A Simple Analysis and Critical Reflection of the Morphology and Syntax of Acehnese Language

Abstract

There are specific morphology and syntax rules that accompany every language and contribute to the uniqueness of each language. When people learn a new language, for example, they must apply the grammar rules associated with it if they want to be effective communicators. In Indonesia, within the province of Aceh, a good number of local languages are spoken. One such language, which the people living in the northern part of Sumatra, Indonesia, speak, is known as Acehnese. The major objective of this study is to conduct an evaluation and a critical reflection of Acehnese that will describe the language’s morphology and syntax in full detail. One native speaker studying for a Doctor of Philosophy at Adelaide University, by the name of Zulfadli Aziz, provided the data used for this research work. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols were utilised in identifying and transcribing all instances involved in the data. Regarding Acehnese morphology, several aspects have been explained in detail, namely, pronouns, tenses, plurality, reduplication, affixes, classifiers, and articles. This study also covers some aspects in term of syntax such as, word order, flexibility, and intonation. Many identifiable differences exist between Acehnese and Arabic, for instance, the word order in Arabic is verb-subject-object (VSO) whereas Acehnese has an SVO order. Furthermore, the paper makes recommendations that could easily be applied to make the experience of learning Acehnese easy.