Indonesian reduplication is a family of constructions, not a single “make it plural” rule. Anak-anak can foreground a plural set, berjalan-jalan describes leisurely movement, lelaki is a partial historical pattern, sayur-mayur suggests an assortment, and kupu-kupu is simply the lexical word for “butterfly.”
The form and the word class jointly guide the meaning. This page maps the system while leaving individual affix paradigms and general classifier syntax to their dedicated guides.
The major formal types
| Type | Example | What is visible | Typical interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| full | anak-anak | complete copied base | salient plural set |
| affixed | berjalan-jalan | copy inside a larger affixed word | leisurely/extended activity |
| partial | lelaki | only part of the base historically copied | lexical noun “man” |
| changing-sound | sayur-mayur | paired elements with sound alternation | assorted vegetables |
| lexicalized | kupu-kupu | reduplicated-looking whole lexeme | butterfly, singular or plural by context |
These labels describe structure; they do not mechanically predict one meaning. Full reduplication can mark a noun set, distributive properties, manner, iteration, or a conventional lexical item.
Anak-anak sudah berkumpul di depan perpustakaan.
The children have gathered in front of the library.
Kami berjalan-jalan di kota tua setelah makan malam.
We strolled around the old town after dinner.
Lelaki berkemeja biru itu menunggu di luar.
The man in the blue shirt is waiting outside.
Pedagang itu menjual sayur-mayur segar dari desa sekitar.
That vendor sells assorted fresh vegetables from nearby villages.
Seekor kupu-kupu hinggap di bunga melati.
A butterfly landed on the jasmine flower.
The classifier seekor proves that kupu-kupu can be singular. Its two visible halves are part of the lexeme; they do not count two butterflies.
Full reduplication
Full reduplication copies the whole base and links the copies with a hyphen. With nouns, it can make a plural set salient; with adjectives and adverbial forms, it can distribute a property or express manner.
Buku-buku di meja itu sudah saya periksa.
I’ve checked the books on that table.
Rumah di sepanjang jalan itu besar-besar.
The houses along that road are all big.
Tolong baca petunjuknya baik-baik sebelum mulai.
Please read the instructions carefully before starting.
Buku-buku foregrounds a set. Besar-besar distributes “big” across multiple houses rather than merely intensifying one house. Baik-baik functions as manner, “carefully/properly.” Category and syntactic position are doing real interpretive work.
Affixed reduplication and bracketing
An affix can apply to a reduplicated base or participate in a larger established pattern. The spelling reveals the bracketing: the reduplicative material takes a hyphen, while productive affixes remain attached.
Anak-anak berlari-lari di halaman sambil menunggu hujan reda.
The children ran around in the yard while waiting for the rain to ease.
Sejak pagi saya masih mencari-cari kunci motor.
I’ve still been looking all over for the motorcycle key since this morning.
Langit tampak kemerah-merahan menjelang senja.
The sky looked reddish toward dusk.
Toko itu menjual buah-buahan lokal.
That shop sells assorted local fruit.
Write berjalan-jalan, not berjalan-berjalan: visible ber- occurs once around the copied base jalan-jalan. Write kemerah-merahan, not kemerahan-kemerahan: ke-...-an brackets the reduplicated material. Exact paradigms differ and must be learned; the affixed reduplication page develops them.
Partial reduplication
Partial reduplication copies only part of the base, often with vowel weakening inherited from an older pattern. Modern speakers generally learn common results as whole words rather than productively deriving them in conversation.
Lelaki itu memperkenalkan diri sebagai paman Rudi.
The man introduced himself as Rudi’s uncle.
Pepohonan di tepi sungai tumbuh sangat rapat.
The trees along the riverbank grow very densely.
Lelaki and pepohonan are written solid, not le-laki or pe-pohonan. They are structurally different from full hyphenated copying. There is no honest shortcut that lets a learner manufacture a standard partial form from any new word; consult established usage.
Changing-sound reduplication
In changing-sound reduplication, the paired elements differ in a vowel or consonant but form one conventional unit. These words still take a hyphen.
Kami membeli sayur-mayur dan lauk-pauk untuk acara keluarga.
We bought assorted vegetables and side dishes for the family event.
Petugas mengamati gerak-gerik orang yang berdiri dekat pintu.
The officer observed the behavior of the person standing near the door.
Kamar itu porak-poranda setelah diterjang angin kencang.
The room was in complete disarray after being hit by strong winds.
Forms such as sayur-mayur, lauk-pauk, gerak-gerik, and porak-poranda are lexical conventions. Sound change is not a productive invitation to rhyme any two words. See changing-sound reduplication.
Lexicalized forms
Some words look transparently repeated but have a conventional lexical meaning that cannot be computed by applying a live grammatical rule. Number still comes from context.
Kupu-kupu itu terbang masuk melalui jendela.
That butterfly flew in through the window.
Kura-kura peliharaan Rina sedang berjemur.
Rina’s pet turtle is basking.
Polisi menangkap seorang mata-mata di dekat pelabuhan.
The police arrested a spy near the harbor.
Kupu-kupu, kura-kura, and mata-mata can each denote one entity in these contexts. A numeral or classifier—not the visual repetition—determines the count.
A map of semantic families
Salient plurality or variety
Dokumen-dokumen yang diminta sudah kami unggah.
We have uploaded the requested documents.
Pasar malam itu menawarkan jajanan dari berbagai daerah.
The night market offers snacks from various regions.
Noun copying may foreground multiple members; related affixed or changing-sound forms often emphasize assortment. Ordinary plurality can remain unmarked, as the noun-plural page explains.
Iteration, continuation, or diffuse activity
Dia mengetuk-ngetuk meja sambil menunggu jawabannya.
She kept tapping the table while waiting for the answer.
Mereka duduk-duduk di teras sampai malam.
They sat around on the veranda until evening.
Copying can portray repeated subevents or an activity performed casually over time. Berjalan-jalan is conventional “stroll/go sightseeing,” not simply two acts of walking.
Distribution and manner
Mangga di kebun itu besar-besar tahun ini.
The mangoes in that orchard are all big this year.
Pegang gelasnya kuat-kuat agar tidak jatuh.
Hold the glass tightly so it doesn’t fall.
The adjective besar-besar distributes a property over mangoes. Kuat-kuat tells how to hold. Neither construction is noun plural marking.
Approximation and conventional meaning
Dinding kamar itu dicat kemerah-merahan.
The bedroom wall was painted reddish.
Hati-hati saat menuruni tangga yang licin.
Be careful when going down the slippery stairs.
Kemerah-merahan approximates the color red. Hati-hati is a conventional warning whose meaning is not “hearts.” Lexical knowledge remains indispensable.
Spelling principles
Hyphenate full and changing-sound reduplication: anak-anak, sayur-mayur, kupu-kupu. Write partial forms such as lelaki solid. Attach affixes according to morphological bracketing: berjalan-jalan, mencari-cari, kemerah-merahan. The hyphen guide gives the full orthographic system.
The digit shortcut anak2 or anak² is recognizable in informal digital writing (informal) but is not standard edited spelling. Write both elements in full in neutral, formal, academic, and professional prose.
Common Mistakes
1. Deleting half of a lexicalized form for singular reference
❌ Saya melihat satu kupu di taman.
Incorrect for ‘one butterfly’ — kupu-kupu is the whole lexical word, not a plural of kupu.
✅ Saya melihat seekor kupu-kupu di taman.
I saw a butterfly in the park.
2. Omitting the reduplication hyphen
❌ Anak anak menunggu di depan kelas.
Incorrect spelling — full reduplication requires a hyphen.
✅ Anak-anak menunggu di depan kelas.
The children are waiting in front of the classroom.
3. Using a digit shortcut in edited prose
❌ Dokumen2 itu harus ditandatangani hari ini.
Incorrect edited spelling — digit 2 is only a nonstandard digital shortcut.
✅ Dokumen-dokumen itu harus ditandatangani hari ini.
Those documents must be signed today.
4. Repeating a visible affix mechanically
❌ Kami berjalan-berjalan di sekitar alun-alun.
Incorrect form — the established affixed reduplication shows ber- once.
✅ Kami berjalan-jalan di sekitar alun-alun.
We strolled around the town square.
5. Hyphenating a standard partial form
❌ Le-laki itu berdiri di dekat gerbang.
Incorrect spelling — lelaki is a solid partial-reduplication form.
✅ Lelaki itu berdiri di dekat gerbang.
The man is standing near the gate.
Key Takeaways
- Reduplication includes full, partial, affixed, changing-sound, and lexicalized structures.
- Word class and construction determine whether the meaning involves plurality, variety, iteration, manner, approximation, or a fixed lexeme.
- Hyphenate standard full and changing-sound forms, write partial forms as established, and attach affixes by bracketing.
- Never replace the written copy with digit 2 in edited prose.
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Start learning Indonesian →Related Topics
- Hyphens in ReduplicationA1 — Use a hyphen inside Indonesian full, affixed, and changing-sound reduplication while avoiding informal digit shortcuts.
- Noun Reduplication and Plural SalienceA2 — Choose between bare nouns, quantifiers, and noun reduplication according to whether number, diversity, definiteness, or set salience matters.
- Partial ReduplicationB2 — Recognize historically partial copies such as lelaki, tetangga, and pepohonan as established solid words rather than a productive modern pattern.
- Changing-Sound ReduplicationB2 — Recognize conventional reduplicative pairs whose second element changes sound to evoke variety, behavior, intensity, or an expressive scene.
- Affixes Around Full ReduplicationB1 — Use morphological bracketing to place prefixes, suffixes, and clitics around the correct copied base.
- Lexicalized Reduplicated WordsA2 — Treat fixed repeated forms such as kupu-kupu and masing-masing as whole dictionary words rather than productive plurals.