The circumfix per-...-an forms nouns such as pertemuan “meeting,” perjalanan “journey,” and peraturan “regulation.” Its left edge has three surface patterns—default per-, reduced pe-, and exceptional pel-—while -an closes the word. This page focuses on formation and bracketing; the meaning network and wider usage choices are treated separately.
The canonical circumfix
The broad structure is per- + base + -an → noun. Because the two parts jointly enclose the base, brackets show the structure more clearly than simple concatenation: [per-[temu]-an] → pertemuan. The hyphens and ellipsis belong only in the abstract label per-...-an. The actual word is solid.
| Family cue | Analysis | Surface noun | Formation note |
|---|---|---|---|
| temu | [per-[temu]-an] | pertemuan | default per-...-an |
| jalan | [per-[jalan]-an] | perjalanan | default per-...-an |
| pustaka | [per-[pustaka]-an] | perpustakaan | base-final a plus suffixal a are both written |
| aturan; root atur | [per-[atur]-an] | peraturan | circumfix surrounds atur; compare atur + -an → aturan |
| kerja | [pe-[kerja]-an] | pekerjaan | prefix-final r is absent |
| runding | [pe-[runding]-an] | perundingan | prefix-final r is absent; root-initial r remains |
| ajar | [pel-[ajar]-an] | pelajaran | exceptional pel-...-an family |
The final three rows provide additional natural formations and expose the full allomorph system. Pekerjaan is not perkerjaan, perundingan is not perrundingan, and pelajaran is not perajaran.
Pertemuan dimulai sepuluh menit lagi.
The meeting starts in ten minutes.
Perjalanan pulang memakan waktu hampir tiga jam.
The journey home took almost three hours.
Perpustakaan tutup lebih awal pada hari Sabtu.
The library closes earlier on Saturdays.
Peraturan baru berlaku mulai bulan depan.
The new regulation takes effect next month.
Ia sedang mencari pekerjaan di bidang desain.
She is looking for work in design.
Perundingan dilanjutkan setelah makan siang.
The negotiations resume after lunch.
Pelajaran pertama membahas keselamatan kerja.
The first lesson covers workplace safety.
Default per-...-an preserves the base
With most licensed bases, per- remains visible and no root consonant disappears. This includes the required temu, jalan, pustaka, and atur families, as well as juang → perjuangan, hotel → perhotelan, and sawah → persawahan.
Perjuangan warga untuk mendapatkan air bersih berlangsung bertahun-tahun.
The residents' struggle to obtain clean water lasted for years.
Perhotelan di kota itu mulai pulih setelah musim hujan.
The hotel sector in that city began to recover after the rainy season.
Daerah persawahan itu dialiri sungai kecil.
That rice-field area is irrigated by a small river.
The sequence perp- in perpustakaan is correct: prefix-final r is followed by root-initial p. Unlike peN-, per- has no nasal substitution that would delete p. Do not turn perpustakaan into pemustakaan or perustakaan.
Reduced pe-...-an and r-related forms
The prefix-final r is absent in two inherited phonological environments that parallel the ber-/per- families.
Before a root-initial r
With runding, the circumfix uses pe-...-an: pe- + runding + -an → perundingan. The one written r belongs to the root. Preserving both prefixal and root r would produce incorrect perrundingan; deleting the root's r would produce incorrect peundingan.
Kedua negara mengirim wakil ke meja perundingan.
Both countries send representatives to the negotiating table.
Hasil perundingan akan diumumkan malam ini.
The outcome of the negotiations will be announced tonight.
Another lexical example is rendah → perendahan in contexts meaning an act of lowering or demeaning, although speakers often prefer a more specific noun such as penurunan or penghinaan. The sound rule does not guarantee that every possible derivative is equally conventional.
In the first-syllable /ər/ pattern
With established bases such as kerja and ternak, prefixal r is absent: pekerjaan, peternakan. The r inside kerja remains part of the root, while the r of ternak is likewise preserved.
Pekerjaan renovasi diperkirakan selesai hari Jumat.
The renovation work is expected to finish on Friday. (formal)
Keluarga itu mengelola peternakan kambing di lereng bukit.
That family runs a goat farm on the hillside.
Exceptional pel-...-an
The high-frequency ajar family forms pelajaran with pel-...-an. This is an exceptional lexical allomorph, not a productive pattern before any vowel-initial root.
Saya belum memahami pelajaran tentang pecahan.
I still do not understand the lesson on fractions.
Ia mendapat pelajaran berharga dari kesalahan itu.
She learned a valuable lesson from that mistake.
The second example shows lexical extension—pelajaran can be a unit taught or an experience that teaches someone—but the surface formation remains the same. Do not generalize pel- to usaha, acara, or other vowel-initial bases.
What happens at the -an boundary?
The suffix is written -an without a hyphen, apostrophe, or inserted glide. When the root ends in u, spelling preserves the sequence u + a: temu + -an → temuan inside pertemuan. When the root ends in a, both adjacent a letters remain: pustaka + -an → pustakaan inside perpustakaan.
Pertemuan itu berlangsung di ruang utama.
The meeting takes place in the main room.
Kartu perpustakaan saya harus diperbarui bulan ini.
My library card must be renewed this month.
In pronunciation, speakers may realize a boundary glide or glottal transition between vowels, but Standard Indonesian does not write pertemuwan, perpustaka'an, or a pedagogical accent. Orthography preserves the morphological vowels.
Which bases enter the pattern?
The central source is an established intransitive ber- family: bertemu → pertemuan, berjalan → perjalanan, berjuang → perjuangan, beternak → peternakan. Noun bases can also form domain nouns such as perhotelan, perkapalan, and perbukuan. Place and institution nouns such as perpustakaan are strongly lexicalized members of the network.
Pertemuan dengan klien dijadwalkan ulang.
The meeting with the client has been rescheduled.
Perjalanan kami tertunda karena banjir.
Our journey was delayed because of flooding.
Perkapalan nasional membutuhkan tenaga ahli tambahan.
The national shipping sector needs additional specialists. (formal)
This pattern is less productive than agentive/process peN-...-an. For example, ordinary Indonesian uses kegiatan berenang “swimming activity,” not automatically coined perenangan, despite the existing verb berenang. Root category is therefore a filter, not a complete word generator.
Do not confuse per-...-an with peN-...-an
The two nominalizers can share letters on the surface but organize different families. Peraturan belongs to per-...-an and conventionally names a rule or regulatory system. Pengaturan belongs to peN-...-an, parallels mengatur, and commonly names the act, process, or configuration of arranging. Likewise, pertemuan is a meeting, while penemuan is an act or result of finding.
Peraturan kantor melarang merokok di dalam gedung.
Office regulations prohibit smoking inside the building.
Pengaturan meja diubah agar ruangan terasa lebih luas.
The table arrangement was changed so the room would feel more spacious.
Pertemuan kedua pihak berlangsung tertutup.
The meeting between the two sides took place behind closed doors.
Penemuan itu mengubah cara ilmuwan memahami penyakit tersebut.
The discovery changed how scientists understand the disease. (academic)
The distinction is lexical and structural, not a free stylistic choice. Compare established families rather than swapping the prefixes by analogy.
Finding the base in a dictionary
Search both the surface noun and its family. Pertemuan points to temu/bertemu, pekerjaan to kerja/bekerja, and pelajaran to ajar/belajar. Do not recover a base by deleting a fixed number of initial letters. Temuan is itself a real -an derivative meaning “finding,” but the root shared by temuan and pertemuan is temu. Exceptional pel- must be removed as a unit from pelajaran to recover ajar; lajaran is not the base.
Dalam kamus, pelajaran termasuk dalam keluarga kata ajar.
In a dictionary, pelajaran belongs to the ajar word family. (academic)
Common Mistakes
Writing the abstract circumfix literally
❌ Pertemuan itu ditulis sebagai per-temu-an.
Incorrect surface spelling — hyphens belong only in morphological analysis.
✅ Pertemuan itu dijadwalkan pukul sembilan.
The meeting is scheduled for nine.
Mishandling prefixal and root r
❌ Ia sedang mencari perkerjaan baru.
Incorrect — the established reduced form is pekerjaan.
✅ Ia sedang mencari pekerjaan baru.
She is looking for a new job.
❌ Hasil peundingan belum diumumkan.
Incorrect — the visible r in perundingan belongs to the root runding and must remain.
✅ Hasil perundingan belum diumumkan.
The outcome of the negotiations has not been announced.
❌ Perrundingan dilanjutkan besok.
Incorrect — prefixal r is absent before root-initial r.
✅ Perundingan dilanjutkan besok.
The negotiations continue tomorrow.
Regularizing the exceptional ajar family
❌ Buku perajaran itu tertinggal di kelas.
Incorrect — ajar selects exceptional pel-...-an.
✅ Buku pelajaran itu tertinggal di kelas.
The textbook was left in the classroom.
Losing a at the suffix boundary
❌ Perpustakan kampus sedang direnovasi.
Incorrect — pustaka + -an preserves both adjacent a letters.
✅ Perpustakaan kampus sedang direnovasi.
The campus library is being renovated.
Substituting peN-...-an for a regulatory noun
❌ Pengaturan sekolah mewajibkan semua tamu melapor.
Wrong noun for the intended meaning — pengaturan means arrangement or process, not the school's rules.
✅ Peraturan sekolah mewajibkan semua tamu melapor.
School regulations require all visitors to report.
Key Takeaways
- Default per-...-an encloses the lexical root: pertemuan, perjalanan, perpustakaan, peraturan.
- Reduced pe-...-an removes prefixal r, not a root consonant: pekerjaan, perundingan, peternakan.
- Memorize exceptional pelajaran with pel-...-an.
- Preserve suffix-boundary vowels in standard spelling, including perpustakaan with aa.
- Do not interchange organized-event/domain per-...-an with agentive/process peN-...-an.
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Start learning Indonesian →Related Topics
- per-...-an: Meanings and Derivational NetworkC1 — Understand how per-...-an nouns profile bounded events, organized domains, places, collectives, and lexicalized institutional concepts.
- per-...-an: Valency, Lexicalization, and RegisterC1 — Use per-...-an nouns with accurate participant complements, competing nominalizations, lexical families, and formal or conversational alternatives.
- per-: Formation and AllomorphyC1 — Recognize restricted per- stems, their r-loss and exceptional pel- patterns, and the larger templates in which they normally surface.
- peN-...-an: Formation and AllomorphyB2 — Form peN-...-an event nouns with the correct nasal allomorph, productive p-t-s-k substitution, outer -an, and recoverable dictionary base.
- Nominalization: Events, Actors, Results, and QualitiesB1 — Understand how Indonesian nominalizers select actors, products, events, processes, states, and qualities from a root's meaning.
- Attaching Prefixes and SuffixesA2 — Write ordinary Indonesian affixes solid with lowercase bases and use boundary hyphens around capitalized or acronym bases.