Morphosyntactic Construction of Affixes and Clitics in Passive Sentences in Makassar Language

Abstract

Makassar language (bM) is a language of ethnic groups which is taught as local content subjects in schools, both in oral and written literary traditions. This study aimed to examine the behavior of affixes and clitic morphosyntactics in the passivation of Makassar sentences. Field research methods were used by applying the conversational engagement listening technique, recording technique, and note-taking technique as an advanced technique. This research was conducted in Somba Opu District, Gowa Regency. Data were analyzed by distributional method. The results showed that the morphosyntactic behavior of the Makassar language was formed by a set of affixes in the form of prefixes, confixes, infixes, and a set of clitics in the form of proclitics ku-, nu-, ki-, na- and enclitics -ak, -ko,- ki, -i. The Makassar language passivity forms two types of passive sentences, namely passive derivatives and passive (innate) ones. The derived passive is formed by the prefix ni- and the proclitic of the persona. Furthermore, the prefix ni- can be combined with the prefixes paK-, pa-+si-, suffixes –i, and -ang. Persona proclitic prefixes are characterized by personal pronouns ku- (first personal pronoun), nu- (second personal pronoun), ki- (honorific second personal pronoun), na- (third personal pronoun), which has two types of structure. The natural passive is formed by prefixes taK-, paK-, confix ka-/-ang and non-prefixed passive. Furthermore, the prefix paK- and the unprefixed passive can be combined with the suffix -ang or -i, which have two types of structure. Thus, derived passive and natural passive sentences have six variations of structure. The relationship between clitics and pronouns or nouns/noun phrases is mandatory, optional, and some are complementary. The implication of the results of this study is to enrich the linguistic treasures of the Makassar language so that the rules and morphosytactic constructions are determined. In future, the linguistic construction of the Makassar language must continue to be studied in more depth, because this research is limited to the morphosyntactic aspect, there are still many other research opportunities related to the Makassar language.