Derivational Syntax: a Minimalist Approach to Affixation in Bahasa Indonesia Predicates

Abstract

This thesis focuses on verbal phrase aspect (vP-aspect) in Bahasa Indonesia (BI). In BI, vP-aspect is morphologically marked on the predicate. I claim that the sufiix –kan marks an aspect, which I refer to as kan-aspect, indicating that the object undergoes change. This is in a stark contrast with i-aspect, where the object is stationary and unchanged. The analysis is based on the notion that the semantics and syntax of a predicate should be analysed within the vP (for instance, Tenny 1987, 1994, Chomsky 1995, Arad 1998, Croft 1998, among others), with the core argument determining the aspectual property of an event structure (Tenny 1987, Arad 1998, Ritter and Rosen 1998). Since this thesis proposes to take into account the -kan and -i distinction as an important aspect in the analysis, the structural location of the two suffixes will take centre stage. This has not been done in the literature on BI that looks at these derivational suffixes. This thesis further develops the analysis beyond verb phrases: it takes into account the syntax of Voice Phrase of sentence structures that include (temporal) Aspect Phrase, Wh-extractions, and Relative Clauses.