Volume 07 Issue 01 January 2024
Yosep B Kroon
English Education Study Program, School of Education Nusa Cendana University, Timor – Indonesia
DOI : https://doi.org/10.47191/ijsshr/v7-i01-54Google Scholar Download Pdf
ABSTRACT
The Lamaholot language spoken in East Flores and Lembata has several interesting distinctive features, compared to its neighboring languages. One of these features is nasal vowels. Nasal vowels in this language are phonemic, in that they show distinct meanings in contrasted minimal-pair words. Because of this phonemic characteristic, the nasal vowels in the dialect have significant influences on the Lamaholot linguistics. This research will examine the importance of nasal vowels in Solor dialect of Lamaholot morphologically and syntactically. Two research problems this study has tried to answer are (1) what are the morphologic and syntactic significances of the nasal vowels of Solor Dialect of Lamaholot Language, and (2) what meanings do these nasal vowels indicate when they involve in morphological processes? Apart from being an additional linguistic reference for the study of languages in eastern Indonesia in particular, and Austronesian languages at a broader level, this research also contributes to the efforts to maintain regional languages in East Nusa Tenggara. The approach to be used in this study is descriptive. The theory referred to is functional typology with the concepts of Basic Linguistic Theory based on generative structural grammar. References to the theory can be read, among others, in Payne (1997), Dixon (2010a), Comrie (1989) and Sophen (2007a, 2007b, 2007c). Data for this study was collected through recording and elicitation from the native speakers of Solor dialect. The collected corpus in the form of audio data is analyzed and stored electronically with the Praat application, and then transcribed into text form. The text data is sorted, then analyzed and stored electronically with the Toolbox application, which can later be used as additional data for the Solor – Lamaholot dialect dictionary database, which the author is currently working on. The research results show that the presence of nasal vowels in the Solor dialect of the Lamaholot language gives very significant and influential contribution to the communication and speech of speakers of this dialect. This grammatical feature is so important that its presence can give rise to different interpretations by listeners. Morphosyntactically, the nasal vowels in Solor dialect of the Lamaholot language express five functions, namely (1) to express the pronominal form of ownership; (2) to express the form of alienable ownership; (3) to express the enclitic form of third person singular possession in common nouns; (4) to state the participial function derived from the verb; and (5) to express the attributive function of adjectives in the Solor dialect of the Lamaholot language.
KEYWORDS:Solor, Lamaholot, nasal vowels; morpho-syntactic significance.
REFERENCES1) Arndt, Paul. (1937). Grammatik der Solor-sprache. Ende, Flores: Arnoldus-Drukkerij.
2) Arndt, Paul. (1938). Demon und Padzi; die Feindlichen Bruder des Solor-Archiples (Translated by Paulus Sabon Nama - Demon dan Paji; Dua bersaudara yang bermusuhan di Kepulauan Solor (2002) into Indonesian ed.). Maumere - Flores: Puslit Candraditya.
3) Arndt, Paul. (1951a). Religion auf Ostflores, Adonare und Solor (Translated by Paulus Sabon Nama - Agama Asli di Kepulauan Solor (2009) into Indonesian ed.). Maumere - Flores: Puslit Candraditya.
4) Arndt, Paul. (1951b). Religion auf Ostflores, Adonare und Solor (Translated by Paulus Sabon Nama - Falsafah dan Aktivitas Hidup Manusia di Kepulauan Solor (2003) into Indonesian ed.). Maumere - Flores: Puslit Candraditya.
5) Bhat, D. N. S. (1975). Two studies in nasalization. In C. A. Ferguson, L. M. Hyman & J. J. Ohala (Eds.), Nasalfest; Papers from a symposium on nasal and nasalization (pp. 27-48). Stanford: Language Universal Project - Department of Linguistics, Stanford University.
6) Blust, Robert. (1993). Central and Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian. Oceanic Linguistics, 32(2), 241-293.
7) Blust, Robert. (1997a). Nasals and nasalization in Borneo. Oceanic Linguistics, 36(1), 149-179.
8) Blust, Robert. (2013). The Austronesian languages. Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics. Retrieved from http://pacling.anu.edu.au/materials/Blust2013Austronesian.pdf
9) Boersma, Paul, & Weenink, David. (1992). Praat; Doing phonetics by computer (Version 5.3.78). Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam. Retrieved from http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/
10) Comrie, Bernard. (1989). Language universal and linguistic typology (2nd ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
11) Dixon, R. M. W. (2010a). Basic Linguistics Theory, Volume 1 : Methodology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
12) Djawanai, Stepahnus. (1977). A description of the basic phonology of Nga’da and the treatment of borrowings. NUSA - Miscellaneous Studies in Indonesian and Languages in Indonesia Part IV, V, 10-18.
13) Durie, Mark. (1985). A grammar of Acehnese on the basis of a dialect of north Aceh. Dordrecht-Holland/Cinnaminson-U.S.A: Foris Publications.
14) Fernandez, Inyo. (1977). Struktur bahasa Lamaholot Ile Mandiri. Graduate Thesis (Unpublished), University of Gajah Mada, Jogyakarta.
15) Grimes, Charles E, Therik, Tom, Grimes, Barbara D, & Jacob, Max. (1997). A guide to the people and language of Nusa Tenggara. Kupang, NTT - Indonesia: Artha Wacana Press.
16) Hajek, John. (2005). Vowel nasalization. In M. Haspelmath, M. S. Dryer, D. Gil & B. Comrie (Eds.), The world atlas of language structures (pp. 46-49). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
17) Hombert, Jean Marie. (1986). The development of nasalized vowels in the Teke language group (Bantu). In K. Bogers, H. van der Hulst & M. Mous (Eds.), The ponological representation of suprasegmentals (pp. 357-379). Dordrecht: Foris.
18) Keraf, Gregorius. (1978). Morfologi dialek Lamalera. Ende, Flores: Percetakan Offset Arnoldus.
19) Klamer, Marian. (2010). A grammar of Teiwa. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
20) Klamer, Marian. (2012a). Tours of the past through the present of eastern Indonesia. In F. Seifart, G. Haig, N. P. Himmelmann, D. Jung, A. Margetts & P. Trilsbeek (Eds.), Potentials of Language Documentation; Methods, Analyses and Utilization. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
21) Klamer, Marian. (2012b). Papuan-Austronesian language contact; Alorese from an areal perspective. In N. Evans & M. Klamer (Eds.), Melanesian languages on the edges of Asia: Challenges for the 21st century (pp. 72-108). Hawai: University of Hawai Press.
22) Kratochvíl, František (2007). A grammar of Abui; A Papuan language of Alor. Janskerkhof - The Netherlands LOT.
23) Kroon, Yosep B. . (2016). A Grammar of Solor - Lamaholot; A Language of Flores, Eastern Indonesia. Doctorate, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide. Retrieved from https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/102380
24) Leemker, H. H. O. (1893). Woordenlijstje van de Soloreesche taal : (Soloreesch-Hollandsch) / Verzameld Door H. H. O. Leemker. Batavia: Albrecht & Rusche.
25) Lewis, M Paul, Simons, Gary F, & Fennig, Charles D. (2014). Ethnologue; Language of the World. Seventeenth Edition. Retrieved 10 September 2014, from www.ethnologue.com
26) McDonnell, Bradley. (2009). A preliminary description of Ende phonology. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, 2, 195-226.
27) Nagaya, Naonori. (2011). The Lamaholot language of eastern Indonesia. Doctorate (Unpublished), Rice University, Houston, Texas.
28) Nishiyama, Kunio, & Kellen, Herman. (2007). A grammar of Lamaholot, eastern Indonesia; The morphology and syntax of the Lewoingu dialect. Muenchen: Lincom GmbH.
29) Pampus, Karl Heinz. (1999). Koda kiwa: Dreisprachiges Worterbuch des Lamaholot (Dialekt von Lewolema). Stuttgart: Steiner.
30) Payne, Thomas E. (1997). Describing morphosyntax; A guide for field linguistics (9th ed.). Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
31) Pemerintahan Kabupaten Flores Timur. (2009). Flores timur dalam angka tahun 2009. Larantuka - Flotim: Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Flores Timur.
32) Rosen, M. Joan. (1986). Phonemes, verb classes and personal endings in Maumere. NUSA - Miscellaneous studies of Indonesian and other languages in Indonesia: Part VIII, 25, 39-69.
33) Samely, Urusula. (1991). Kedang (Eastern Indonesia): Some aspects of its grammar. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag
34) Shopen, Timothy (Ed.). (2007a). Language typology and syntactic description; Volume 1: Clause structures (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
35) Shopen, Timothy (Ed.). (2007b). Language typology and syntactic description; Volume 2: Complex constructions (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
36) Shopen, Timothy (Ed.). (2007c). Language typology and syntactic description; Volume 3: Grammatical Categories (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.