A ber-...-kan predicate packages a semantic role into the verb and selects a phrase that fills it. In dasar → berdasarkan laporan, the report is the basis; in senjata → bersenjatakan pedang, the sword is the weapon; in modal → bermodalkan simpanan, the savings are the capital. That complement is central to the construction even though it does not behave like the ordinary direct object of a transitive active verb.
This page addresses valency, competition with neighboring forms, lexicalized frames, and register. The formation page explains how the words are assembled and spelled; the meaning page explains why their translations differ. Natural usage requires both kinds of knowledge plus lexical evidence for the individual family.
The subject bears a role; the complement fills it
The subject of a core ber-...-kan predicate is the entity whose basis, weapon, capital, or membership is being characterized. The following noun phrase says what occupies that role.
| Subject | Predicate | Selected complement | Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|
| keputusan itu | berdasarkan | bukti baharu | the evidence is the decision’s basis |
| pengawal itu | bersenjatakan | tombak | the spear is the guard’s weapon |
| usaha itu | bermodalkan | simpanan keluarga | the savings are the enterprise’s capital |
| jawatankuasa itu | beranggotakan | sebelas orang | the people are the committee’s members |
Keputusan mahkamah itu berdasarkan keterangan dua orang saksi.
That court decision is based on the testimony of two witnesses. (formal)
Pengawal tersebut bersenjatakan sebilah pedang.
The guard is armed with a sword.
Perniagaan keluarga itu bermodalkan hasil jualan sebidang tanah.
That family business used the proceeds from the sale of a plot of land as capital.
Panel penilai itu beranggotakan lima orang pakar bebas.
The assessment panel consists of five independent experts. (formal)
Leaving the complement unexpressed usually leaves an unresolved question: based on what, armed with what, financed by what, composed of whom? Context can occasionally recover omitted information, but learners should treat the full frame as basic.
❌ Jawatankuasa baharu itu beranggotakan.
Incomplete — the member specification required by the frame has not been supplied.
✅ Jawatankuasa baharu itu beranggotakan sebelas orang.
The new committee consists of eleven people.
The complement is not an ordinary passive-forming object
Although the selected complement follows the predicate directly, it does not behave like the patient object of a transitive active verb. Data kajian in rumusan itu berdasarkan data kajian cannot simply become the subject of a passive diberdasarkan clause.
Rumusan itu berdasarkan data kajian selama lima tahun.
The conclusion is based on five years of research data. (academic)
❌ Data kajian itu diberdasarkan oleh rumusan tersebut.
Incorrect — the basis complement does not passivize as an ordinary direct object.
When an actor deliberately bases one entity on another, Malaysian Malay uses the transitive family mendasarkan Y pada X. Its passive counterpart is Y didasarkan pada X.
✅ Penyelidik mendasarkan rumusan itu pada data kajian selama lima tahun.
The researchers base that conclusion on five years of research data. (academic)
Rumusan itu didasarkan pada data kajian selama lima tahun.
That conclusion is based on five years of research data. (academic)
The alternation changes argument structure. Berdasarkan X characterizes a subject by its basis; mendasarkan Y pada X introduces an actor who assigns Y that basis; Y didasarkan pada X backgrounds the actor. English base covers all three, so English-speaking learners must attend to the Malay frame.
Neighboring forms profile different information
berdasarkan, berdasar pada, and berasaskan
Berdasarkan X is compact and extremely common in formal, academic, legal, and administrative prose (formal/academic). Berdasar pada X expresses the basis with an overt pada phrase. Berasaskan X is another established predicate meaning “founded/based on X,” often used for systems, approaches, and principles.
Cadangan itu berdasarkan hasil tinjauan awam.
The proposal is based on the results of a public survey. (formal)
Hujahnya berdasar pada andaian yang belum dibuktikan.
His argument rests on an assumption that has not been proved. (formal)
Program ini menggunakan pendekatan berasaskan komuniti.
This programme uses a community-based approach. (formal)
These forms overlap, but they are not assembled by freely adding or removing -kan. Learn the whole predicate and its normal complement marker.
bersenjata and bersenjatakan
Bersenjata says that someone or a group is armed, without necessarily identifying the weapon. Bersenjatakan X selects X and presents it as the weapon.
Polis mengepung seorang lelaki bersenjata.
The police surrounded an armed man. (formal)
Lelaki itu bersenjatakan sebilah pisau.
The man was armed with a knife.
The -kan form is useful precisely when the weapon’s identity matters. Do not add dengan automatically after it: bersenjatakan pisau already licenses the complement directly.
bermodal and bermodalkan
Bermodal can describe having capital and may occur with a following amount or asset. Bermodalkan X explicitly casts X as the capital or enabling resource. Menggunakan X sebagai modal is a transparent analytic alternative, especially useful in conversation.
Syarikat itu bermodal kecil tetapi mempunyai rangkaian pelanggan yang luas.
The company has little capital but a broad customer network.
Mereka membuka bengkel bermodalkan pinjaman koperasi.
They opened a workshop using a cooperative loan as capital.
Mereka menggunakan pinjaman koperasi sebagai modal untuk membuka bengkel.
They used a cooperative loan as capital to open a workshop.
The frame survives inside noun phrases
Relative clauses preserve the selected complement. This allows formal prose to describe a person, institution, or claim compactly.
Pasukan yang beranggotakan jurutera tempatan itu akan memeriksa jambatan tersebut.
The team consisting of local engineers will inspect the bridge. (formal)
Dakwaan yang berdasarkan satu sumber sahaja perlu diteliti semula.
A claim based on only one source needs to be re-examined. (formal)
Perniagaan yang bermodalkan wang pinjaman itu mula mencatat keuntungan.
The business financed with borrowed money began to make a profit.
The complement belongs inside the relative clause: yang berdasarkan satu sumber, not outside it as an independent modifier. In English, participles such as based and financed make these noun phrases look passive; the Malay morphology and valency should still be analyzed on their own terms.
Aspect, modality, and negation
Aspect and modal words precede the complete derived predicate: masih berdasarkan, mesti berteraskan, and tidak lagi bermodalkan. They scope over the relationship without changing which complement the predicate selects.
Anggaran itu masih berdasarkan harga pasaran tahun lalu.
That estimate is still based on last year’s market prices. (formal)
Setiap keputusan mesti berteraskan prinsip keadilan.
Every decision must have the principle of justice at its core. (formal)
Syarikat itu tidak lagi bermodalkan wang keluarga semata-mata.
The company no longer relies solely on family money as capital.
English may express these relationships with an adjective or passive participle, but Malay does not insert the marker inside the derived word. Forms such as bermasihdasarkan have no place in standard morphology.
Lexicalized families and conventional collocations
The schema produces recognizable role relations, but each word restricts its complements. Beranggotakan naturally takes people, organizations, or a count of members. Beratapkan selects a roofing material. Beralaskan takes a physical underlay or, figuratively, an evidential basis. Berteraskan is common with principles, values, and core approaches (formal).
Pondok itu beratapkan daun nipah dan beralaskan papan.
The hut has nipa-palm leaves as its roof and planks as its floor covering.
Dasar tersebut berteraskan prinsip keadilan sosial.
The policy has the principle of social justice at its core. (formal)
Dictionary listing proves that a derivative exists; it does not license every metaphor or complement. Beralaskan bukti is conventional, but a learner should not assume that every physical-base noun permits the same figurative extension. Collocations must be learned with the lexical family.
There is also no rule that turns any equipment noun into an acceptable ber-...-kan predicate. For an office with computers, use dilengkapi dengan komputer; do not coin berkomputerkan komputer.
Pusat latihan itu dilengkapi dengan dua puluh buah komputer.
The training centre is equipped with twenty computers.
Formal density and conversational unpacking
These predicates are especially valuable in dense reporting and exposition. One formal sentence can compress source, weapon, and financing relations.
Berdasarkan laporan audit, pihak polis mendapati bahawa kumpulan itu bersenjatakan senapang buatan sendiri dan bermodalkan wang hasil penipuan.
Based on the audit report, the police found that the group was armed with homemade firearms and financed by proceeds from fraud. (formal)
Everyday Malaysian conversation often unpacks those relations (informal):
Kalau ikut laporan audit tu, kumpulan tu bawa senapang buatan sendiri, dan duit modal mereka datang daripada hasil menipu orang.
Going by that audit report, that group carried homemade firearms, and their capital came from cheating people. (informal)
The colloquial demonstrative tu and the lexical verbs bawa and datang daripada make the relations explicit. This paraphrase does not prove that formal derivatives are unnatural in speech; it shows how register can favor less compressed packaging.
Common Mistakes
1. Passivizing the basis complement.
❌ Bukti baharu itu diberdasarkan oleh keputusan tersebut.
Incorrect — bukti baharu is a basis complement, not the passive subject of diberdasarkan.
✅ Keputusan tersebut didasarkan pada bukti baharu.
The decision was based on new evidence. (formal)
2. Adding dengan after a predicate that already selects its role value.
❌ Pengawal itu bersenjatakan dengan tombak.
Incorrect in the standard compact frame — bersenjatakan takes tombak directly.
✅ Pengawal itu bersenjatakan sebatang cota.
The guard is armed with a baton.
3. Omitting the member specification.
❌ Panel bebas itu beranggotakan.
Incomplete — beranggotakan calls for the members or their number.
✅ Panel bebas itu beranggotakan tujuh orang.
The independent panel consists of seven people.
4. Coining a plausible-looking formal word.
❌ Makmal itu berkomputerkan sepuluh komputer riba.
Nonstandard coinage — the schema is lexically restricted.
✅ Makmal itu dilengkapi dengan sepuluh komputer riba.
The laboratory is equipped with ten laptop computers.
Key Takeaways
- The subject bears a role and the following complement fills it; learn each derivative as a complete valency frame.
- The complement does not passivize like an ordinary direct object: contrast berdasarkan X with mendasarkan Y pada X and Y didasarkan pada X.
- Neighboring forms alter information structure: bersenjata/bersenjatakan X, bermodal/bermodalkan X.
- Established derivatives have their own complement restrictions and collocations; a dictionary entry is not a license for unlimited composition.
- Dense formal prose favors compact derived predicates, while conversation can unpack the same relations analytically.
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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: Meanings and Derivational Network in Malaysian MalayC2 — Understand how Malaysian Malay ber-...-kan predicates assign a basis, weapon, capital, member, or other role to a following complement.
- ber-: Valency, Lexicalization, and Register in Malaysian MalayA2 — Use ber- predicates with the right complements and distinguish standard prefixed forms from colloquial bare roots and transitive meN- relatives.
- -kan: Valency, Lexicalization, and Register in Malaysian MalayB2 — Use Malaysian Malay -kan verbs with attested object frames, lexicalized senses, and register-appropriate alternatives.
- Verbal Sentences in Malaysian MalayA1 — How Malay builds intransitive, transitive, and voice-marked clauses without conjugating verbs for person or tense.