ber-...-kan: Formation and Allomorphy | Indonesian Grammar

The pattern ber-...-kan forms a restricted class of predicates such as berdasarkan data “be based on data,” bersenjatakan tombak “be armed with a spear,” and bermodalkan tabungan “use savings as capital.” The following phrase fills the role named by the base: the data is the dasar “basis,” the spear the senjata “weapon,” and the savings the modal “capital.” This page explains formation and spelling; the semantic network and valency and register are treated separately.

The canonical template

The learner-friendly structure is [ber-[nominal base]-kan] + complement. Both affixal pieces belong to the predicate, while a following noun phrase identifies what serves in the base's role.

Base	Analysis	Surface predicate	Typical complement frame
dasar “basis”	[ber-[dasar]-kan]	berdasarkan	berdasarkan data
senjata “weapon”	[ber-[senjata]-kan]	bersenjatakan	bersenjatakan tombak
modal “capital”	[ber-[modal]-kan]	bermodalkan	bermodalkan tabungan
anggota “member”	[ber-[anggota]-kan]	beranggotakan	beranggotakan dua belas orang
alas “base/mat”	[ber-[alas]-kan]	beralaskan	beralaskan tikar
rumah “home”	[be-[rumah]-kan]	berumahkan	berumahkan kemah (literary)

The first three rows are the core families. Beranggotakan and beralaskan are additional productive lexical models. Berumahkan illustrates the inherited ber-/be- alternation: prefix-final r is absent before root-initial r, so the one visible r belongs to rumah.

Kesimpulan sementara ini berdasarkan tiga wawancara mendalam.

This preliminary conclusion is based on three in-depth interviews. (academic)

Para penjaga itu hanya bersenjatakan tongkat kayu.

The guards are armed only with wooden staffs.

Mereka membuka warung kecil bermodalkan tabungan keluarga.

They open a small food stall using family savings as capital.

Panitia tersebut beranggotakan sembilan orang.

That committee consists of nine members. (formal)

Kami tidur beralaskan tikar tipis malam itu.

We slept on thin mats that night.

Pengembara itu berumahkan kemah yang mudah dibongkar.

The traveler makes an easily dismantled tent his home. (literary)

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The complement after the word is part of the lexical construction. Memorize berdasarkan sesuatu, bersenjatakan sesuatu, and bermodalkan sesuatu, not isolated affix strings.

Write the whole word solidly

Hyphens and brackets belong only in linguistic notation. Ordinary EYD V spelling joins both affixes to a lowercase base: berdasarkan, bersenjatakan, bermodalkan, beranggotakan, and beralaskan.

Laporan itu disusun berdasarkan catatan harian petugas.

The report was prepared on the basis of the officers' daily records. (formal)

Kelompok tersebut bermodalkan satu komputer bekas dan koneksi internet.

The group started with one used computer and an internet connection as its resources.

Para pengungsi tidur beralaskan terpal di aula.

The displaced residents sleep on tarpaulins in the hall.

Do not write ber-dasar-kan in running text, and do not separate final kan as a word. This -kan is historically associated in standard grammatical descriptions with earlier akan introducing an object or complement, but synchronically it is a bound suffix in these forms.

The suffix does not trigger consonant deletion

At the right boundary, -kan is invariant. It preserves base-final consonants: dasar + -kan → dasarkan, modal + -kan → modalkan, alas + -kan → alaskan. After a vowel, attach kan directly: senjata + -kan → senjatakan, anggota + -kan → anggotakan.

Keputusan akhir harus berdasarkan bukti yang dapat diverifikasi.

The final decision must be based on verifiable evidence. (formal)

Usaha rumahan itu bermodalkan keterampilan menjahit ibunya.

That home business uses the mother's sewing skills as its main capital.

Tim penilai beranggotakan pakar dari lima universitas.

The assessment team consists of experts from five universities. (formal)

There is no nasal substitution at this boundary. The s of dasar, m of modal, and final vowels of senjata and anggota remain. A consonant that disappears under a genuine prefixal allomorph must stay absent, however; spelling does not restore an underlying letter for visual symmetry.

Ber- allomorphy occurs at the left boundary

The initial part follows the general ber- family. Most licensed bases take default ber-. Before an r-initial base, prefix-final r is absent: be- + rumah + -kan → berumahkan, not berrumahkan. The surface word still contains the root's r.

Selama bertahun-tahun, keluarga itu berumahkan perahu kecil.

For years, that family made a small boat their home. (literary)

Tokoh pengembara dalam novel itu berumahkan gua dan beratapkan langit.

The wanderer in the novel makes a cave his home and the sky his roof. (literary)

The construction is too lexically restricted to generate a large, reliable be-...-kan paradigm. Apply the phonological rule only after confirming that the whole derivative is established. There is no productive bel-...-kan counterpart to exceptional belajar.

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Allomorphy and lexical licensing are separate questions. The be- rule predicts the shape of established berumahkan; it does not guarantee a ber-...-kan word for every r-initial noun.

Most transparent bases are nouns

The core pattern takes a noun-like base whose role can be filled by the following complement:

dasar: what follows is treated as the basis.
senjata: what follows serves as a weapon.
modal: what follows serves as capital or a resource.
anggota: what follows supplies the membership.
alas, atap, rumah: what follows serves as a supporting surface, roof, or home.

Argumen tersebut berlandaskan teori yang sudah diuji.

The argument is grounded in a theory that has been tested. (academic)

Aula itu beratapkan seng dan berhiaskan ukiran kayu.

The hall has a zinc roof and is decorated with wood carvings. (literary/formal descriptive)

Panggung sederhana itu berhiaskan bunga kertas.

That simple stage is decorated with paper flowers.

Landas → berlandaskan, atap → beratapkan, and hias → berhiaskan broaden the lexical set, but their productivity and register differ. The spatial body-part-like forms are often literary or compressed descriptive language. Event-like bases occur in lexicalized forms such as bermandikan cahaya “bathed in light,” but noun bases provide the clearest productive core.

Candi itu tampak bermandikan cahaya keemasan menjelang senja.

The temple appears bathed in golden light near sunset. (literary)

The existence of beralaskan does not license bermejakan kayu for “use wood as a table.” Speakers choose established families and often prefer an analytic phrase.

Not ordinary causative -kan

Ordinary causative -kan adds a causer or caused result to many verb and property bases. That is not what happens in berdasarkan data. The subject is not causing the data to become a basis; the data itself fills the basis role for the subject or proposition.

Direktur mendasarkan keputusan itu pada hasil audit.

The director bases that decision on the audit results.

Keputusan direktur berdasarkan hasil audit.

The director's decision is based on the audit results.

The transitive mendasarkan has an actor and direct object keputusan itu, followed by pada. Intransitive or complement-taking berdasarkan presents keputusan as already standing in the basis relation. The final -kan therefore cannot be identified merely as “make/cause.”

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If the word can be passivized with an affected object, you are probably dealing with a transitive meN-...-kan/di-...-kan family, not the complement-selecting ber-...-kan pattern.

Optional -kan is lexical, not mechanical

Traditional descriptions record pairs such as berdasarkan/berdasar, bersenjatakan/bersenjata, bermodalkan/bermodal, and beranggotakan/beranggota. The shorter form may select the complement differently or have a different modern preference.

Analisis ini berdasar pada data sensus terbaru.

This analysis is based on the latest census data. (formal)

Mereka memulai usaha itu hanya bermodal keberanian.

They started that business with only courage as capital.

Petugas keamanan itu bersenjata pistol.

That security officer is armed with a pistol.

Do not delete -kan from every family or assume the resulting complement pattern remains identical. Store the attested pair and its preposition, if any.

Recovering the base in a dictionary

For default forms, remove ber- and final -kan as an initial hypothesis: berdasarkan → dasar, bersenjatakan → senjata, bermodalkan → modal. With an r-initial base, recognize reduction: berumahkan → rumah, not umah.

Dalam kamus, beranggotakan ditautkan dengan bentuk dasar anggota.

In a dictionary, beranggotakan is linked to the base anggota. (academic)

Letter shape alone is insufficient. Berikan! “Give it!” is beri + -kan, not ber- + i + -kan. Confirm meaning, category, and the recovered base rather than stripping matching edges mechanically.

Berikan salinan surat itu kepada petugas di loket dua.

Give a copy of that letter to the officer at counter two.

Common Mistakes

Printing the analytical frame

❌ Kesimpulan itu ber-dasar-kan satu contoh saja.

Incorrect spelling — the actual word is written solidly.

✅ Kesimpulan itu berdasarkan satu contoh saja.

That conclusion is based on only one example.

Using berdasarkan as an ordinary causative

❌ Peneliti berdasarkan kesimpulan itu pada dua wawancara.

Incorrect valency — berdasarkan does not take an actor plus affected object.

✅ Peneliti mendasarkan kesimpulan itu pada dua wawancara.

The researcher bases that conclusion on two interviews.

Restoring prefixal r before rumah

❌ Tokoh itu berrumahkan sebuah perahu tua.

Incorrect — prefix-final r is absent before the r-initial base rumah.

✅ Tokoh itu berumahkan sebuah perahu tua.

The character makes an old boat his home. (literary)

Coining the template from any useful noun

❌ Mereka bermejakan peti kayu saat makan.

Nonstandard coinage — Indonesian does not ordinarily form this verb from meja.

✅ Mereka menggunakan peti kayu sebagai meja saat makan.

They use a wooden crate as a table while eating.

Misidentifying berikan

❌ Berikan dianalisis sebagai ber- + i + -kan.

Incorrect analysis — the imperative is built from beri plus -kan.

✅ Berikan dokumen itu kepada saya.

Give that document to me.

Key Takeaways

The canonical construction is [ber-[nominal base]-kan] + complement, with the complement filling the role named by the base.
Write actual forms solidly, and preserve base letters at the -kan boundary.
Inherited ber- allomorphy gives be- + rumah + -kan → berumahkan, with only the root's r visible.
The pattern favors lexical noun bases and is not a freely productive way to coin predicates.
Final -kan here is not the ordinary causative suffix; compare complement-taking berdasarkan with transitive mendasarkan.

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