ber-...-kan: Valency, Lexicalization, and Register | Indonesian Grammar

Using ber-...-kan accurately means tracking a two-part relationship: a subject or proposition bears a role, and a following complement fills the role named by the base. Keputusan berdasarkan bukti, pasukan bersenjatakan tombak, and usaha bermodalkan tabungan therefore have different complements but the same broad architecture. This page focuses on valency, competing constructions, lexical restrictions, and register; formation and the meaning network are treated separately.

The bearer precedes the predicate; the role value follows

The subject is the entity being characterized. The postverbal complement tells us what counts as its basis, weapon, capital, membership, support, or decoration.

Bearer/subject	Predicate	Selected complement
keputusan itu	berdasarkan	bukti baru = basis
para penjaga	bersenjatakan	tongkat = weapon
usaha tersebut	bermodalkan	tabungan keluarga = capital
tim pemeriksa	beranggotakan	enam pakar = members

Keputusan tersebut berdasarkan bukti yang tersedia.

That decision is based on the available evidence. (formal)

Dua penjaga berdiri di gerbang bersenjatakan tongkat.

Two guards stand at the gate armed with staffs.

Usaha itu bermodalkan hasil penjualan tanah keluarga.

That business uses the proceeds from the sale of family land as capital.

Komite baru beranggotakan wakil dari setiap provinsi.

The new committee consists of representatives from every province. (formal)

The following noun is selected by the whole predicate. It is not an ordinary direct object that undergoes an action. This is why the English translations vary between based on, armed with, funded by, and consists of.

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Read outward from the root noun: “For this subject, what serves as dasar/senjata/modal/anggota?” That question identifies the complement and prevents role reversal.

Complement status: required but not passivizable

The complement is obligatory or strongly expected because it completes the incorporated role. A bare Laporan itu berdasarkan sounds unfinished; the hearer waits to learn the basis. Yet data in berdasarkan data is not a transitive object and cannot become the subject of a di- passive such as data diberdasarkan.

Analisis itu berdasarkan data dari tiga rumah sakit.

That analysis is based on data from three hospitals. (academic)

Data dari tiga rumah sakit digunakan sebagai dasar analisis itu.

Data from three hospitals is used as the basis for that analysis. (academic)

Kelompok itu bersenjatakan senapan berburu.

That group is armed with hunting rifles.

Kelompok itu dipersenjatai dengan senapan berburu.

That group was supplied with hunting rifles.

The second member of each pair changes the clause. Digunakan sebagai dasar makes the data the passive subject of menggunakan; dipersenjatai makes the group an affected recipient of weapons. Neither is a passive inflection of berdasarkan or bersenjatakan.

The complement can be long and internally complex:

Kebijakan itu berdasarkan hasil konsultasi yang berlangsung selama enam bulan.

The policy is based on the results of consultations that lasted six months. (formal)

Tim khusus tersebut beranggotakan peneliti yang memiliki pengalaman di daerah terpencil.

The special team consists of researchers with experience in remote areas. (formal)

Length does not turn it into a detachable adjunct. Its semantic role remains selected by the predicate.

The frame inside noun phrases

A ber-...-kan predicate can modify a noun in a yang clause or, especially in dense formal prose, as a reduced postnominal predicate. The selected complement stays with it.

Kesimpulan yang berdasarkan satu sumber saja perlu diuji ulang.

A conclusion based on only one source needs to be retested. (academic)

Pasukan yang bersenjatakan busur itu menjaga pintu timur.

The troops armed with bows guard the eastern gate.

Program bermodalkan dana masyarakat itu berhenti setelah dua tahun.

The program funded with community money ended after two years. (formal)

Panitia beranggotakan tujuh orang tersebut mulai bekerja hari ini.

The seven-member committee begins work today. (formal)

When a long complement creates processing difficulty, keep yang or recast the phrase. Indonesian formal style tolerates dense nominal sequences, but clarity still matters.

Competition in the dasar family

Four related structures divide the work differently:

Structure	Valency	Typical use
keputusan berdasarkan bukti	bearer + complement	characterize the decision
keputusan berdasar pada bukti	bearer + pada phrase	shorter lexical variant
hakim mendasarkan keputusan pada bukti	actor + object + pada basis	active transitive event
keputusan didasarkan pada bukti	passive subject + pada basis	event/result in formal prose

Penilaian akhir berdasar pada tiga indikator utama.

The final assessment rests on three main indicators. (formal)

Hakim mendasarkan putusannya pada keterangan dua saksi.

The judge bases the decision on the testimony of two witnesses.

Putusan itu didasarkan pada keterangan dua saksi.

The decision was based on the testimony of two witnesses. (formal)

Do not combine the argument maps. Peneliti berdasarkan kesimpulan pada data wrongly gives complement-taking berdasarkan an actor and object. Choose mendasarkan for that transitive frame.

Bersenjatakan X characterizes the subject through its weapon. Mempersenjatai Y dengan X profiles an actor who equips Y; dipersenjatai dengan X profiles the recipient. Shorter bersenjata X is established and often less elevated.

Para perampok itu bersenjatakan pisau.

The robbers are armed with knives.

Pemimpin kelompok mempersenjatai anggotanya dengan pisau.

The group leader equips the members with knives.

Petugas tersebut bersenjata pistol dan mengenakan rompi pelindung.

The officer carries a pistol and wears a protective vest.

Similarly, bermodalkan X profiles a resource as capital. Bermodal X is a shorter established variant, while menggunakan X sebagai modal is transparent and often preferable in conversation.

Pasangan itu membuka toko bermodalkan pinjaman kecil.

The couple opens a shop using a small loan as capital.

Ia memulai karier bermodal pengalaman sukarela.

She began her career with volunteer experience as her main asset.

Mereka menggunakan tabungan sendiri sebagai modal awal.

They use their own savings as startup capital.

The presence or absence of -kan is lexical. It is not a free stylistic switch in every ber- family.

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Learn contrasts as complete frames: bersenjatakan X / mempersenjatai Y dengan X and bermodalkan X / menggunakan X sebagai modal.

Clause-initial berdasarkan

Berdasarkan + noun phrase commonly frames an entire following proposition in formal, academic, journalistic, and legal writing. It means that the proposition is warranted or organized by that source.

Berdasarkan hasil pemeriksaan, bangunan itu belum aman digunakan.

Based on the inspection results, the building is not yet safe to use. (formal)

Berdasarkan Pasal 12, pemohon berhak mengajukan keberatan.

Under Article 12, the applicant has the right to file an objection. (legal)

Berdasarkan keterangan warga, api mulai terlihat sekitar tengah malam.

According to residents' accounts, the fire became visible around midnight. (journalistic)

The complement follows directly. Berdasarkan pada also occurs, but many contexts prefer the leaner berdasarkan X or the predicate berdasar pada X. Do not add oleh: the source is a basis, not an agent.

Lexicalized extensions and register

The core families have conventional social homes. Berdasarkan and beranggotakan are routine in formal exposition. Bersenjatakan and bermodalkan are common in journalism and elevated narrative. Beralaskan, beratapkan, bertatahkan, and metaphorical bermandikan often create compressed literary description.

Para pengungsi tidur beralaskan kardus.

The displaced residents sleep on cardboard.

Paviliun itu beratapkan genting lama dan berhiaskan ukiran kayu.

The pavilion has old roof tiles and is decorated with wood carvings. (literary/formal descriptive)

Penyanyi itu pulang bermandikan pujian.

The singer returned showered in praise. (literary/figurative)

These are dictionary families, not transparent outputs of a universal rule. Bermandikan pujian is a conventional metaphor; it does not mean that any abstract noun can naturally become a “bath” complement.

Formal example and conversational paraphrase

Berdasarkan laporan audit, penyidik menyimpulkan bahwa jaringan itu bersenjatakan senapan rakitan dan bermodalkan dana hasil penipuan.

Based on the audit report, investigators conclude that the network is armed with homemade rifles and funded by proceeds from fraud. (formal)

Kalau lihat laporan auditnya, kelompok itu bawa senapan rakitan, terus modalnya dari uang hasil nipu.

Looking at the audit report, that group carries homemade rifles, and its money comes from fraud. (informal, Jakarta-influenced)

The formal sentence compresses three role relations into derived predicates. Conversation unpacks them with kalau lihat, bawa, and modalnya dari. The difference is discourse density, not correctness.

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Use a transparent analytic paraphrase when a lexical ber-...-kan form would sound ceremonious or literary in conversation.

Productivity and dictionary evidence

The schema is productive enough to interpret a new context but too restricted to coin freely. A dictionary listing confirms an established derivative, yet the entry's complement, metaphor, and register still need to be learned. Beralaskan supports materials beneath a subject; that does not license bermejakan peti for “use a crate as a table.”

Mereka memakai peti kosong sebagai meja sementara.

They use an empty crate as a temporary table.

Panggung itu dihiasi kain berwarna biru.

The stage is decorated with blue cloth.

Analytic memakai X sebagai Y and ordinary passive dihiasi X are safe when no conventional ber-...-kan family exists or when register favors clarity.

Common Mistakes

Passivizing the selected complement

❌ Data survei diberdasarkan oleh kesimpulan itu.

Incorrect — data survei is a basis complement, not an object of berdasarkan.

✅ Kesimpulan itu didasarkan pada data survei.

That conclusion is based on survey data. (formal)

Giving berdasarkan an actor and object

❌ Tim berdasarkan rekomendasi itu pada satu laporan.

Incorrect valency — this actor-object frame requires mendasarkan.

✅ Tim mendasarkan rekomendasi itu pada satu laporan.

The team bases that recommendation on one report.

Omitting an obligatory role value

❌ Komite baru itu beranggotakan.

Incomplete — the hearer still needs the member specification.

✅ Komite baru itu beranggotakan sebelas orang.

That new committee consists of eleven members.

Mixing basis and agent markers

❌ Kebijakan itu berdasarkan oleh keputusan menteri.

Incorrect — oleh marks an agent, but keputusan menteri is the basis.

✅ Kebijakan itu berdasarkan keputusan menteri.

That policy is based on the minister's decision. (formal)

Coining a formal-looking predicate

❌ Kantor itu berkomputerkan lima laptop baru.

Nonstandard coinage — the schema is lexically restricted.

✅ Kantor itu dilengkapi dengan lima laptop baru.

The office is equipped with five new laptops.

Key Takeaways

The subject bears the incorporated role; the following complement fills it.
Selected complements are normally required but do not passivize like direct objects.
Competing forms redistribute arguments: berdasarkan/mendasarkan/didasarkan, bersenjatakan/mempersenjatai.
Clause-initial berdasarkan X is a conventional formal framing device.
Register and lexical licensing belong to each family; conversation often prefers transparent paraphrases.

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