Argument structure and morphological marking in Indonesian: A research on verbalisations and its consequences for nominalisations

Abstract

This thesis aims at providing an analysis of the mapping between the morphological marking and argument structure in Indonesian, studying the role that the verbal prefixes and suffixes use in the standard variety of this language play in defining syntactic configurations that support the presence of arguments. Secondarily, the thesis also discusses how nominalisation of the relevant verb classes affects argument structure. The theory used use in this research is Ramchand’s (2008 and 2018) theory of morphosyntax-semantics interface. Based on the five verbal affixes investigated in this research (meng-, ber-, ter-, meng-kan, meng-i), I claim that these verbal affixes have syntactically predictable effects in terms of their argument structure and the main properties that they impose on the verbs they build. I also have argued that they are projected in different areas of the verb. The prefixes meng-, ber-, and ter- are projections of the head Evt, while the suffixes -kan and -i are projections of the head Appl. Concerning the argument structure of verbs preserved in Indonesian nominalisations, the discussion was preliminary. I have provided arguments that the nominal structure of deverbal nominalisations involve at least two layers. The lower layer is NP, which is projected immediately above EvtP, where the agentive prefix ke- or [-Voice] is spelled out. The second layer called NeventP is projected above the first NP where the eventive suffix -an is spelled out. However, despite the syntactic approach adopted in this research, there are some aspects of the analysis that seem to be lexical instead of syntactic, including spanning and head movement which are inherently lexical.