#Basic copular clauses 


#The purpose of this document is to show the copular constructions
#in Bahasa Indonesia. 


#Indonesian has two copulas: adalah and ialah (see also files 15 and 21).


#The copulas adalah and ialah are not obligatory in Indonesian 
#sentences. In many sentences they are implicit in the word-order. 


#1

Saya mahasiswa

#1SG student
#I am a student


#2 

Pak David dosen saya

#Sir David lecturer 1SG
#Mr David is my lecturer


#3

Dosen saya Pak David

#lecturer 1SG sir David
#My lecturer is Mr David

#In sentences 1 - 3 there is no verb, only an implied copula;
#the word order has an implicit connecting link between the two
#halves of the sentence.

#By inserting a negation we can clearly see how the words group
#themselves together.


#4

Teman saya bukan Budi Utomo

#friend 1SG NEG Budi Utomo
#My friend is not Budi Utomo


#5

Budi Utomo bukan teman saya

#Budi Utomo NEG friend 1SG
#Budi Utomo is not my friend


#The position of the demonstratives ini 'this' and itu 'that' could
#easily indicate the end of a group of words and therefore the words 
#which follow them belong to the other part of the sentence.


#6

Istana presiden ini indah

#palace president this beautiful
#this president palace is beautiful


#7

Wanita yang berdiri di sebelah sana itu teman saya

#woman REL BER-stand LOC part  there that friend 1SG
#the woman who stands over there is my friend



#The demonstratives can stand alone as the subject of the sentence.


#8

Ini rumah besar

#this house big
#This is a big house


#9

Itu kepala bagian perumahan

#that head section PER-house-AN
#That is the head of housing section


#The copulas adalah and ialah are connectors like the English verbs 'to be'.
#They can be inserted in certain simple sentences.


#10

Nama kota itu adalah Makassar

#name town that COP Makassar
#The name of that town is Makassar



#In written and formal Indonesian documents where noun clauses have 
#long subject or predicate, the copulas are normally inserted between
#subject and predicate of the noun clauses.  

#11

Wanita yang mengunjungi kamu kemarin ialah teman saya

#woman REL MEN-visit-i 2SG yesterday COP friend 1SG
#the woman who visited you yesterday was my friend


#12

Saya pikir yang paling penting adalah program belajar kelompok

#1SG think REL most important COP program BEL-learn group
#I think what is most important is the group-learning program


#The copulas adalah and ialah are not obligatory so to insert them into
#any type of sentences will make the sentences unacceptable or
#ungrammatical.


#Ungrammatical:

#13

Mereka adalah cerdas (0! 0 0 0)

#3PL COP clever
#They are clever


#Ungrammatical


#14

Jason ialah senang (0! 0 0 0) 

#Jason COP happy
#Jason is happy


#The following sentence is acceptable but most Indonesians will prefer
#not to use the copula.

#15

Olahraga adalah penting bagi kesehatan.

#sport COP important for KE-health-AN
#sport is important for the health


#Sentence (16) is most commonly used.

#16

Olahraga penting bagi kesehatan

#sport important for health
#spot is important for the health


#The copula adalah is used more than the copula ialah. Most Indonesian grammars 
#suggest that the copula adalah is used for all types of subjects, whereas the 
#copula ialah is used only for a third person/thing.

#17

Wanita itu ialah guru saya

#woman that COP teacher 1SG
#that woman is my teacher


#Ungrammatical:

#18

Saya ialah mahasiswa (0! 0 0 0)

#1SG COP student
#I am a student


#However, the copula ialah is not normally used with third person independent 
#pronouns. Observe the following examples.


#Ungrammatical:


#19

Mereka ialah guru-guru bahasa Inggris dari Australia (0! 0 0 0)

#2PL COP techer-REDUP language English from Australia
#They are English teachers from Australia


#Ungrammatical:


#20

Dia ialah guru saya (0! 0 0 0)

#3SG COP teacher 1SG
#He/She is my teacher


#Most Indonesians will use copula adalah or no copula  at all for sentences
#(19) and (20).

 
#Although the copulas occur mostly in noun clauses, they can also occur in
#adjective clauses and prepositional clauses. 


#21

Menanamkan kebiasaan berolahraga pada anak adalah penting

#MEN-plant-KAN KE-usual-AN BER-sport on child COP important
#Planting the habit of doing exercise on children is important


#22

Letak museum tua itu adalah ditengah-tengah kota

#location museum old that COP LOC-middle-REDUP town
#The location of the old museum is in the middle of the town 


#The copulas adalah and ialah cannot be negated.


#Ungrammatical:

#23

Saya bukan adalah guru (0! 0 0 0)

#1SG NEG COP teacher
#I am not a teacher


#The copulas precede negative an the entire predicate.


#24

Letak museum tua itu adalah bukan ditengah-tengah kota

#location museum old that COP NEG LOC-middle-REDUP town
#The location of the old museum is not in the middle of the town 


#The copula adalah can occur at the beginning of a sentence. Its meaning
#is the same as 'it is .... ' in English.



#25

Adalah sebuah kesalahan dia tidak mengakui perbuatannya

#COP one-CLASS KE-wrong-AN 3SG NEG MEN-admit-i PER-act-AN-3SG.POSS
#It is a mistake that he/she did not admit his action.



#26

Adalah tidak etis menanyakan gaji orang

#COP NEG ethic MEN-ask-KAN salary person
#It is not ethical asking someone's salary

  

#References:

#Quinn, George. the Learner's Dictionary of Today's Indonesian, Allen and Unwin,
#2001 (pp. 551, 758).

#Sarumpaet, J.P.The Structure of Bahasa Indonesia, Sahata Publications,
#Melbourne, 3rd. ed. 1977 (pp.1-11).

#Sarumpaet, J.P. and J.A.C. Mackie. Introduction to Bahasa Indonesia,
#Melbourne University Press, 1966 (pp. 14-15, 76-77).

#Sneddon, James, N.INDONESIAN: A Comprehensive Grammar, Roudledge, London,
#1966 (pp. 237-238)