dirinya

Dirinya is a third-person reflexive pronoun used in Indonesian and Malay. It refers back to the subject of a clause and means himself, herself, or itself. It can function as the object of a verb or as a focus pronoun to emphasize the subject’s action or state. The form is gender-neutral and common in both formal and informal contexts.

Etymology: The word combines diri, meaning self, with the pronoun suffix -nya, a marker used in Indonesian and Malay to form reflexive references for the third person. It is not a possessive pronoun in this use; rather, it functions as a reflexive pronoun pointing back to the subject.

Usage notes: In standard Indonesian and Malay, diri is used with -nya to refer to the subject of the clause. For example, Dia melihat dirinya means he sees himself. The pronoun can be intensified with sendiri: Dia sendiri mengungkapkan pendapatnya, or Dirinya sendiri mengakui kesalahannya. It does not change for gender, and its placement follows normal sentence structure, typically appearing after the verb or as the object of the verb.

See also: Personal pronouns in Indonesian and Malay; reflexive constructions in Southeast Asian languages.