June 21, 2016 edition

Once upon a time, back when I was at primary school, we were taught that verbs were 'doing words'. This was contrasted with nouns, which were called 'naming words'. The interesting thing, though, is how we think about 'doing', and how different languages put those concepts in their words.
In English, as in other Euraopean languages, we make a big deal about time in relationship to 'doing'. When using verbs, the word changes to show time. In Indonesian and Malay, time is not something that verbs have to worry themselves about. That work is done by other words. But verbs have other considerations. The complexity of 'doing' in Indonesian-Malay has more to do with relationships between things and people, and a sense of interaction, proximity and distance. This is conveyed by affixes-bits added on to the basic root word.

Read More

More Word Watch articles in other editions

May 24, 2016 edition

We have so many wonderful be-ed words in English and this song features three of them. 'Beguiled' is an old English word formed from adding be- and -ed to the French word guile (deceit), to mean 'lured', 'charmed'. 'Bewitched' adds be- and -ed to the word 'witch', to mean 'put under a spell'. The creation of this wonderful word is often attributed to Shakespeare, although he may have merely popularized it. (Shakespeare did coin at least two other be-ed words, though; 'besmirched' from 'smirch' meaning 'stain', and 'bedazzled'.) 'Bewildered' is made from the word 'wilder', an old verb meaning 'to lose your way', and with which we are familiar from the word 'wilderness'. 'Bewildered' is to be overcome by losing your way, and thus, hopelessly confused.
Indonesian can do a similar thing by putting ke- and -an around words. First, though, before these exciting twists and turns, the basics. The most standard use of ke- and -an is to turn a word into an abstract noun, words that in English often end in -dom, -hood, -ship or -ness. So raja is 'king', and kerajaan is 'kingdom'; merdeka is 'free' or 'independent', and kemerdekaan is 'freedom' or 'independence'; baik is 'good', and kebaikan is 'goodness'; anggota is 'member' and keanggotaan is 'membership'; sulit is 'difficult', and kesulitan is 'difficulty' and so forth. But beware: It is not all smooth sailing. There is the well-known trap for new language learners. While malu means 'ashamed' or 'embarrassed', kemaluan does not mean 'shame', as one would expect, but rather, 'genitals'. I was once told the story of an Australian diplomat's wife in Jakarta, who in her halting Indonesian was telling an Indonesian woman friend that her husband had made some social gaffe, and how embarrassed he was-but she said his kemaluan was great (besar). Without missing a beat, the Indonesian woman friend congratulated her on her choice of husband.

Read More

April 26, 2016 edition

Do you know which word in the English language has the longest entry in the Oxford English Dictionary? Well, if you don't already know, it might surprise you, as it did me. It is 'set'. Yes, humble 'set'.
One reason the entry is so long, apart from the many different meanings this word has as both a noun and a verb, is because of all the different ways the verb 'set' combines with a preposition, giving new meanings. Think of 'set up' (versus upset), 'set down', 'set out', 'set about', 'set on', 'set off', 'set to', and on it goes. In the dictionary-length competition, the word 'set' is closely followed by 'put', another amazing word, with its combinations: 'put in', put out' (versus output), 'put up' (versus 'put up with'), 'put off' (versus offputting), and so on. This is an absolute nightmare for non-native speakers mastering English.

Read More

Independent journalism needs public support. By subscribing to Tempo, you will contribute to our ongoing efforts to produce accurate, in-depth and reliable information. We believe that you and everyone else can make all the right decisions if you receive correct and complete information. For this reason, since its establishment on March 6, 1971, Tempo has been and will always be committed to hard-hitting investigative journalism. For the public and the Republic.