-nya

See also: nya, NYA, nyā, and -nya-

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• -nja (1901–1947, 1947–1972)

Etymology

From Malay -nya, from Proto-Malayic *ña, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ni-a, from Proto-Austronesian *ni-a (compare Tagalog niya, Javanese -ne, Madurese -na).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈɲa/ [ˈɲa]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: -nya

Suffix

-nya

1. third person singular oblique enclitic pronoun
   1. as a possessive adjective

      ibunya ― his mother

   2. as a direct or indirect object

      Aku memeluknya. ― I hugged him.

      Kami belum memberitahukannya tentang ini ― We haven't told her about this yet.

   3. as an object of a preposition, with the exception for 'di', 'ke', and sometimes 'dalam' (see the usage notes below)

      Aku pinjam pensil ini darinya. ― I borrow this pen from him.

2. (by extension)
   1. (in some contexts and positions only) used to mark definiteness

      Bangunannya indah ― The building is beautiful. (literally, “Its building (is) beautiful.”)

      Pakaiannya mana? ― Where is the cloth? (literally, “Where (is) its cloth?”)

   2. used to mark possessive, especially in some context where it needs to be clear

      bukunya aku ― my book (literally, “book of me”)

      abangnya Dani ― Dani's older brother (literally, “older brother of Dani”)

   3. used to emphasize an adjective

      Manisnya permen ini! ― How sweet this candy is!

   4. used to nominalize an adjective

      punahnya suatu bahasa ― the extinction of a language (punah means 'extinct')

      lemahnya pemerintah ― the weakness of the government (lemah means 'weak')

   5. (limited, often lexicalized) used to form sentence adverbs (including discourse markers), often from nouns or adjectives

      akhirnya kami sampai di tujuan ― eventually we arrived at our destination (akhir means 'end,' in the end)

      biasanya mobil itu selalu dipakai ― normally that car is always used (biasa means 'normal')

      ‎misal + ‎-nya → ‎misalnya

      ‎sayang + ‎-nya → ‎sayangnya

      ‎singkat + ‎-nya → ‎singkatnya

   6. (with the passive prefix 'di-') used to nominalize a passive verb

      dibacanya buku ― the reading of the book

   7. (sometimes colloquial in some contexts) uses to nominalize an active verb

      Dia nulisnya lama. ― The way he writes is slow.

      Kamu makannya jangan gitu. ― You should not eat like that.

Usage notes

• This enclitic can also have a plural meaning, especially when referring to objects other than humans.
• The enclitic can be used after dalam if it's used with the meaning "it; its".
• When it is used to emphasize an adjective, the adjective is usually placed in front of the sentence, with the enclitic being stressed in the pronunciation.
• When it is contained within a sentence adverb or used as a nominalizing suffix (from adjectives and/or verbs), the resulting derivatives become dependent (i.e., unable to stand alone).
• As with other enclitic pronouns in the language, it is optional and can be replaced with other terms (depending on the function).

Derived terms

• se- -nya

Indonesian terms suffixed with -nya

adanya

akhirnya

awalnya

biasanya

contohnya

jawabannya

katanya

keduanya

keliatannya

kelihatannya

ketiganya

misalnya

rupanya

sakitnya

seandainya

sebelumnya

sejujurnya

sekosong-kosongnya

sempat-sempatnya

semuanya

singkatnya

soalnya

tampaknya

See also

Indonesian personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person exclusive	regular	aku, saya1	kami
	enclitic	-ku	-
	proclitic	ku-	-
1st person inclusive		-	kita
2nd person	regular	kamu, Anda2, kau3	kalian, Anda2, Anda sekalian2, Anda semua2
	enclitic	-mu	-
3rd person	regular	dia, beliau4, ia3	mereka
	enclitic	-nya	-
reflexive		diri5, diri sendiri
emphatic		sendiri

¹ Polite.
² Formal.
³ Now mostly literary.
⁴ Respectful.

⁵ Sometimes used as an emphatic marker instead of being reflexive.

Notes:

• This table only shows personal pronouns that are commonly used in the standard language.
• The second person pronouns are often replaced by kinship terms, titles, or the like.
• The enclitics are only used obliquely (object or possessor), while the proclitic is only used as a subject.

See each entry for more information.

Further reading

• “-nya”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Kambera

Pronoun

-nya

1. third person singular dative enclitic

Particle

-nya

1. continuative aspect enclitic

   Laku-nggu-nya.

   I am going.

See also

Kambera pronominal clitics

			nominative	genitive	accusative	dative
singular	first person		ku-	-nggu	-ka	-ngga
	second person		mu- (u-)	-mu	-kau	-nggau
	third person		na-	-na	-ya	-nya
plural	first person	inclusive	ta-	-nda	-ta	-nda
		exclusive	ma-	-ma	-kama	-nggama
	second person		mi- (i-)	-mi	-kami (-kai)	-nggami (-nggai)
	third person		da-	-da	-ha	-nja

References

• Marian Klamer (2000), “Continuative Aspect and the Dative Clitic in Kambera”, in Mark Campana, Ileana Paul, Vivianne Phillips, Lisa Travis, editors, Formal Issues in Austronesian Linguistics (Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory; 49), Springer Netherlands, →ISBN, page 58

Malay

Alternative forms

• -nye, -nyo (pronunciation spelling)

Etymology

From Proto-Malayic *ña, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ni-a, from Proto-Austronesian *ni-a. Compare Tagalog niya.

Pronunciation

• (schwa-variety) IPA^(key): /ɲə/ [ɲə]
• (Baku) IPA^(key): /ɲa/ [ɲa]
• Hyphenation: -nya

Suffix

-nya (Jawi spelling -ڽ)

1. Third person singular oblique enclitic pronoun.
   1. As a possessive adjective.

      Adam kata ibunya di rumah.

      Adam said his mother is at home.

   2. As a direct or indirect object

      Aku memeluknya.

      I hugged him/her.

      Kami belum memberitahunya cerita itu.

      We haven't told him/her that story yet.

   3. As an object of a preposition, with the exception for 'di', 'ke'.

      Aku meminjam pensel ini daripadanya.

      I borrowed this pen from him/her.

2. (by extension)
   1. (in some contexts and positions only) Used to mark definiteness.

      Masalahnya kita sudah habis duit.

      The problem is we've run out of money.

      (literally, “Its problem (is) we already finish money.”)

   2. Used to mark possessive, especially in some context where it needs to be clear.

      bukunya aku ― my book (literally, “book of me”)

      abangnya Dani ― Dani's older brother (literally, “older brother of Dani”)

   3. Used to emphasize an adjective.

      Manisnya gula-gula ini.

      This candy is so sweet.

   4. Used to nominalize an adjective.

      lajunya sebuah kereta ― the speed of a car (laju means 'fast')

      lemahnya kerajaan ― the weakness of the government (lemah means 'weak')

   5. (with the passive prefix 'di-') Used to nominalize a passive verb.

      dibacanya buku ― the reading of the book

Derived terms

• se- -nya

Malay terms suffixed with -nya

agaknya

berikutnya

contohnya

kesemuanya

kononnya

lazimnya

mempunyai

misalnya

seelok-eloknya

selama-lamanya

semuanya

sepertinya

Descendants

• Indonesian: -nya
• → Petjo: -nja

See also

• -ku
• -mu
• nya

See also

Malay personal pronouns

	Singular	Plural
1st person	saya1 aku3	kita4 kami2 & 5 kita orang3 & 5
2nd person	awak1 anda2 awda8 (eng)kau3 kamu3	(2nd person) + semua6 kalian2 (eng)kau orang3
3rd person	dia ia beliau7 -nya2	mereka2 dia orang3

¹ Polite.
² Formal.
³ Informal.
⁴ Includes the listener (inclusive).
⁵ Excludes the listener (exclusive).
⁶ Formality depends on the second person pronoun used.
⁷ Honorific.
⁸ Formal (Brunei).

Notes:

• This table mostly only shows personal pronouns that are commonly used in the standard language and within the Klang Valley area.
• The second person pronouns are often replaced by kinship terms, titles, or the like.
• The enclitic -nya is only used obliquely (as an object or possessor).
• The second person pronoun kamu is usually only used when speaking with younger speakers.

See each entry for more information.

Further reading

• "-nya" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017