Partial reduplication occurs only with bases(root words) which begin with a consonant. It involves placing before the base a syllable consisting of the first consonant of the base followed by ‘e’.
This type of reduplication is no longer productive in the language; it occurs with a few bases, mainly nouns, and can not be applied to others. The reduplicated word has a meaning which is the same as that of the single form or related to. Sometimes, as in the first example below, the historical relationship is not obvious:
| Meaning | |
| tangga | ladder |
| jaka | bachelor |
| laki | husband |
| luhur | noble |
| tamu | guest |
| tua | old |
| Meaning | |
| tetangga | neighbor |
| jejaka | bachelor |
| lelaki | man |
| leluhur | ancestor |
| tetamu | guests |
| tetua | elders |
Ref:
Indonesian Reference Grammar By Dr. James N. Sneddon
