transitif

Transitif, in the context of linguistics, refers to a category of verbs that take a direct object. The term is commonly used in Indonesian and Malay grammars, where verbs are described as transitif or intransitif. A transitive verb denotes an action that is performed on something or someone, and the recipient of the action is expressed as a direct object.

In contrast, intransitive verbs do not require a direct object, and ditransitive verbs take two objects (typically a direct and an indirect object). Some verbs can be ambitransitive, meaning they can function as transitive or intransitive depending on context and whether an object is present. This flexibility is common in Indonesian and Malay, where the same verb can appear with or without a complement object.

In Indonesian and Malay syntax, the direct object usually follows the verb, forming a typical subject–verb–object order. These languages do not mark case on nouns, but they do allow a passive voice built with the prefix di- to shift the object to the subject role, as in "Buku itu dibaca oleh saya" (That book is read by me). This passive form demonstrates how transitivity interacts with voice in these languages.

Morphologically, many transitif verbs are formed with cross-language afixes such as me-, mem-, men-, menge-, di-, and others, which encode voice and actor information. The choice of affix depends on phonological and phonotactic rules of the language, shaping the verb’s morphology and syntax.

Overall, transitif is a fundamental category in Indonesian and Malay grammar, clarifying how verbs relate to objects and how voice constructions reveal the flow of action within a sentence.