The Indonesian verb can be divided into two main subclasses on the basis of morphology and syntax. It has been usual to give the n.ames transitive and intransitive to these classes. In this paper, I would like to show that there exists a small third class which both morphologically and syntactically acts in a peculiar way, different from the two main classes already mentioned.In some ways, this third type acts like the transi tives and in some ways like the intransitives.I will call these pseudo-transitives and attempt to demarcate them from the true transitives. We will also see that this special class is almost co-extensive with a subclass of the modal auxiliaries.In most previous descriptions of the Indonesian verb, it has been noted, more or less explicitly, that transitives and intransitives differ from each other in the following ways. Morphologically, intransitives have only a single form; this may be affixless (for example: datang, come; pergi, go; masuk, enter), or it may contain some prefix, suffix, circumfix* 1 or some combination of these (for example: bertjukur, shave; terdjadi, happen; menghilang, disappear; kehudjanan, get caught in the rain). Some of these affixes produce only intransitive verbs; others produce both intransitives and transitives.Transitive verbs, on the other hand, have three forms: a stem form; a form with the prefix meng-, the morphophonemics of which we need not go into here; and a set of forms with the personal affixes ku-> first person singular, kau-, second person singular, di-, "third person" (for example, beli, buy, the stem form without any affix; membeli, the meng-form; and the per sonal forms kubeli, kaubeli, dibeli). These may combine with other affixes, such as, belikan, buy for (someone), in which case, the suffix -kan is "benefactive"; thus, membelikan, kubelikan, kaubelikan, dibelikan.Many intransitives are paired for syntactic purposes with transitives: for example, intransitive bekerdja, to work, paired with kerdjakan, mengerdjakan, kukerdjakan, kaukerdjakan, dikerdjakan, work (on something); masuk, enter (intransitive), * This paper is a revised and expanded version of one given at the 1969 meetings of the American Oriental Society.
