ubah

Iban

Etymology

From Malay ubah.

Verb

ubah

1. (intransitive) to change (to become something different)
2. (transitive) to change (to make something into something different)

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• rubah (nonstandard)

Etymology

From Malay ubah. Ultimately from Sanskrit उभा (ubhā, “to erect”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʊbah]
• Hyphenation: ú‧bah

Verb

ubah (root imperative úbah, active transitive mengubah, active intransitive berubah, ordinary passive diubah, adversative passive terubah)

1. to change:
   1. (transitive) to make something into something different
   2. (intransitive) to become something different
2. to alter: to change the form or structure of

Conjugation

Conjugation of ubah (meng-, ber-, absolute transitive, irregular alternative forms)

root	ubah
	active	passive		imperative colloquial	emphatic jussive
		reflective1	ordinary
	ordinary
active	mengubah, merubah, berubah	terubah	diubah, dirubah	ubah, rubah	ubahlah, rubahlah
locative
perfective causative / applicative2
	causative
active	memperubah		diperubah	perubah
locative
perfective causative / applicative2

¹ There is other form of reflective passive verb with affixation of ke- -an which not included in the table. This form is only attested in active voice without causative affixation of per-.
² The -kan row is either causative or applicative. With transitive roots it mostly has applicative meaning.
Some alternative forms are from rubah, a rebracketing of berubah (not related to rubah (“fox”)).
Some of these forms do not normally exist or are rarely used in standard Indonesian. Some forms may also change meaning.

Synonyms

• (transitive):, mengonversi, mengubah
• (intransitive): ganti, tukar

Derived terms

• berubah
• berubah-ubah
• keterubahan
• memperubahkan
• mengubah
• mengubahkan
• pengubah
• pengubahan
• perubah
• perubahan
• peubah
• terubah
• terubahkan
• ubahan

Further reading

• “ubah” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Malay

Etymology

From Sanskrit उभा (ubhā, “to erect”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ubah/
• Rhymes: -ubah, -bah, -ah

Verb

ubah (Jawi spelling اوبه)

1. (intransitive) to change (to become something different)
2. (transitive) to change (to make something into something different)

Derived terms

Affixed terms and other derivations

Regular affixed derivations:

• pengubah [agentive / qualitative / instrumental / abstract / measure] (peN-)
• pengubahan [agentive / qualitative / instrumental / abstract / measure + resultative / locative / collective / variety / verbal noun / fruit] (peN- + -an)
• ubahan [resultative / locative / collective / variety / verbal noun / fruit] (-an)
• berubah-ubah [reduplication + stative / habitual] (redup + beR-)
• perubahan [causative passive + resultative / locative / collective / variety / verbal noun / fruit] (peR- + -an)
• mengubah [agent focus] (meN-)
• mengubahkan [agent focus + causative benefactive] (meN- + -kan)
• diubah [patient focus] (di-)
• terubah [agentless action] (teR-)
• berubah [stative / habitual] (beR-)
• memperubahkan [causative agent focus + causative benefactive] (mempeR- + -kan)

Descendants

• Indonesian: ubah
• → Iban: ubah

Further reading

• “ubah” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.