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On The Syntax of in Indonesian John W - M - Verhaar, S - J
On The Syntax of in Indonesian John W - M - Verhaar, S - J
I NTRODUCT I O N
The particle y a n g i n Indonesian ( and older Malay) has , i n the pas t , been
duly treated by grammarians , but it does not look as if yang has been di scussed
much within a framework that has notable relevance across languages , or even
fits more naturally into a more hol istic view of Indones ian ( and Malay) syntax .
What has been noted about y a n g has been mainly two characteristics : first , that
it may l ink an attribute to a noun , notably ' adj ectival ' (as d i st inct from
' nominal ' ) attributes ; second , that one of these attributes is the relative
clause . In dealing with the latter construction , grammarians have often dubbed
y a n g a ' relative pronoun ' . I will not now review earl ier treatments of y a n g
( Kaswanti 1981 has a brief survey ) , for those treatments have , on the whole , not
focussed on the larger syntactic i ssues I am address ing myself to in the present
paper . But most of those ear l ier descriptions have been sound enough ,
especially in that they affirmed the bas ic ' sameness ' of y a n g , no matter whether
it relativises or not , even though that ' sameness ' has been largely implicit in
those descriptions . On the other hand , the description of yang as a ' re lative
pronoun ' has not , on the whole , been one of principle in regard to the
' pronominal ' character of y a n g , and thi s name has been given to y a n g perhaps
rather thoughtlessly . One recent example of such thoughtlessne s s appears in my
own paper on alienable and inalienable possession in Indonesian (Verhaar 1978 ) .
In any event , in the present paper I wil l argue , among other things , that y a n g
i s not pronominal .
More particularly , I want to go into that ' sameness ' I mentioned : y a n g
l inking any ( non-nomina l ) attribute to a head noun (as wel l as a few nominal
one s ) . Also , I shall discuss the use of y a n g without a head , as wel l as the
' de f initis ing ' character of y a n g in that use , and in some other syntactic
constructions . Then I wi l l discuss y a n g as only one particular kind of
' l igature ' , d i f ferent from those which are genuine ( relative ) pronouns . Next
I wi l l consider what conditions must be ful f il led for y a n g to relativise a noun ;
those conditions wi l l be shown to be of three kinds , a l l of them involving some
particular k ind of ' co-referentiality ' with the head . I will then briefly
develop the nature of those co-referentiality conditions as rather c lose to
Arnran Halim, Loi s Carrington and S . A . Wurrn , eds Papers from the
Third Interna tional Conference on Austronesian Linguistics , vol . 4 :
Thema tic varia tion , 4 3 -7 0 . Pacific Lingui stics , C- 7 7 , 1983 .
© John W . M . Verhaar , S . J . 43
Verhaar, J.W.M. "On the syntax of yang in Indonesian". In Halim, A., Carrington, L. and Wurm, S.A. editors, Papers from the Third International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Vol. 4: Thematic variation.
C-77:43-70. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1983. DOI:10.15144/PL-C77.43
©1983 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative.
44 JOHN W . M . VERHAAR , S . J .
P =patient ) . The l igature here connects a noun with one or more adj ectives
« 1 ) ) , or with a quantifier « 2 ) ) , or with a de ictic « 3 ) ) , or with a relative
clause « 4 ) ) . The form varies : - n g , - n i , and there are others . Foley
d i stinguishes nominal attributes (which he says are not relevant to his
hypothes i s ; however , I will show that to a certain extent they are ) , from
' non-nominal ' ones , adj ectival , therefore , which he calls ' ad j uncts ' ; and he
dist inguishes seven kinds of such ' adj uncts ' , which may be seen l i sted in
Figure 1 ( numbering of the levels is mine ) , reflecting also a hierarchy of
' bondednes s ' .
ON THE SYNTAX OF YANG IN INDONESIAN 45
7 . noun + article
6. noun + deictic
weaker 5. noun + interrogative
4. noun + quantifier
bondedness 3. noun + adj ective
2. noun + participle
l . noun + relative clause
The hierarchy is from high ( level 7 ) to low ( level 1 ) , and the lower one gets
down the hierarchy , the more some syntactic formative device becomes necessary
to hold noun and attribute together . Going down the hierarchy , at j ust which
level the l igature becomes neces sary depends on each particular language and i s
a language-specific matter . However , what i s valid across language i s that , i f
a ligature i s necessary a t level Z , such that Z i s the highest level , i n that
language , at which the ligature is used , then it will be necessary also at a l l
leve l s below Z. Negative ly , according t o Foley ' s hypothes is , n o language wil l
have a ' gap ' level-wise i n l i gature use below Z ; and above Z , n o level wil l
employ the l i gature . Tagalog i s a good example o f a language that has a
l igature even at level 7 . Therefore , a l l other levels require i t .
Foley ' s sample comprises the following language s : Tagalog , Palauan , 1 locano,
Toba Batak , Tolai , Wol io , and Malagasy . Figure 2 maps the use of l igatures in
those languages , showing that the bondedness hierarchy is val id at least for
them.
The ' gaps ' at level 2 are only apparent : none of these languages , except Palauan
and Wol io , have participles in their verbal system. Wol io alone lacks the
l igature with participle attributes , but there that lack is no gap , since only
level 1 has a l igature there . Finally , Malagasy is relevant in that at level 1
it may have a l igature ( i z ay ) , but it appears to be optional , hence it is not
ticked o f f in Figure 2 . I will not reproduce Foley ' s data here , nor , in
particular , the forms l igatures may take in the d i fferent language s . Those
forms are all o f the kind that cannot be assigned any ' categorial ' status ; that
46 JOHN W . M . VERHAAR , S . J .
i s to say , no spec i fic word class membership can be assigned to them . Also ,
these l igatures lack ' argument ' status : they do not ' fi l l ' any such ' slots ' as
' subject ' , ' obj ect ' , etc . , as arguments to the verb , not even lower level ' slots '
l ike those of attributes . Furthermore , the only sequential rule that holds for
these l igatures is that they must be in between noun and attribute , and the
sequential order that controls those constituents is therefore irrelevant . The
bondedness hierarchy i s , in other words , neutral as between left-hand or right
hand position of the attribute in respect to the head noun . ( In fac t , in
Foley ' s form of Figure 1 , the attribute is to the left ; I have placed it to the
right , for convenience ' sake , because that is the order in Indones ian , which
language is rigidly VO , also infraclausally . )
Foley does not make much of the ' categorial ' status (or , rather , the lack
of it) , of the l igatures . That issue would be irrelevant for the point he i s
making , which i s supposed t o b e val id across language s , and which therefore
obtains also for those l igatures which do have categorial status : for relative
pronouns , in languages that have them . In English , for example , at a l l leve l s
higher than 1 , bondedness i s enough for the noun phrase to hold together without
a l i gature of any kind . Foley shows that such bondedness , without any l inking
device , may be destroyed by right-extraposition of an attribute , making the
phrase ungrammatical , while such an extraposition is still well formed when
there is such a device . Consider Foley ' s examples , here numbered ( 5 ) and ( 6 )
First of all , some phrases already ' welded ' together because of their
semantic content , which cannot be explained from mere attribution , cannot have
yang . Examples are found in ( 17 ) ( Fokker 1951 : 186 )
( 17 ) i l mu pas t i {science certain} mathematics
seko l a h menengah {schoo l middle} High Schoo l
j a l a n bun t u {road b locked-up} dead end s treet
gunung be r-a p i {mountain PREFIx-fire} vo lcano
Also , yang may emphasise the attribute , either for the sake of contrast or
non-contrastively , as in ( 18 ) ( Fokker 1 95 1 : 187)
( 18) mu r i d * ( yang ) bo d oh
pupil LIG uninte l ligent
uninte l ligent pupi l
or in ( 19)
( 19) Say a s uka r umah * ( yang ) besa r , bukan rumah * ( ya n g ) kee i l
I like house LIG big not house LIG sma l l
I like a big house, not a sma l l one
but this presupposes that the phrase concerned cannot be ' close ' enough without
ya n g , which it sometime s can , e . g . in ( 2 0 ) , even though there is an obvious
contrast ( Sudaryanto , pers . comm . )
( 2 0 ) Bukan ape l (ya n g ) me rah ke s u kaan- nya , me l a i n ka n ape l ( y a n g ) h i j a u
not apple LIG red liking his but apple LIG green
What he likes is not red app les, but green app les
where yang could easily be di spensed with . Furthermore , yang is obl igatory
with extraposed attributes , as in ( 2 1 ) and ( 2 2 ) (Fokker 1951 : 188)
( 2 1 ) b i n i - n ya * ( yang ) b i j a k s a n a
wife-his LIG prudent
his prudent wife
(22) i bu - nya \', (yang ) t ua
mother his LIG old
his old mother
( Fokker distinguishes various constructions , whic h , however , a l l fit one species ,
due to extraposition , which he does not mention . ) Finally , when the attribute
itself is composed , either serially ( ( 2 3 » , or because the adj ective has an
adverbial coconstituent ( ( 2 4 » , yang is likewise obligatory ( Fokker 1951 : 189) :
( 2 5 ) o ra n g * ( yang ) t ua
person LIG o ld
a ld man/woman [ o rang t u a parents ]
50 JOHN W . M . VERHAAR , S . J .
also in ( 19 ) , rumah may be left out in its second occurrence on the strength of
the firs t ; or in both occurrences on the strength of a previous occurrence .
Yang used replacively is invariably obligatory .
It is important to note that replacive yang replaces the noun full y , in
that replacive yang may even be preceded by a preposition , which it would
otherwise never take . This is quite normal at all levels , but with some
complications at level 1 . Thus , the headless phrases g iven j ust now may become
prepositional phrases of one form or another : dengan (�th) yang i t u ; u n t u k
(for) y a n g mana ? ; t a n pa (�i thout) y a n g empa t i t u : �ith that one ; for �hich one ? ;
� thout those four (ones ) ; etc . Replacive yang phrases may occur in all
argument positions , except those which are obligatorily pronominal (on which
see below) .
As noted , for level 1 there are some problems with replacive yang .
Consider ( 2 8 )
( 28) ? Kepada yang t i d a k mau i ku t akan d i - s aj i ka n aca ra lain
to ?LIG not �ant fo l lo� � l l PM offer program other
To those �ho do not �ant to come along some other entertainment
�i l l be offered
The yang clause is yang t i da k mau i k u t . Some speakers would prefer to have a
head there , e . g . me reka they (or some appropriate noun) , and to them Ke pada
me reka yang t i dak mau i k u t would be better . Some very careful speakers ,
however , approve of ( 28) as it stands . The problem seems to be greater when
the head i s inanimate , as in ( 2 9 )
( 2 9 ) ? ? Ten t ang y a n g s udah ka l i a n pe l aj a r i akan ada uj i an
about ?LIG already you [ PL ] s tudy � l l be examination
About �hat you have already s tudied there �i l l be an examination
and many speakers would want to have an appropriate head there , such as bahan
subject matter , or simply the pronominal antecedent a pa �hat , so that the
result would be : Ten tang bahan/apa yang s udah [ ] . However , the doubtful
. . .
wel l formedness of ( 29 ) may s imply be due to the cacophony of the two /-ang/
clusters i n ten tang yan g ; according t o Sudaryant o (pers . corom . ) headless yang
i n ( 2 9 ) would b e a l l right if the prepos ition were not ten tang but , for example ,
mengena i about , concerning , because that would avoid the cacophony . This may
wel l be so ; another reason might be that mengen a i is really a verbal form ( from
kena (be ) hi t , pre fixed with men - and with a focus ending - i ) . However , about
relativising headless yang after a verb some more analysis would have to be
done .
In ( 2 8 ) and ( 29 ) , the gloss LIG is preceded by a question mark , as I
consider the ' ligature ' status in them ( as wel l as in any headless yang phrase)
doubtful . One reason for my doubt is that , of course , it is difficult to
consider yang as l inking an attribute to a noun that is not there ; however , it
would not be whol ly unreasonable to assume that there is a zero noun , which of
course would be a real constituent , albeit in zero form , and would not be the
same as there being no head at all . More importantly , however , headless yang
is invariably ' definitising ' , even though what is being definitised may be
something generic . In contrast , yang with a head need not necessarily be
def inite , even though it often is . The matter is of some importance , so I
want to devote a separate section to it .
52 JOHN W . M . VERHAAR, S . J .
Yang AS D E F I N I T I S ER
Replacive yang raises some syntactic questions , which may be given some
more re levance across languages if confined to relative clauses alone . For
example , in English , headless relative c lauses are possible only with wha t , and
it does not seem outlandish to recognise in that indefiniteness some diachronic
relation with the interrogative origin of that pronoun , but not with wh i ch or
who , as il lustrated in ( 3 0 ) through ( 3 2 )
( 30 ) Wha t you cannot d o w i l l b e done b y o t he r s
( 3 1 ) *Wh i ch you cannot d o w i l l be done by o t h e r s
( 3 2 ) *Who you c a n n o t phone w e w i l l v i s i t
but when ' de finiteness ' i s taken out of the latter two , by adding -eve r , the
results are wel lformed , as in ( 3 3 ) and ( 3 4 )
( 3 3 ) Wh i c heve r you cannot d o I w i l l t a ke ca re o f
( 34 ) Whoeve r cannot he l p s hou l d l e t us know
(on condition , of course , that wh i ch - is used adj ectival ly , i . e . with anaphoric
deletion of the head ) . Even wha t , already pretty much indefinite in ( 30 ) , is
made even more so by adding -eve r , as in ( 35 )
( 3 5 ) Wha teve r you cannot d o w i l l b e done b y o t h e r s
Or , alternatively , the head may b e ' attracted ' into the relative clause itse l f ,
with the relative pronoun a s i t s attribute (except with who , which i s invariably
substantiva l ) , as in ( 36 ) and ( 3 7 )
( 36 ) Wha t ever j ob you cannot d o w i l l b e done by o t h e r s
( 3 7 ) Wh i chever j o b you cannot do w i l l be done by o t he r s
and , although ' indefiniteness ' i n ( 3 7 ) and ( 3 3 ) i s restricted i n that wh i ch
selects from a l imited number o f j obs , yet within that l imited number there i s
no definiteness o f any kind . ' Attractions ' l ike these may also b e found i n
Classical Latin , a s i n ( 38 ) ( for which I am indebted to Eceizabarrena , Sophia
University )
( 38 ) Quam q u i s q ue nov i t a r t em , i n hac se exe rceat
RP everyone know ART in this se lf exeraise
Le t everyone who knows an art praatise it
( I suspect that such ' attractions ' are triggered b y the OV t o VO change that
carries the change from prenominal relative clauses to postnominal ones . )
In contrast , replacive yang clauses in Indonesian invariably ' definitise '
whatever it is that is modi fied by the attribute , and indefinitene s s wi l l
preclude the use o f yan g . Consider ( 39 )
( 39 ) Yang m i s k i n pe r l u d i - to l ong
?LIG poor neaessary PM he Zp
Those who are poor mus t be he lped
In ( 39 ) , the reference is not to all the poor , but to those who are poor in one
particular group that is ( contextua l ly ) we ll defined . On the reading that all
the poor nlust b e helped (whoever , wherever) ( roughly , therefore , equivalent to
the reading of English t h e poo r , without a following noun) , ( 39 ) would be
deviant , and instead of yang the collective determiner kaum would have to be
use d ; Ka um m i s k i n [ . J.
The speaker of ( 3 9 ) has the poor members of one
. .
ON THE SYNTAX OF YANG IN INDONESIAN 53
particular group in mind , and those poor members are identi fiable ; I have tried
to convey that idea of definiteness by the gloss those who are poor. According
to Kaswanti (pers . comm . ) yang in ( 39 ) is even contrastive , i . e . in contrast to
those ( in the group) who are not poor .
Apart from replacive yang , some instances of yang with an antecedent have
yang as necessarily definite . Thi s is certainly so with de ictics , interroga
tives , for obvious semantic reasons ( the interrogative , of course , inquires
after a definite [ . . . ] ) , and with quantifiers (as discussed above ) . With
adj ectives , whenever contrastive . But there is a special problem with l a i n
other, as pointed out by Kaswanti , in examples ( 4 0 ) and ( 4 1 ) ( I have changed
the latter sl ightly)
( 4 0 ) Be rhubu ng tempat i n i a kan d i - b e r s i h kan , seba i knya k i ta
because p lace this wi l l PM c lean it-is-bes t we [ INCL ]
p i ndah ke t empa t ( "'yang ) l a i n
transfer to p lace LIG other
Because this room is going to be c leaned, we had better move
to some other p lace
( 4 1 ) Tempa t ,', ( yang ) l a i n i t u s u d a h t i d a k kosong l ag i ; padaha l
p lace LIG other that already not empty again neverthe less
tempat i t u tad i ma s i h kosong
p lace that just-now s ti l l empty
That other room is no longer free; but just now it sti l l was
In ( 40 ) , yang is forbidden because the other place the speaker wants to go to
is not definite in his mind ; any other place will do , provided it is available
for use . In contrast , in ( 4 1 ) , yang is obl igatory because the speaker is now
talking about one particular room . Perhaps there should be a special rule for
l a i n , which is idiosyncratic among adj ectives in that it may e ither follow or
precede the head noun ; or , perhaps , if placed to the left of the noun , it is
not an adj ective but an indefinite numeral (other = more ) . I will not go into
this problem now, for there are still other problems with l a i n which would have
to be solved first ( and would take me too far afield) , notably when to use , or
not to use , - n y a after l a i n in postnominal position . To unravel all this would
easily take a whole pape r .
One characteristic of y a n g i n Indonesian i s that it may connect two nouns ,
which is what Foley ( 19 7 6 ) says a l igature never does . First , a few examples ,
in ( 4 2 ) and ( 4 3 )
( 4 2 ) o rang ,', ( yang ) p r o f e s o r i t u
person ?LIG professor that
that man, the professor
( 4 3 ) ad i k- mu ,q yang ) ten t a ra i t u
(younger) brother you ?LIG so ldier that
your brother, the so ldier
One may occasionally hear the opinion that this use of yang is not ' correct '
Indonesian , and that it is an innovation through the influence of the ' article '
in languages l ike Dutch and English. However (as argued in Verhaar 1980 and
Kaswanti 1981 ) , the credentials of yang between nouns in older Malay are
impeccable , and there seems to be no need to blame interference . But yang here
does have something in common with the article in languages l ike English or
Dutch ( as wel l as with other languages having definite articles ) , i . e . its
54 JOHN W . M . VERHAAR , S . J .
' definitis ing ' function ( symbolised by the i n the glosses above ) , making a unique
identification by way of an apposition . This type of yang , given a suitable
context , may also be used replacively , in such phrases as yang p r o f e s o r i t u
and yang t en t a ra i t u . Here yang not only ' definitises ' semantically , but also
becomes a ' determiner ' syntactically , and thus becomes virtually an attribute .
Since that does not seem to be characteristic of yang before a non-nominal
attribute (with or without a head) even where it is definitis ing (which it must
be if used replacively) , it is doubtful whether yang between nouns can be
called a ' l igature ' at all ; hence , again , a question mark to LIG in the glos s .
This is perhaps the place for a short digression on Foley' s claim ( 19 7 6 ) that
' l igature s ' ( in his interpretation of that term , which would certainly inc lude
Indonesian internominal yang ) are tied to the specific relations obtaining
between noun plus ' ad j unct ' , and not to those (often non-specific one s ) between
noun plus noun . Foley ' s main point here seems to be a semantic one . In his
view , the difference between a noun phrase with a non-nominal attribute and one
with a nominal attribute is that , whil e in the former the semantic relation is
basically determined by the attribute , in the latter there may be all sorts of
semantic relations , not dependent on the attributive noun alone . What Foley
refers to is the multiple semantic relations that may hold between the nouns in
phrases l ike My ron ' s s t a t ue ( i . e . a statue symbolis ing Myron , or made by Myron ,
or owned by Myron , etc . ) or John ' s p re s e n t ( i . e . a present given by John , or to
John , etc . ) (Foley 1 976 : 7 9-80 ) .
What Foley feels he has to explain is that sometimes a phrase of the form
noun + l igature + noun seems to be counterevidence to the assumption that noun
+ ' ad j unct ' and noun + noun are bas ically different , among other things in that ,
supposedly language-universally , noun + noun does not need a l igature of any
kind . He adduce s evidence from Chinese and Trukese to show that the exceptions
to that rule are only apparen t ; however , that part of his reasoning is hard to
evaluate as he gives no data . He discus ses also numeral ' ad j uncts ' , which ,
because of the property of many languages that they have numeral classifiers ,
may then take the form of ( numeral plus ) noun ( i . e . the c lassifier) plus noun .
I would like to say that , semantically , the numeral clas s i fier noun is not the
' head ' , even though , in a sense , it might be called that purely syntactically .
This is why "'a fat head of ca t t l e is not well formed , as I noted above in a
s l ightly different context . But what is ( to me ) most interesting is how Foley
deal s with noun + l igature + noun in Palauan , where , for example , we may observe
( 4 4 ) ( Foley 1976 : 84 )
( 44 ) a ? e rm- ek el bab i
ART anima l ISG LIG pig
my anima l, the pig
having the ligature e l in between nouns . The issue here is that there is an
apposition . I do not know Palauan , but the language is OV , and my bet is that
the gloss of ( 4 4 ) is not my anima l, the pig but the pig, my animal : that is to
say not the pig , but my anima l is the apposition ! The reason for my hunch is
that that is the way OV languages deal with ' appositions ' : the quotes I use
here are ' scare quotes ' , for OV languages do not really have ' appositions ' , if
by ' apposi"tions ' be meant paratactic , and not hypotactic , co-constituents to
nouns . Consistent OV syntax cannot have any (unambiguously) non-restrictive
attributes , a point to which I will return below , in regard to relative clauses .
Appos itiona are ( normally) non-restrictive . Thus , in Japanese , in ( 4 5 )
ON THE SYNTAX OF YANG IN INDONESIAN 55
( 4 5 ) t omodac h i no Ta naka-san
friend SM HON
Mr Tanaka, my friend
has what would be the head in the English equivalent such as that appearing in
the gloss as an a ttribute , a subordinated (or hypotacti c ) constituent , therefore
( SM= subordination marker ; no in possessive constructions marks the possessor ,
but here , of course , there is no question of a possessive relationship) . There
is no non-restrictiveness here . Engl ish sometimes reverses nouns ( i . e . ' head '
and ' attribute ' ) in the way comparable to the construction of ( 4 5 ) , as in ( 4 6 )
( 46 ) a gem of a n i dea [ L e . "an i d ea wh i c h i s ( 1 i ke ) a gem" ]
a p r i nce of a fe l l ow [ L e . "a fe l l ow who i s ( l i ke ) a p r i nce" ]
a he l l of a p ro b l em [ L e . "a p rob l em wh i ch i s ( l i ke ) he l l " ]
(double quotes symbolise paraphrases rather than glosses) .
Now , Foley is concerned to have a ? e rme k in ( 44 ) as an ' adj unct ' . His
argument is that it has to be ( even though it looks like a noun in a l l respects
that matter ) , since the ligature e l is used . But that rather begs the question .
The argument has become c ircular . It is not that the ' nominal ' character o f
attributive nouns cannot b e i n doubt , especially i n Indonesian , i n which
language nouns may be rather ' squishy ' , as pembo ros and pengecut in ( 4 7 ) and ( 4 8 )
(Fokker 1 9 5 1 : 19 1 )
(47) o ra n g ( ya n g ) pemboros
person LIG spendthrift
(aJ spendthrift
( 48) l a k i - l a k i (yan g ) pengec u t
male LIG faint-hearted
(aJ faint-hearted man
are , witness the optionality of yang . However , no such interpretation i s
possible for ?e rmek i n ( 4 4 ) .
Clearly there are still many problems with the language-universal
properties of noun + noun phrases . Foley ' s semantic analysis is probably
basically sound . Perhaps , then , both ' definiteness ' and the kind of syntax
involved ( i . e . OV for alleged ' appositions ' ) must be brought to bear to arrive
at a better view. For such a view I consider Foley ' s approach as a substantial
beginning .
imposs ible in this language , so that ungrammaticalness would be ' explained ' .
Phrase ( 5 9 ) would not be wel l formed , for yang would be an ' indirect obj ect ' ,
which is equally impossible in this language in prepredicate position ; and the
pronominal copy at the end of the phrase would not restore the balance . The
ungrammaticalness of ( 58 ) , however , could not be ' explained ' on s imilar grounds ,
for it would be quite possible to consider kepada yang as not necessarily an
' indirect obj ect ' : it could also be a peripheral constituent in the RC , so that
argument status would not come in at all , or at least it would fail to explain
why yang could not have a prepos ition ( kepada ) with it . (In fac t , headless yang
can , s o why not here ? )
However , rej ection of the argument status o f yang on typological grounds
is more convincing . These grounds are wel l known (especially for Phi lippine
languages) , and I may state them here briefly . In this typology , the princ ipal
constraint on RC ' s is that the focus marking on the verb in the RC ( let me call
this the ' relative verb ' , or RV ) should be such that the head of the RC is the
' target ' of that focus . Thus , in ( 5 6 ) , rnenge rj akan is marked for the ' agent '
focus (by the ' prenasali sation ' rnen - ) , and pernba n t u i s that ' agent ' . In ( 5 5 ) ,
d a t a n g , which happens to be monomorphemic , is unmarked for focus , but the one
who comes is still the. guest. In contras t , the focus marking in ( 5 7 ) through
( 59 ) , where the RV ' s have the same prenasal isation as the RV in ( 5 6 ) , i s
' targeted ' on saya , not o rang o r terna n ; therefore , these three phrases are not
wel lformed . This rule of focus marking on the head could, in itse l f , be
expressed by saying that the l igature yang must invariably be the ' subj ect ' of
the RC . However , in most languages of the typology under review here , the
ligatures under discussion here are not only bound forms morphemically , but the
constituents to which they have been ' welded ' have , in some instances , not even
independent existence as constituents : a good example is Tagalog a n g , whose
divi sion into a - n g makes sense in that - ng is a recurrent item in various
argument positions of nouns having a ligature in that language ; but for a- to
be separated in that language makes no sense synchronically , since it never
occurs independently , or , for that matte r , with any other l igature . That
Indones ian yang happens to be morphemically free makes no difference to its
essential sameness with the l igatures of Tagalog , and of many related languages ,
in regard to its es sentially non-argument character . That in e ffect rules out
the ' explanation ' of yang as necessarily the ' subj ect ' of the RC .
This stated , let me now develop a theoretical framework for relativis ing
ya n g , in a manner that has some relevance across languages , and may be the
framework within which a step forward may be made to more knowledge of yang
within a view that has reasonable relevance across languages . As I am now
dealing with RC ' s with a head , let me speak about that head , or antecedent ,
first . Across languages , the head of a RC i s known to have various properties .
First, the head may be considered according to the place it takes in the clause
in which it is an argument , or a peripheral constituent . (That clause may
itself be a main clause , or a subclause : it makes no difference for the point
being di scussed here . ) Let me call the head considered from that angle the
' main clause head ' (MCH) . Second , the head may be considered as part of the
noun phrase which consists of head plus RC ; considered from that angle , the
head is ' proleptic ' in regard to the RC , and let me call it the ' proleptic head '
(PH) . (Of course , I deal here only with an antecedent head , not with heads
relativised prenominal ly ; Indonesian has only antecedent heads of RC ' s . )
About the MCH I may be brie f . Any full noun NP , whether nuclear or extra
nuclear in its own c lause , may be relativi sed in Indonesian . Among ful l pronouns,
only those that are preposed Agentives , with no pos sibility of interposition of
58 JOHN W . M . VERHAAR , S . J .
any other constituent between pronominal Agentive and verb al form , preclude
relativi sation , no matter whether the pronoun is cliticised or not (on this ,
see Verhaar forthcoming) .
For the PH , however , there are a number of characteristics relevant to
Indonesian , statable as at least three different forms of ' co-referentiality ' ,
which I shall discuss now .
'
(62) Pemban t u yang s a p u - nya h i 1 ang [ . ] . .
to him
The friend to whom I have already wanted for a long time to exp lain
this problem [ . ] . .
agreement ' to ' subj ect agreement ' , a development which is wel l known ( e . g . Giv6n
1 9 7 6 ) . However , I wish to suggest that such pro-forms are more typical of VO
syntax than of OV syntax ; compare ( 8 0 ) with ( 8 1 ) , from Indonesian and Japane se
respectively
( 8 0 ) Seko l a h i t u I I ha l aman- nya l ua s
schoo l TM ground its large
This school II i ts grounds are large
( 8 1 ) Ano gakkoo wa II g u rando ga h i ro i de s u
that schoo l TM grounds 8 M large PoMa
That schoo l II i ts grounds are large
(TM = topic marker ; 8M sub j ect marker ; PoMa
= pol i teness marker ; i t u in ( 80 )
=
is not deictic ; II functional pause) . Note that ( 80 ) has the pro-form - nya ;
=
( 8 2 ) s u ra t ( ke t e ranga n ) j a l a n
letter information trip/trave l
trave l permission document
cerpan (susunan) A l i
short story wri ting
A li 's short stories
ruang ( t empa t ) rapa t
room p lace meeting
mee ting room
of which there are many . The optional forms are a l l nouns , and they ' copy ' , in
terms of lexical semantic content , part of the semantic content of the first
noun . What is characteristic of such phrases in regard to their syntactic
organisation is that a step-by-step IC analys is will not work . The opening
noun is certainly the head , the closing one is certainly the attribute . The
optional noun is certainly the head of the clos ing noun , but it is not an
attribute to the opening noun . In fac t , barring coincidences (because of
context ) , the opening noun plus the optional noun together make no sense , and
to the extent that they might , they would not be paraphrases of the expressions
including the clos ing noun .
The very form of nominal attributes in Vo syntax has characteristics not
found (to my knowledge) in OV al ignment . Consider a phrase like the f l owe rs on
the t a b l e ; once we know that is a phrase , we know , of course , that on the t a b l e
is the attribute (or prepositional form) . But such an attribute could also be
an adj unct of place in a sentence : for example , I s aw t h e f l owe rs on t h e t a b l e
is ambiguous ; either the table was the place where I saw the flowers , or the
flowers are , attributively , identified as those on the table . It is character
istic for OV syntax that such ambiguities cannot occur there , as i llustrated by
( 8 3 ) and ( 84 ) , from Japanese
( 8 3 ) Tee bu l u no ue de wa hana 0 m i ma s u
table of top on TM flower OM see
On the tab le I see the flowers
and follows the RRC ; the NRRC is an ' afterthought ' , which does not affect the
determiner of ternan saya ; whereas the RRC is an integral part of the phrase
determined by i t u . (Exactly the same analysis obtains , muta t i s mutandis i f i t u
is topic marker . )
Relativising yang is not itself a ' copy ' , or part o f a ' copy ' , of the
antecedent , since only pronominal l igatures , but not connective ones , could be
that . Nevertheless , yang ' codes ' the ' copy ' element of whatever the co
referential element is (depending on whether the FCC , the PPCC , or the DPCC
appl ie s ) . Yang is , in discourse communication , the signal for the hearer that
something is going to be added , as a ' statement ' about the noun immediately
preceding i t . Before giving examples i llustrating thi s , let me show an
analogous characteristic in adverbial relativisations in this language . Compare
the last example of ( 8 2 ) , here repeated as ( 8 7 ) , with ( 8 8 )
(87 ) ruang ( t ernpa t ) rapat
room p lace meeting
mee ting room
(88 ) r uang "' ( ternpa t } karn i rnen gadakan rapa t i t u
we [ EXCL ] ho ld
the room where we wi l l ho ld the meeting
In ( 8 7 ) , t ernpa t is optional , a partial semantic ' copy ' of ruang . In contra s t ,
i n ( 88 ) , t ernpa t i s obl igatory ( for the same reason relativising ruang ( j ust as
where is in English , as in the g loss to ( 8 8 ) ) ) . Note that even t ernpa t obeys
the bondedness hierarchy for Indonesian : at level l , that of the RC , it is
obligatory , as in ( 88 ) , whereas at the higher level i llustrated in ( 8 7 ) , that
of a phrase , it is optional . It is , of course , di fficult to assign a leve l
' number ' to the ( 8 7 ) phrase , since Foley ' s bondedness hierarchy does not provide
66 JOHN W . M . VERHAAR , S . J .
for noun + noun ; nevertheless , an attribute which i s not clausal must be higher
than one that is clausal , as in ( 8 8 ) . Tempa t in ( 8 8 ) differs from yang only in
that the head ( r uang ) ' delegates ' its involvement in the RC to a ' proxy ' , i . e .
tempa t , and i n so far there i s a measure o f ' analogy ' with pronouns introducing
a RC . But the analogy is very l imited : relativis ing t empa t can onl y be
' adverbial ' in the internal structure of the RC , and cannot be an argument to
the RV (as can all genuine relative pronouns) , l ike ' subj ect ' ( see ( 8 9 » , or
' object ' ( see ( 9 0 »
(89) * r uang tempa t me rupakan tempa t ba i k u n t u k rapa t
room p lace be p lace good for mee ting
the room which is a good p lace for the meeting
(90) * r uang tempa t saya mempe r s i a p ka n u n t u k rapa t
prepare
the room which I prepared for the meeting
In ( 8 9 ) , t empa t functions as the ' subj ect ' of the RC , but t empa t , being
peripheral to the argument structure of the RC , cannot be that . Hence it cannot
be the ' obj ect ' either , which is why ( 9 0 ) is not wel l forrned . (Of course , an
obj ect cannot be prepredicate in this language anyway . ) Note that relativis ing
tempa t has thi s in cornmon with relativis ing yang that both are ' peripheral ' in
the argument structure of the RC , although the difference between the two is
that t empa t as a relativiser is at least adverbial in its relation to the
argument structure of the RV , whereas yang is not even that . In other words ,
while tempa t does the ' copying ' ( it is co-referential with the antecedent ) ,
yang only codes the ' copying ' ( yang only ' signal s ' some kind of co-referential i ty
between head and the RC it introduces ) .
As place is relativi sed , so also time . Compare ( 9 1 ) and ( 9 2 )
(91) j am (wa k t u ) ke r j a
hour time work
working hours
(92) se l ama j am-j am * (wa k t u ) kamu beke rj a
during hour-RED you work
during the hours when you worked
( RED = reduplication ; I have a persistent feeling that relativis ing wa k t u can
only relate to the past ; this may have to be verified ) . The ( 9 1 ) phrase is o f
the ( 8 2 ) type , and strictly parallel to ( 8 7 ) : wa k t u i n i t is a semantic ' copy ',
and it is optional . In contrast , in ( 9 2 ) , wa k t u is obligatory , and all that
has been said about the syntactic properties of t empa t in ( 8 8 ) holds also for
wa k t u in ( 9 2 ) .
Now consi�er the following examples with yang clauses , ( 9 3 ) through ( 9 6 )
(93) Saya ma u membe l i r uma h i t u , ma k s u d saya yang a t a pnya d i bong ka r
meaning I
I want to buy that house, I mean the one of which the roof has
been. torn down [ see ( 6 3 ) , above ]
(94) Seba i knya kamu membaca l ag i buku i n i , yang saya k i ra ada d i
��t-is-bes t you read again book this LIG I think be in
pe rpus t a kaan pus a t , (yang ) ba rang ka l i akan sanga t memba n t u-mu
Ubrary centre LIG probab ly wi l l very he lp you
ON THE SYNTAX OF YANG IN INDONESIAN 67
B I BL I OGRAPHY
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70 JOHN W.M. VERHAAR , S . J .
LEHMANN , Winfred P .
Verhaar, J.W.M. "On the syntax of yang in Indonesian". In Halim, A., Carrington, L. and Wurm, S.A. editors, Papers from the Third International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Vol. 4: Thematic variation.
C-77:43-70. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1983. DOI:10.15144/PL-C77.43
©1983 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative.