Passive and Antipassive in Sasak
on
e-Journal of Linguistics
Available online at https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/eol/index
Vol. 14, No. 2, July 2020, pages: 300-306
Print ISSN: 2541-5514 Online ISSN: 2442-7586
https://doi.org/10.24843/e-jl.2020.v14.i02.p13
Passive and Antipassive in Sasak
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Article info Received Date: May 06, 2020 |
Abstract* This paper deals with the constructions of passive and antipassive in Sasak Kuto-Kute dialect (SKD) related to |
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Accepted Date: May 09, 2020 |
valency decrease. The study involved 70 verbs proposed by |
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Published Date: July 31, 2020 |
Malchukov and Comrie (2010) and applying the theory of typology linguistics from Dixon (2012) for data analysis. The finding showed that passive in this dialect can appear in three forms: the use of morphological marking (confix ke- - |
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Keywords:* |
n), syntactic marking (preposition siq ‘by’) and no markings |
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Sasak, passive, antipassive, valency decrease |
at all. For the last form, the construction can only be detected through the movements of the arguments with the case being limited to A with singular pronouns (ku ‘I’, diq ‘you’ and ia ‘s/he’), and first plural pronoun (kami ‘we’). The syntactic passive marker in SKD is very productive and more common compared to the morphological marker. As for antipassive, in this dialect the construction was found to be formed only through morphological markings, which involved the use of nasal prefixes such as meny- and me- and confix ng- -ang as the AP markers. |
Passive and antipassive are constructions that can be formed to reduce the valency of a verb (Dixon and Aikhenvald, 2000: 20). The term passive is used for a derivative structure from an underlying clause in accusative language, whereas antipassive refers to a derivative structure in an ergative language. If in passive construction, the decrease in valency or the reduction of core arguments is done through the deletion of the A argument, in antipassive construction, the deletion is not on A but P/O (Palmer, 1994 and Dixon 2012). For more details, the antipassive form can be seen in the example below:
(1a) Gopnyan teungoh geu-sampah broh
He PROG 3SG-sweep garbage
‘He is sweeping the garbage’
(1b) Gopnyan teungoh geu-s-eum-ampah
He PROG 3SG-AP-sweep
‘He is sweeping’
Sentence (1) is an example of Acehnese antipassive construction taken from Hanafi (2006: 28). The underlying construction is the construction of a transitive sentence with two core arguments; Gopnyan 'he' as A and broh 'garbage' as O. When forming the antipassive construction, the A Gopnyan becomes S and the original O broh is deleted. Deleting the O argument resulting the verb sampah 'sweep' in getting the -eum- infix as an antipassive marker (AP) and reducing the valency of the verb to an intransitive verb with a single argument (S). The prefix geu- attached to the verb sampah is a third-person marker cross-referenced to the A/S (Gopyan).
Research related to passive and antipassive in Austronesian languages has been carried out by many language researchers in the world. In Sasak language itself, which is an Austronesian language, there are at least quite a number of published articles discussing passive construction including those conducted by Muhid (2014) and Johandi (2017). The research conducted by Muhid (2014) on Sasak language used in central Lombok shows that the passive construction of the dialect can be formed by using prefix te-, confix te- -an/in, ke- -an and ken- -an, which functions as a passive marker (PAS). This research also shows that passive construction can appear with unmarked verbs. All of these passive forms are complemented by the ‘by phrase’ with the preposition isiq, in which its presence can be removed (optional). Differ to Muhid, Johandi (2017) examined Sasak language used in the eastern part of Lombok. The result of his research shows that passive construction can be formed by adding prefixes ke-, confix ke- -an and no morphological markers. In passive with no morphological marker, the A is undeletable. This usually occurs when the A is a third person singular (3SG).
For antipassive construction, researches related to Sasak language so far has only been conducted by foreign researchers. One of them is Asikin-Garmager (2017) who discusses the Sasak antipassive construction in his dissertation entitled 'Sasak Voice'. His findings show that in Sasak language used in some parts of the central, eastern and northern Lombok the antipassive markers (AP) lay on the use of nasal prefixes (m-ace ‘read’, nen-alѐt ‘plant’, meny-ѐran ‘hunt’) attached to the transitive verbs. The addition of the nasal prefix causes the A to change its function into S and the O from the underlying construction is deleted.
By looking at the results of the previous researches on Sasak passive and antipassive construction, it would be very interesting to also see the formation of these constructions specifically in Sasak Kuto-Kute dialect (SKD). The purpose of this study is to look at the forms of passive and antipassive constructions in SKD in terms of valency decrease mechanism, which are limited to the list of 70 verbs from Andrej Malchukov and Bernard Comrie (2010).
The research method used in this study is a qualitative descriptive method due to the purpose of this method is in accordance to the purpose of the study that wants to describe the language data naturally. The data is collected based on the language phenomena that are indeed used by the speakers of SKD while still taking into account that the collected data is grammatically and semantically acceptable. In its implementation, there were three stages conducted: (1) the initial stage; the qualitative researcher see everything that is still in place in general, (2) the second stage; the stage of reduction or focus by selecting which data is important, useful, and new to be grouped into various categories that are determined as the focus of the research, and (3) the third stage or selection stage; the researcher describes the focus into more detail and conduct in-depth analysis of the data and the obtained information. The data were collected using the list of 70 verbs proposed by Andrej Malchukov and Bernard Comrie (2010) and analyzed using the theory of linguistic typology proposed by Dixon (2012). The data
collection was carried out in 7 villages within the Tanjung district, namely the villages of Sigar Penjalin, Sokong, Medana, Tanjung, Teniga, Jenggala and Tegal Maja.
Passive and antipassive are two constructions among several that can be used to reduce the valency of a verb. Generally, both constructions derived from transitive clauses forming intransitive clauses. Both constructions have several similarities and differences. To know the characteristics of these two constructions, Dixon (2010: 206 - 208) distinguishes the two as follows. The criteria for canonical passive derivative forms that can be applied to transitive clauses include:
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(a) apply to the underlying transitive clause and forms a derivative intransitive clause;
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(b) the NP of the original object (O) becomes the subject (S) of the intransitive clause;
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(c) the NP of the original agent (A) enters the peripheral function, marked by a non-core case, preposition, and so on; this NP can be deleted with an option of including it; and
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(d) there are some explicit formal markers in passive construction, such as the morphological process (affixation) on the verb or periphrastic verbal construction as found in English.
The criteria for canonical antipassive derivative forms include:
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(a) apply to the underlying transitive clause and forms a derivative intransitive clause;
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(b) the NP of the original agent (A) becomes the subject (S) of the intransitive clause;
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(c) the NP of the original object (O) enters the peripheral function, marked by a non-core case, preposition, and so on; this NP can be deleted with an option of including it; and
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(d) there are some explicit formal markers of antipassive construction (probably similar to those as in passive construction).
Based on the mentioned criteria, it is known that the differences between passive and antipassive constructions lay in points (b) and (c) where the main focus is on deriving the S and O functions. In the passive construction, the S function in the intransitive clause is filled by O from the transitive clause and the original A becomes the peripheral argument, whereas the antipassive construction applies vice versa: the S function is filled by A from the transitive clause and O becomes the peripheral argument. To figure out the forms of passive and antipassive constructions in SKD, the next discussion will explain some examples of sentences found in the data.
Passive construction in SKD can appear in several forms. One of them is through the marking on the verb or called the morphological marker. An example of this construction is found in sentence (2):
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(2) Ku ke-lele-n-nya
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1SG PASS-laugh-n-3SG
‘I was laughed (at) (by him)’
Sentence (2) has a morphologically passive marker on the verb. The marker is the confix ke- -n (an allomorph of ke- -an), which is marked PAS (passive) and attached to the verb lelѐq (laugh). Example (2) is the derivation of the transitive active sentence Ia ngelelѐn ku ‘He laughed at me’. In the passive construction, the A (Ia ‘He’) of the active sentence moves to the position after the verb and the O (ku 'I') occupies the grammatical S position. The movement of A into the peripheral position, in this case, is not marked by the use of the 'by' preposition or in SKD is known as the siq preposition, therefore the A argument can appear as a post-clitic attached to the
verb. However, the post-clitic is optional because it is a peripheral argument, which can be seen clearly through its complete construction Ku kelelѐn siq ia ‘I was laughed (at) by him’. It should be noted that in SKD if the A is a 3SG its appearance in the passive construction can be in the form of post-clitic.
Differ to sentence (2), sentences (3) - (8) are passive constructions that are syntactically marked. See the following examples:
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(3) Terijen nu ng-isin siq Dimas
Jerry can DEF N-fill PREP Dimas
‘The jerry can is filled by Dimas’
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(4) Kupi m-bait siq Andi
Coffee N-take PREP Andi
‘The coffee was taken by Andi’
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(5) Sampi nu taliq-ang siq Rudi kon lolon kayuq
Cow DEF tie-ang PREP Rudi on tree
‘The cow was tied by Rudi on the tree’
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(6) Jejojaq baronya demen-ang siq beaq mama nu
Toy new-POSS like-ang PREP child boy DEF
‘The new toy was liked by the boy’
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(7) Beaq berik nu ng-aran-in siq tau lokaq nu
Child little DEF N-name-in PREP man old DEF
‘The child was given a name/named by the old man’
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(8) Gabahnya ng-goro-in siq amaq
Grain-POSS N-dry-in PREP father
‘His grain was dried by father’
The six sentences use different forms of verbs in their passive construction. Data (3) and (4) take the nasal form, data (5) and (6) use verbs with suffix -ang, while data (7) and (8) use verbs with confix N- -in. However, there are similarities among the six sentences, namely the use of siq preposition as the passive marker. These sentences derive from active transitive constructions with two core arguments: A and O. When forming a passive construction, the valency of the verbs decreases to intransitive verbs with a core argument functioning as grammatical S and a peripheral argument marked by the preposition siq 'by' positioned before the NP. O is promoted into grammatical S, while A is demoted into a peripheral argument with preposition siq. In this case, the siq preposition is the only syntactic marker that states the six sentences as passive constructions.
In contrast to Dixon (2012: 206) who stated that there are explicit formal markers on passive constructions, in SKD it was found that there are passive constructions with no morphological or syntactic markers. Here are a few examples:
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(9) Ku takut-in-nya kon rorong
1SG scare-in-3SG on road
‘I was scared/frightened (by him) on the road’
Sentence (9) shows that the form of a passive sentence in SKD does not necessarily have to be marked by a morphological or syntactic marker. The above construction is known as a passive construction because it is a derivation of the active construction Ia nakutin ku kon rorong 'He scares me on the road', where A falls into the position of a non-core argument and O occupies the grammatical S position. The use of siq preposition in the above sentence can be placed before the non-core argument (ia 'he'), however, in general, this form is rarely used. Based on the observation, if the A of the active sentence is a singular pronoun, either first (ku 'me'), second (diq 'you') and third (ia 'he'), as well as first plural pronoun (kami 'us'), then the siq preposition can be removed. However, if the siq preposition is deleted, only the third singular pronoun (ia) can turn into a post-clitic (-nya) attached to the verb as seen in example (9). As for other pronouns (ku, diq and kami), the forms remain the same and they cannot be changed into postclitics. The following examples illustrate this:
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(10) Cangkir nu taoq diq kon bon meja
Cup DEF put 2SG on top table
‘The cup was placed (by you) on top of the table’
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(11) Bale nu pengaq kami
House DEF built 1PL
‘The house was built by us’
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(12) Meong nu pelewas ku
Cat DEF throw 2PL
‘The cat was thrown (by me)’
Antipassive construction was also found in the data of SKD. Antipassive is a construction that can be used to reduce the verb’s valence by making the A in the transitive clause into S in the intransitive clause, which is then followed by changing the function of the O to a non-core/peripheral argument or omitting/deleting the O argument. The examples of antipassive sentences in SKD are as follow:
(13a) Amangku meny-ѐran baq gawah
Father-POSS AP-hunt on rice field
‘My father hunt on the rice field’
(13b) Amangku ny-ѐran terata baq gawah
Father-POSS ACT-hunt chicken forest on rice field
‘My father hunt forest chicken on the rice field’
(14a) Tau mama nu ng-enang-ang
Person man DEF N-go-AP
‘The man has left/died’
(14b) Tau mama nu ng-enang balen amanya
Person man DEF ACT-go house-POSS father-POSS
‘The man left his father’s house’
(15a) Ia girang me-lakoq-lakoq kon jalan
3SG like AP-ask-ask on road
‘He likes to beg on the road’
(15b) Ia girang lakoq kepeng kon jalan
3SG like Øask money on road
‘He likes begging for money on the road’
Sentences (13a) - (15a) are antipassive constructions, while sentences (13b) - (15b) are the underlying active transitive constructions. From the four examples, it can be seen that in the antipassive constructions there are formal markers attached to the verb. The antipassive (AP) markers are the nasal prefix meny- and me- attached to the base word seran 'hunt’, saluk 'wear' and lakoq 'ask', and the confix ng- -ang attached to the word enang 'go'. All the S in the antipassive constructions are the A from transitive active constructions. In these sentences, it can be seen that the two core arguments, which were in the position before the verb (S and A) are both actors. The use of these affixes has reduced the valency of verbs that initially required two core arguments to verbs with only one core argument.
Referring to Dixon’s statement (2012: 206) that passive constructions have explicit markings either on the verbs directly or as a periphrastic verbal construction, it was found that in this dialect some passive sentences have no markings at all. The examples are on sentences (10) – (12). The case was found to apply only to sentences where the A of the underlying transitive clauses are singular pronouns (ku ‘I’, diq ‘you’ and ia ‘s/he’) or the plural pronoun kami ‘we’.
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that the passive construction in SKD can appear in 3 forms, namely the use of morphological markers on the verb through confix ke- -n, the use of syntactic markers siq 'by' preposition, and the passive construction, which can only be detected from the movements of the arguments (no markers). For the third form, this construction can only appear if the A in the active sentence is a singular pronoun, either first (I 'me'), second (diq 'you') and third (ia 'he'), and first plural pronoun (kami 'we'). The syntactic passive marker in SKD is very productive and more common compared to the morphological marker. As for the antipassive construction, in this dialect, it was found that the construction is only formed through morphological marking. The AP markers found in the data are nasal prefixes of meny- and me-, and confix ng- -ang.
The researcher would like to thank her supervisors Prof. Dr. Ketut Artawa, M.A., Dr. Ni Luh Ketut Mas Indrawati, M. A., and Dr. Made Sri Setyawati, M. Hum., for their guidance and enthusiastic encouragements throughout the research.
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Abbreviation | |
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A agent DEF definite PASS passive PREP preposition SG singular |
ACT active AP antipassive O object P patient PL plural POSS possessive PROG progressive S subject SKD Sasak Kuto-Kute Dialect |
References
Artawa, I Ketut dan Jufrizal. 2018. Tipologi Linguistik: Konsep Dasar dan Aplikasinya. Denpasar: Pustaka Larasan.
Dixon, R. M. W. and Alexandra Aikhenvald. 2000. Changing Valency: Case Studies in Transitivity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dixon, R. M. W. 2012. Basic Linguistic Theory. Volume 3: Further Grammatical Topics.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hanafi, Nurachman. 2006. Problema Bahasa Indonesia. Mataram: Mataram University Press.
Johandi, Lalu Mohamad. 2017. An Analysis of Sasak Syntactic Structure on the Forms of Passivization as Used in Ngeno-Ngene Dialect at Rarang Village of East Lombok. The Indonesia Journal of Language and Language Teaching (IJOLT). Vol 2, No. 2. pp. 60 – 61.
Malchukov, Andrej and Bernard Comrie. 2010. The Leipzig Valency Classes Project's Database Questionnaire Manual. http://valpal.info/public/valencydbquestionnaire manual.pdf
(accessed 26/5/2018).
Muhid, Abdul. 2014. Passive Construction in Sasak. Humanitatis (Journal on Language and Literature). Vol 1, No.1. pp. 29 – 38.
Palmer, F.R. 1994. Grammatical Roles and Relations. Cambridge: CUP.
Biography of Author
Nurul Azizah is currently a doctoral student studying at Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia. She accomplished her undergraduate degree in 2005 from Mataram University and a Master's Degree in 2009 from UHAMKA, Jakarta. Both majoring in English. Her interest is in morpho-syntax.
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