The Degree of Ergativity in Bahasa Indonesia and Minangkabaunese

The Case of Prefix ber- and ba-

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-124-1_11How to use a DOI?

Keywords

ergativity; bahasa Indonesia; Minangkabaunese; ergative-absolutive

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, prefix ber- in bahasa Indonesia and ba- in Minangkabaunese are assigned as morphological markers of intransitive and/or active voice of transitive clause. However, some data based on typological studies on grammatical constructions assert that bahasa Indonesia and Minangkabaunese are not pure nominative-accusative language at syntactic level. Bahasa Indonesia and Minangkabaunese may be treated as an ergative-absolutive language, as well. This paper, which is further developed based on the result of a research conducted in 2021, discusses the degree of ergativity of clause constructions grammatically marked by prefix ber- in bahasa Indonesia and by prefix ba- in Minangkabaunese. Two main questions are the bases for data analysis and discussion in this paper, namely: (i) do prefix ber- in bahasa Indonesia and ba- in Minangkabaunese morphologically mark ergative constructions? and (ii) how is the degree of ergativity in bahasa Indonesia and in Minangkabaunese based on the morphological marker, prefix ber- and ba-? The data were analyzed by using related theories of linguistic typology, especially those of grammatical typology. The data were collected by means of the execution of a field research and supported by a library study conducted in 2021. The data analysis reveals that some of clause constructions morphologically marked by prefix ber- in bahasa Indonesia and by prefix ba- in Mingkabaunese are the ergative constructions. Then, the degree of ergativity in Minangkabaunese in higher than that of bahasa Indonesia indicated by the frequencies of uses and the acceptability related constructions in grammar. The result of analysis, finding, and conclusion of this paper may claim that bahasa Indonesia and Minangkabaunese should be assigned both as a nominative-accusative and ergative-absolutive language or a neutral language in typology.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jufrizal
AU  - Lely Refnita
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/10/24
TI  - The Degree of Ergativity in Bahasa Indonesia and Minangkabaunese
BT  - Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Languages and Arts (ICLA 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 71
EP  - 77
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-124-1_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-124-1_11
ID  - 2023
ER  -