Verb with Suffix -nya as a Definite Marker
in Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian
N Gesita
1
, T Suhardijanto
2
and Z Nuriah
3
{
1
gesitanorma@gmail.com,
2
suhardiyanto@gmail.com,
3
zahroh.nuriah@ui.ac.id}
1,2,3
Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia
Abstract Basically the definiteness are related to nouns or nominal phrase. But
with dependency analysis, we can found evidence that in Colloquial Jakartan
Indonesian definite meaning can be achieved not only in nouns but also by
adding suffix -nya to verb. There’s special characteristic of verb with suffix -nya
as a definite marker. Suffix -nya as a definite marker can be attached to
intransitive and transitive verb but with a different result. Suffix -nya give a
definite meaning to a verb that indicated intransitive. In the other hand, suffix -
nya as a definite marker that attached to transitive verb didn’t change that verb
into definite, but changing the the object referred by that verb instead into
definite. There are two function of suffix -nya that attached to transitive verb,
namely as a definite marker and as an anaphoric marker. Suffix -nya as an
anaphoric marker showed that the transitive verb didn’t followed by object in
the same sentence.
Keywords: definite marker, dependency grammar, Indonesian language, suffix
–nya, verb
1. Introduction
Suffix -nya is one of the most frequent and polysemic suffixes in Indonesian language[1].
Its main function in formal Indonesian is generally as a third person singular pronoun.
However, in spoken Indonesian there are many functions of the suffix -nya which are not
available in formal Indonesian. The suffix -nya as a definite marker is a function that
characterizes spoken Indonesian and is difficult to find the example in formal Indonesian.
Research on suffix -nya as a definite marker has been extensively done by linguists although
the term of suffix -nya as a definite marker is different in each of those studies. Kridalaksana
called it a certain meaning (bermakna tentu)[2], Englebretson called it suffix -nya as an
identifiability marker[3], Sneddon called it suffix -nya as a marker of definiteness and as an
emphasizer[4], and Perangin-angin called it suffix -nya as a determinator like element[5].
However, even though it has a different term for suffix -nya function, basically four of them
have the same definition.
The suffix -nya in Indonesian is not the only definite marker. In general, Indonesian
language is one of the languages that does not have special article as definite or indefinite
markers. To modify the noun phrase to have a definite meaning, it is always marked by a
BASA 2019, September 20-21, Surakarta, Indonesia
Copyright © 2020 EAI
DOI 10.4108/eai.20-9-2019.2296947