#Complementiser "bahwa"


#Bahwa corresponds to conjuction 'that' in English. 

#A bahwa clause can occur in a number of positions.

#This document explores different positions a bahwa clause can occur.



#Bahwa modifies a head noun and occurs within a noun phrase.


#1

Cerita bahwa raja Jawa pernah datang ke Maluku tidak benar

#story that king Java ever come to Mollucas NEG true
#The story that the Java king ever came to Mollucas was not true


#2

Pendapat bahwa Partai Demokrat akan menang disampaikan oleh ketuanya

#idea that party Democrat will win DI-say-KAN by chairman-3POSS
#The idea that the Democrat party will win was said by its chairman



#In (3), sentence dia datang 'he/she is coming' is a complement of transitive 
#verb tahu 'know'. This sentence can follow bahwa 'that' as example (4)
#illustrates.


#3

saya tahu dia datang

#I know he/she come.
#I know (that) he/she is coming.


#4

Saya tahu bahwa dia datang.

#I know that he/she come.
#I know that he/she is coming.


#We may negate the verb of the main clause or the verb of the bahwa 
#clause. 


#5

Saya tidak tahu bahwa dia baru mendapatkan seorang anak

#1SG NEG know that 3SG just MEN-have-KAN se-CLASS child
#I did not know that he just had a child


#6

Ia mengatakan bahwa harga barang tidak naik

#3SG say that price goods NEG rise
#He said that the price of goods was not going up




#Bahwa must follow the main verb. It cannot precede the verb.


#ungrammatical:


#7


Saya bahwa tahu dia datang. (0! 0 0 0)

#I that know she come.
#I know that she is coming



#Bahwa usually occurs after certain verbs to report what someone said, felt or
#what happened. The verbs include:

#berpendapat bahwa 'to think that'
#berarti bahwa 'to mean that'
#percaya bahwa 'to believe that'
#tahu bahwa 'to know that'
#berjanji bahwa 'to promise that'
#merasa bahwa 'to feel that'


#Bahwa clause occurs as complement of an intransitive verb. 
#In the following examples intransitive report verbs have 
#bahwa clauses as their complements:


#8

Saya percaya bahwa dia mampu menyelesaikan tugas itu

#1SG believe that 3SG able MEN-finish-KAN task that
#I believe that he is able to finish that task


#9 

Andi lupa bahwa ada pertemuan pagi ini

#Andi forget that be PER-meet-AN morning this
#Andi forgot that there was a meeting this morning

 

#As complements or objects, bahwa can be omitted.


#10

Saya percaya dia mampu menyelesaikan tugas itu

#1SG believe 3SG able MEN-finish-KAN task that
#I believe (that) he is able to finish that task


#11 

Andi lupa ada pertemuan pagi ini

#Andi forget be PER-meet-AN morning this
#Andi forgot (that) there was a meeting this morning



#Bahwa clause can also occur as object of a transitive verb. 
#Example (12) is a direct speech.In (13), bahwa introduces
#indirect speech.


#12

Dia berkata, 'Saya tidak setuju'

#3SG BER-say,'3SG NEG agree'
#He said, 'I do not agree'


#13

Dia berkata bahwa dia tidak setuju

#3SG BER-say that 3SG NEG agree
#He said that he did not agree



#Bahwa clause occurs as predicate of a noun clause. It usually follows
#copula adalah or ialah.


#14

Masalahnya adalah bahwa ia tidak ada kesempatan untuk bekerja
 
#problem-3POSS COP that 3SG NEG be KE-chance-AN for BE-work
#His problem is that he does not have an opportunity to work


#Ungrammatical:


#15

Masalahnya bahwa ia tidak ada kesempatan untuk bekerja (0! 0 0 0)
 
#problem-3POSS that 3SG NEG be KE-chance-AN for BE-work
#His problem (is) that he does not have an opportunity to work


#Sentence (15) is ungrammatical because the copula is deleted.
#However, bahwa can be deleted from sentence  (14).


#16

Masalahnya adalah ia tidak ada kesempatan untuk bekerja
 
#problem-3POSS COP 3SG NEG be KE-chance-AN for BE-work
#His problem is (that) he does not have an opportunity to work



#Bahwa clause can occur in subject position. 


#17

Bahwa penyakit itu membunuh ratusan orang di Nabire memang benar

#that disease that MEN-kill hundred-AN people in Nabire indeed true
#that the disease killed hundreds if people in Nabire was certainly true


#18

bahwa pemerintah tidak akan menurunkan pajak cukup jelas

#that government NEG will MEN-decrease tax enough clear
#that the government will not decrease the tax is clear enough



#Bahwa cannot be deleted when it is in the subject position.


#Ungrammatical:


#19


Penyakit itu membunuh ratusan orang di Nabire memang benar (0! 0 0 0)

#disease that MEN-kill hundreds-AN people in Nabire indeed true
#the disease killed hundreds of people in Nabire was certainly true



#Ungrammatical:


#20

pemerintah tidak akan menurunkan pajak cukup jelas (0! 0 0 0)

#that government NEG will MEN-decrease tax enough clear
#that the government will not decrease the tax is clear enough



#Bahwa can be deleted when it follows predicates in subject position.


#21


Jelas bahwa mereka ingin mendapatkan penghasilan besar

#clear that 3PL want MEN-have-KAN PEN-result-AN big
#It is clear that they want a big income



#22

Jelas mereka ingin mendapatkan penghasilan besar

#clear 3PL want MEN-have-KAN PEN-result-AN big
#It is clear (that) they want a big income



#If the subject of bahwa clause is the same as the subject of the 
#main clause, then both the subject and bahwa can be omitted. 


#23

Dia berjanji bahwa dia tidak akan datang.

#He ber-promise that he NEG will come.
#He promised that he would not come.


#24

Dia berjanji tidak akan datang

#He ber-promise NEG will come.
#He promised not to come.


#It is possible to delete the subject and retain bahwa as example
#(25) illustrates.


#25

Dia berjanji bahwa tidak akan datang

#He ber-promise that NEG will come.
#He promised not to come.




#References: 


#Quinn, George. the Learner's Dictionary of Today's Indonesian, Allen and Unwin,
#2001 (pp.576).

#Sneddon, James, N.INDONESIAN: A Comprehensive Grammar, Roudledge, London,
#1966 (pp.291-294)