Abstract

AbstractThis paper presents phonological systems of Malay grammar. Focusing on prefixation, which includes single and multiple prefixation in Malay, this study claims that the grammar of Malay is not completely uniform. The occurrence of nasal and voiceless obstruent clusters is not always resolved by nasal substitution, as claimed by previous Malay scholars regarding the clusters. Based on evidence from one million words obtained from the DBP-UKM corpus database, I further claim that Malay has co-existent grammars, one of which allows nasal and voiceless obstruent clusters, while another does not. This paper proposes that the co-existent grammars in Malay can satisfactorily be explained by adopting a constraint-based analysis named Optimality theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993).KeywordsMalayprefixationnasal substitutionOptimality theory

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.