Objek sifar dalam ketransitifan bahasa Melayu

Abstract

This article discusses the phenomenon of zero object with the transitive verb meN-kan in the Malay language. Outstanding Malay grammarians such as Za'ba (1965), Asmah Hj. Omar (1993), and Nik Safiah Karim (1997) shared similar views that each transitive verb must be followed by its complement. However, there are contrastive views as found in the studies done by Hashim Hj. Musa (1990), Darwis Harahap (1996) and Wong Khek Seng (1990) that there can be none or zero object after the transitive verb. Therefore, this article would try to find a solution to the issue of zero object in Malay transitive verb phrase. Based on the.findings of the computerized corpus data, it was found that the phenomenon of the zero object in transitive verb phrase is still in existence. Indirectly, this allows the occurrence of the Transitive Verb + Zero Object structure in the Malay language. To describe the characteristics of this structure, the theoretical framework of Cognitive Linguistics and Relevance theory would be eclectically applied.