The restricted ber-...-kan construction relates a subject to a role and then requires that role to be filled. In kesimpulan itu berdasarkan data, the data serves as the dasar “basis” of the conclusion; in pengawal itu bersenjatakan tombak, the spear serves as the senjata “weapon” of the guard. The construction is therefore relational, not simply “possessive” and certainly not uniformly causative.
This page maps that semantic network. See formation and allomorphy for solid spelling and base recovery, and valency and register for syntactic frames and alternatives. The main insight is that the final constituent after the derived predicate behaves as its licensed complement: it supplies the basis, weapon, capital, or other value whose role is already named inside the word.
The three core root families
The diagram below shows the relation from base to derived predicate to role-filling complement. The arrow is analytical; every actual derivative is written solid.
| Root family | Role named by the base | Complement supplied in the clause | Resulting relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| dasar → berdasarkan | basis, evidence, criterion | berdasarkan data | the data warrants or organizes something |
| senjata → bersenjatakan | weapon or strategic resource | bersenjatakan tombak | the spear is used or carried as a weapon |
| modal → bermodalkan | capital or enabling asset | bermodalkan simpanan | the savings enable an undertaking as capital |
Rumusan itu berdasarkan data daripada tiga buah hospital.
That conclusion is based on data from three hospitals. (academic)
Dua orang pengawal berkawal di pintu utama bersenjatakan tombak.
Two guards stood watch at the main entrance armed with spears.
Pasangan itu membuka kedai roti bermodalkan simpanan sendiri.
The couple opened a bakery using their own savings as capital.
The three words do not share one usable English translation. English chooses based on, armed with, and financed with/using as capital. What unifies the Malay pattern is the relational structure: the base names a role, and the complement gives that role a concrete value.
Berdasarkan: evidence, source, and organizing criterion
The core meaning of berdasarkan X is “having X as the basis.” What counts as a basis varies with the discourse. In academic and administrative prose (academic/formal), X may be evidence or a rule. In instructions, X may be the criterion used to classify items. At the beginning of a clause, the phrase can frame the source that warrants the entire proposition.
Permohonan akan dinilai berdasarkan pengalaman dan kelayakan calon.
Applications will be assessed on the basis of the candidates’ experience and qualifications. (formal)
Bahagikan peserta kepada tiga kumpulan berdasarkan tahap pengalaman mereka.
Divide the participants into three groups according to their level of experience.
Berdasarkan laporan awal, tiada bahan berbahaya ditemukan di lokasi itu.
According to the preliminary report, no hazardous material was found at the site. (formal)
These are related, not homonymous. Evidence licenses a conclusion; criteria license a classification; a report licenses a proposition. English varies between based on, according to, and by, but the Malay phrase continues to profile X as a dasar.
Berdasarkan does not itself assert that the basis is strong or true. A claim can be berdasarkan andaian yang lemah “based on a weak assumption.” Evaluation belongs to the noun phrase or wider context.
Kesimpulan itu hanya berdasarkan satu andaian yang belum diuji.
That conclusion is based only on one untested assumption. (academic)
Bersenjatakan: literal weapon and strategic resource
With a concrete weapon, bersenjatakan X says that a person or group has or uses X as a weapon. The base senjata contributes more than ordinary possession: X is construed as an instrument of combat, threat, or defence.
Anggota kumpulan itu bersenjatakan senapang patah buatan sendiri.
The members of that group were armed with homemade shotguns. (formal)
Watak pahlawan itu masuk ke gelanggang bersenjatakan sebilah keris.
The warrior character entered the arena armed with a keris.
The same role can be extended metaphorically. Information, law, humour, or language may function as a strategic “weapon.” This reading is figurative and usually marked (formal/literary) rather than an everyday description of possession.
Wartawan itu meneruskan siasatan bersenjatakan dokumen awam dan rekod mahkamah.
The journalist continued the investigation armed with public documents and court records. (formal)
Dalam eseinya, penulis muda itu bersenjatakan sindiran yang tajam.
In her essay, the young writer is armed with sharp satire. (literary)
The metaphor remains intelligible because the complement is presented as a resource deployed in a contest. Not every possession supports it: bersenjatakan payung is sensible only if the umbrella actually functions as a weapon or deliberate humorous metaphor.
Bermodalkan: financial input and enabling asset
Bermodalkan X assigns X the role of modal. In business contexts, that can be money, property, or equipment used to start or sustain an enterprise.
Beliau memulakan perusahaan itu bermodalkan wang sebanyak RM25,000.
She started the enterprise with RM25,000 as capital.
Usahawan tersebut bermodalkan sebuah van terpakai dan peralatan dapur milik keluarga.
The entrepreneur began with a used van and family-owned kitchen equipment as capital.
The meaning extends naturally to non-financial assets that enable an undertaking: skill, experience, courage, trust, or a social network. English may use with nothing but, drawing on, or on the strength of.
Dia membina kerjaya sebagai penterjemah bermodalkan kemahiran bahasa dan pengalaman sukarela.
She built a career as a translator on the strength of her language skills and volunteer experience.
Pasukan kecil itu meneruskan projek bermodalkan kepercayaan pelanggan lama.
The small team continued the project with the trust of long-standing customers as its main asset.
This is polysemy around one role, not a set of unrelated meanings. Money is prototypical capital; competence and trust become figurative capital because they enable action.
The broader role-filling network
Other established families make the same logic especially visible.
| Derived predicate | Base role | Typical complement | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| beranggotakan | anggota “member” | dua belas orang | have twelve people as members |
| beralaskan | alas “underlay/basis” | tikar or bukti | use a mat as an underlay; use evidence as a basis |
| beratapkan | atap “roof” | rumbia | have thatch as a roof |
| berteraskan | teras “core” | nilai bersama | have shared values as a core |
Pasukan penyelidik itu beranggotakan pakar daripada empat universiti.
The research team consists of experts from four universities. (academic)
Rumah tradisional itu beratapkan daun rumbia.
That traditional house has thatch made from sago-palm leaves.
Kurikulum baharu itu berteraskan pembelajaran berasaskan projek.
The new curriculum has project-based learning at its core. (formal)
Beralaskan also demonstrates lexical polysemy: an alas may be a physical layer beneath something, or figuratively a basis for an accusation. The context and complement select the reading.
Mereka terpaksa tidur beralaskan kadbod.
They had to sleep on cardboard.
Tuduhan serius itu mesti beralaskan bukti yang kukuh.
That serious accusation must rest on strong evidence. (formal)
The role test also explains why the following constituent is not a loose manner phrase. In tidur beralaskan kadbod, the cardboard is assigned the role of alas; it is not merely something present while sleeping. In pasukan beranggotakan pakar, the experts identify the relevant membership set. Removing the complement erases information selected by the derived predicate, whereas removing an optional time or place phrase merely leaves the event less specific.
Pasukan beranggotakan pakar itu bermesyuarat pada pagi Isnin.
The expert panel met on Monday morning. (formal)
Here pakar fills the membership role, while pada pagi Isnin is an optional time phrase. That contrast is a useful diagnostic for the semantic structure.
Productivity, conventionality, and lexicalized readings
The schema is meaningful enough to interpret, but its membership is lexically restricted. Berteraskan, beratapkan, and beranggotakan are established; that does not authorize a speaker to form a new predicate from every role noun. A transparent analytic phrase is safer when no conventional derivative exists.
Makmal itu dilengkapi dengan peralatan baharu.
The laboratory is equipped with new equipment.
The difference between productive structure and lexical listing is not a defect in the grammar. English has the same issue: speakers understand armed with evidence, but cannot freely create a single verb meaning “have computers as equipment.” Malay simply draws its conventional boundary elsewhere.
Common Mistakes
1. Assigning one English translation to every family.
❌ Jawatankuasa itu berdasarkan sembilan orang.
Incorrect word choice — people fill the member role, so use beranggotakan.
✅ Jawatankuasa itu beranggotakan sembilan orang.
The committee consists of nine members.
2. Reading final -kan as causative meaning.
❌ Pengawal itu menyebabkan tombak menjadi senjata.
Wrong analysis — the sentence need only present the spear as the guard’s weapon.
✅ Pengawal itu bersenjatakan tombak.
The guard is armed with a spear.
3. Treating berdasarkan as a guarantee of truth.
❌ Jika sesuatu dakwaan berdasarkan khabar angin, dakwaan itu pasti benar.
Incorrect inference — berdasarkan identifies a basis but does not certify it.
✅ Dakwaan itu berdasarkan khabar angin yang belum disahkan.
That claim is based on unverified rumours.
4. Forcing a random possession into the modal relation.
❌ Dia berjalan bermodalkan payung biru.
Semantically unjustified — an accompanying umbrella is not capital for walking.
✅ Dia memulakan gerai itu bermodalkan wang simpanannya.
She started the stall using her savings as capital.
Key Takeaways
- The base names a role, and the complement following the derived predicate supplies its value.
- Berdasarkan profiles a basis, source, or criterion; bersenjatakan a literal or figurative weapon; bermodalkan an enabling asset.
- English translation changes with the root family and context, so there is no universal gloss for ber-...-kan.
- Polysemy grows through recognizable role extensions: evidence as basis, information as weapon, skill as capital.
- The semantic schema is systematic, but membership and figurative readings remain lexically conventional.
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Start learning Malay →Related Topics
- ber-...-kan: Formation and Allomorphy in Malaysian MalayC1 — Form the restricted Malaysian Malay ber-...-kan construction as a solid word and distinguish its selected complement from ordinary causative -kan.
- ber-...-kan: Valency, Lexicalization, and Register in Malaysian MalayC2 — Use established Malaysian Malay ber-...-kan predicates with their selected complements, competing frames, lexical restrictions, and appropriate register.
- ber-: Meanings and Derivational Network in Malaysian MalayA2 — Understand how ber- presents an activity, possession, state, reciprocal event, or numbered participant group from the subject's perspective.
- -kan: Meanings and Derivational Network in Malaysian MalayC1 — Understand how Malaysian Malay -kan adds or promotes a causer, beneficiary, moved theme, or caused result.
- Abstract Nouns with ke-...-an in Malaysian MalayB2 — Understand how ke-...-an forms qualities, states, lexicalized nouns, and experiences that affect a participant.