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mentioned later as in ditulang-tulungi base form: ditulungi meaning ‘to be helped again and again’, reresik base form: resik meaning ‘cleaning activities’. This type of process
is therefore inflective in nature. Morphemic reduplication may also convert the part of speech of one base form
into another as in omah N: house into omah-omah V: to get married and have family. In this respect, the noun omah can be morphologically converted into a verb using full-
reduplication omah-omah. The resik Adj: clean into reresik or resik-resik V: to clean undergoes both partial and full reduplication. This type of process is, therefore, derivative
in nature. The speech decorum of Javanese will be discussed at some length in a separated sub-heading 2.6.3.3.
2.6.2 Javanese Syntax
‘Syntax’ is a construction at the phrase and clause levels, each of which is described below.
2.6.2.1 At the Phrase Level
At the phrase level of syntax, the Javanese language adopts a head-attribute pattern in endocentric term for the noun, adjective, adverbial, verb phrases Sudaryanto
1992 as in:
Head N Attribute
tungkak bunder lir jinangka
heel round as if it were well carved
jangga ngolan-olan
neck as if it were that of a snake
kulit kuning nemugiring kemlemer deme’ane
skin fair; it feels soft to be touched
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Head Adj Attribute
ayu banget
beautiful very
ireng ndetheng
black really very
However, for the comparative and superlative forms, the Javanese adjective phrases take a similar pattern as that of English, as in paling ayu most beautiful, luwih
ayu more beautiful.
Head Adv Attribute
rikat banget
quickly very
For an attribute such as ‘quite’ in English which shows ‘hedges’ or ‘ in-between,’ the Javanese language takes a similar pattern as in rada ayu quite beautiful, rada
mambu quite smelly.
Head V Attribute
turu kepati sleep
soundly mlaku
alon-alon walk
slowly mlebu
makslep enter
directly without obstruction
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2.6.2.2 At the Clause Level
At the clause level, the Javanese language has some similar patterns to those of English in terms of word order. There are simple sentences, compound sentences,
complex sentences and compound-complex sentences. I discuss the similar pattern first.
2.6.2.2.1 Simple Sentence
Traditionally, by simple sentence is meant a sentence which has only one finite verb. It is also defined as a sentence with a single verb Suharno 1982:85. For example,
the sentence Nalika tengahing ndalu, wong agung mangsah semedi., can be analyzed in terms of syntactic function as shown in the following pattern.
Table 2-4 Syntactic Function in a Simple Sentence
Adjunct of Time Subject
Verbal Predicate Nalika tengahing ndalu
wong agung mangsah semedi
At midnight a knight
went meditating
2.6.2.2.2 Complex Sentence
Complex sentence is traditionally a sentence with more than one finite verb of which one clause is subordinate to the other. It is also defined as a sentence consisting of
at least two simple sentences by the process of embedding one simple sentence into another, i.e. the matrix sentence in involved Suharno 1982:100. For example, the
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sentence Para priyagung kang lenggah ana mburi sajake sayah banget., can be analyzed in terms of syntactic function as shown in the following pattern.
Table 2-5 Syntactic Function in a Complex Sentence
Subject Sub-clause Verbal Predicate
Para priyagung kang lenggah ana mburi
sajake sayah banget Distinguished guests who are sitting at the back
row seem to be very tired.
2.6.2.2.3 Compound Sentence
Compound sentence is traditionally a sentence with more than one finite verb of which the clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction and therefore of equal level.
For example, the sentence Raden Janaka ngesemi garwane lan garwane tanggap ing sasmita., can be analyzed in terms of syntactic function as shown in the following pattern.
Table 2-6 Syntactic Function in a Compound Sentence
Clause 1 Conj.
Clause 2 Raden Janaka ngesemi garwane
lan garwane tanggap ing sasmita
Knight Janaka
smiled at
his wife
and his wife knew her husband’s
intention.
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2.6.2.2.4 Compound-Complex Sentence
By compound-complex sentence is traditionally meant a sentence with two or more finite verbs of which the clauses are joined by a coordinating and subordinating
conjunctions. For example, the sentence Raden Janaka kang ngesemi garwane katon bungah amarga garwane tanggap ing sasmita., can be analyzed in terms of syntactic
function as shown in the following pattern.
Table 2-7 Syntactic Function in a Compound-Complex Sentence Clause 1
Clause 2 Clause 3
Raden Janaka kang ngesemi garwane
katon bungah amarga garwane tanggap ing
sasmita. Knight Janaka who smiled at
his wife looked
happy because his wife knew his
intention.
It should be noted, however, that the above description of the Javanese Grammar is descriptive and anticipative in support of the analysis of the language features in
pranatacara genre.
2.6.3 The Javanese Language of Pranatacara
