The pragmatic function of Malay yang  

Oleh:

Minde, D. van

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Journal of Pragmatics: An Interdiciplinary Journal of Language Studies vol. 40 no. 11 (Nov. 2008), page 1982-2001.
Topik: Malay; Yang; Pragmatic marker; Topic; Focus; Theme
Fulltext: van_Minde_D.pdf (216.49KB)

Isi artikel

Owing to its high frequency both in spoken and written discourse, particle yang is probably the best studied function word in studies of Malay.Well-described for instance areyang’s ‘straightforward’ functions as a ligature between head noun and various types of adjuncts, as a relativizer introducing a modifying clause, and as a complementizer connecting transitive verb and complement clause. However, its pragmatic function has gone unnoticed for linguists, due probably to the traditional bias towards standardized varieties and perhaps also because discourse studies onMalay are scarce anyhow. After an historical overview of previous studies, this article explores the use of yang in various regional dialects and from various stages in the development of Malay. It is found that in certain 19th century texts yang, in addition to being a ligature/ relativizer/complementizer, can also mark a clause-internal new/contrastive Topic, Focus, or an extra-clausal Theme. This pragmatic function is conspicuously absent in standardized 20th century varieties, but interestingly in contemporary prose yang’s complex behaviour again come to the surface.

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