :

Pemerintah membatasi jumlah mobil yang boleh diimpor
the government has restricted the number of cars which may be imported

Jumlah mobil yang boleh diimpor dibatasi oleh pemerintah

The Number of cars which may be imported has been restricted by the government

Jumlah mobil yang boleh diimpor terbatas

The number of cars which may be imported is limited

The word accidental is a cover term for a variety of situations where the action is uncontrolled. Depending on the particular verb and the situation it may refer to action which is sudden, unexpected, unintended, undesirable or beyond the control of the actor. The term 'accidental’  then is not always an accurate description of the meaning conveyed by ter-.

Accidental verbs can be intransitive:

Latif tertidur di kelas

Latif fell asleep in class.

They can also be transitive. In this case the verb  is passive. Even if a first or second persont agent occurs the construction  passive type one

Maaf, kopi saudara terminum  oleh saya

Sorry  I drank your coffe by mistake

Frequently an actor is not relevant to the situation. In the following there is no mention of who forced the government:

Pemerintah terpaksa menurunkan harga beras

The government was forced to lower the price of rice.

In English verbs do not distinguish between accidental and deliberate action. The statement 'I drank your coffee' does not out of context indicate whether I intended to drink it or whether I drank it by mistake, thinking it was mine. Indonesian. however, makes the distinction

Saya minum kopi anda. I (deliberately) drank your coffee.

Kopi anda terminum oleh saya  I drank your coffee ( in error)

As with stative ter-  verbs, accidental verbs usually lose suffix if there is one on the corresponding meN- Verb. Thus menghapuskan ‘wipe out’ , terhapus ‘accidentally wiped out’

Although suffixes -kan and 4 are usually lost with accidental ter- verbs this is not always the case and, especially in journalistic style, there is a great deal of inconsistency in usage. However, they are always lost on stative ter- verbs and never lost on abilitative verbs

Abiliatative ter- verbs

Abilitative verbs indicate that the actor is able to perform the action. These verbs are always transitive and passive. As with accidental ter- verbs, passive type one always occurs, even if the actor is first or second person.

Usually inability is referred to, with tidak or, more rarely, belum:

Mobil semahal itu tidak terbeli oleh kami.

We can't afford to buy a car as expensive as that.

Soal kemacetan lalu-lintas belum terpecahkan.

The problem of traffic congestion can't yet be solved.

They can occur in the positive, although this is less common:

Kesebelasan Ajax akhirnya terkalahkan juga.

Finally the Ajax (soccer) eleven was able to be beaten. (That is, another

team managed to beat Ajax.)

If suffix -kan or -i occurs with a meN- verb it is usually retained on the corresponding abilitative ter- verb. The verb terkalahkan 'beatable' in the above example relates to engalahkan 'to defeat'.

Instead of a ter- verb to indicate ability, a di- verb preceded by bisa or dapat 'can' is very frequently used: Soal

kemacetan lalu-lintas belum dapat dipecahkan.

The problem of traffic congestion can't yet be solved.

Sometimes context is very important in indicating if a ter-  verb is statitve , accidental or abilitive. In the frist sentence below terbawa  means ‘able to  carry’ , while the second sentence it means ‘accidentally carried’ :

apa paket-paket itu terbawa oleh kamu sendiri ?

Were you ableto carry those parcels by yourself

Maaf , paket saudara terbawa oleh saya  ,

Sorry , I took your parcel by mistake

Many verbs with ter- do not fit easily into any of the three categories mentioned above. Some verbs like tertawa 'laugh' and tersenyum 'smile' can be placed with  accidentals, indicating action which is considered beyond the control of the actor . Some words ter-  are not verbs and with some ter- no longer functions as a prefix in the modern language, such words  include terlalu 'too', terhadap 'towards', terutama ‘especiallly’ and numerous others .

Artikel terkait :