THESIS : AN ANALYSIS OF THE MORPHOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF VERBS IN NIAS LANGUAGE
ABSTRACT
Linguistics as the scientific study of human language is an
interesting object to investigate. An intense curiosity about language
has motivated the writer to analyze linguistic field. Indonesia is a
beautiful country rich in natural resources and cultural. Language is
one of cultural aspects which has its own characteristics. There are
various ethnics in Indonesia, one of them is Nias, that is located in
North Sumatra. As a Nias people the writer wants to introduce his mother
tongue. By applying structural linguistics theory, he has written on
describe morphology field.
The writer concerns on verb forms in
Nias language. Those verb forms can be differentiated into two types.
Some can stand alone and others attach to an affix. The Nias language
affixes are such as prefix, infix, suffix and confix. The verb forms
will be described through the morphological process; they are
inflection, derivation, reduplication and compound.
By doing this
thesis, the writer used two methods, library research and field
research. He collected the data which deal with the object of study. In
the field research, he made a world list in Indonesian language and then
the native speakers filled in Nias language. After finishing analyzing
of verb forms he made conclusion that the verbs in Nias language have
various types concerning the morphological structures and function.
INTRODUCTION
Students
of the Faculty of Letters, basically, have two choices in doing their
thesis, e.g. writing a topic in linguistics or in literature. Here, the
writer has chosen to write something in linguistics.
Linguistics may be defined as the scientific study of language. In Webster New World Dictionary,
it is said that linguistics is ”the science of language, including
phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics.” (s.v.
”linguistics”). Linguistics accordingly is very much a part of the
social sciences since it is concerned with a universal part of human
behavior and with one of the most fundamental human faculties. In other
words, linguistics deals with language.
Language is the most
important means in human communication. A human language is signaling
system. Communication among or between individuals can only occur by the
help of language. It is important to remember that basically a language
is something which is spoken: the written language is secondary and
derivative. It may be possible that no two languages in the world share
exactly similar characteristic like other dialect. Language must have
specific rules that strictly control the order of the utterances which
can be used as a means for communication between or among individuals in
a society.
There are many subgroups speakers within large
community which thoughtfully participating in the life community, then
the subgroups have various special speech habits including sounds,
meaning, vocabulary and sometimes grammatical structure. These kinds of
variation in speech are technically known as dialect.
In the
discussing of dialect, Jess stein (ed) in his book “The Random House
Dictionary of English Language”, said that a dialect is “variety of
language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language
by features of phonology, grammar and vocabulary, and by its use by a
group of speakers who are set off from others geographically.” (s.v.
“dialect”).
Related to linguistics, this thesis is going to deal
with a morphological system of verbs in Nias language. To obtain an
exact and complete explanation of it, the writer tries to explain the
definitions of morphology and verb. According to Webster’s new world Dictionary
(s.v. “morphology”) the word “morphology” means “the branch of
linguistics that deals with the internal structure and forms of word.”
Talking about “verb”, it can be defined as “a class of words expressing
action, existence, or occurrence, or used as an auxiliary or copula, and
usually constituting the main element of a predicate.” (Webster,
s.v.”verb”).
Generally, Nias language has two main dialects, e.g.
first is North Nias dialect and South Nias dialect. The first dialect is
used in Northern, Eastern and Western Nias, like Alasa, Lahewa,
Gunungsitoli, Gidë, Idanë Gawo, Mandrehe and Sirombu. While the second
dialect is used in Southern Part, like Teluk Dalam, Batu Islands,
Lahusa, Gomo, and Tello.
Both dialects do not cause any problem
for Nias speakers which mean that people coming from south master the
Nias dialect. The acquisition of the Nias will give more opportunities
for the people coming southern part to exchange ideas and improve
themselves, who are isolated from developing society.
According to
Goshgarian in his book “Exploring Language” (1997: 55), it is said that
each language is unique in its pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
So does the Nias language also. It is one of the unique languages among
the dialects and tribes’ language found in Indonesia archipelago. That
is one of the reasons for the writer to choose this topic to be
discussed. The unique of this language is found in its forming words,
which the consonants or the consonant sounds cannot be found in the
final position of its words.
The main source of data analyzed in
this thesis is the dialect spoken by the North Nias. The reason for this
choice is that this dialect is known by almost of all people in Nias
and this dialect also used in the daily conversation in center of Nias
governmental. Another reason is that the informants as the native
speaker who support the writer in providing useful data and information
or even giving the idea to analyze the object of this language come from
North Nias.
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