Verb Affixation in the Seventh-Grade Indonesian Language Textbook of the Merdeka Curriculum: A Morphological Study

Abstract

Morphology plays a crucial role in Indonesian language instruction because word-formation processes, including affixation, determine the accuracy of word meaning and grammatical function. As the primary learning resource in the Merdeka Curriculum, textbooks contain numerous affixed verbs that students must understand to read and write grammatically. This study aims to describe the forms, formation processes, and affix types of affixed verbs found in the seventh-grade Indonesian textbook of the Merdeka Curriculum, and to identify patterns in their usage. A descriptive qualitative approach grounded in morphological analysis was employed. Data consisting of affixed words were collected through documentation and note-taking techniques, then analyzed through identification, classification, morphological-process analysis, and conclusion drawing. The study identified 65 affixed-word data, comprising 22 single-prefix forms, 1 suffixed form, and 42 confix forms. The meN-...-kan confix was the most dominant pattern, occurring 26 times, followed by the meN- prefix in 10 data. The findings also reveal that several data categorized as verb affixation, particularly those formed with the ke-...-an, peN-...-an, and per-...-an confixes, categorially yield deverbal nouns rather than verbs. The study concludes that the seventh-grade textbook is dominated by causative and benefactive meN-...-kan confixation, underscoring the need for teachers to explicitly distinguish the verbalizing and nominalizing functions of these affixes in morphology instruction.