A MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY ON VERBS IN WEWEWA TENGAH DIALECT OF WEWEWA LANGUAGE WITH THE EMPHASIS ON PREFIXATION

Abstrak

This study investigates the process of prefixation in the Central Wewewa dialect of the Wewewa language, which is spoken in Southwest Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara. The primary objectives of this research are to describe the morphological processes involved in verb formation through prefixation and to explain the meanings and grammatical functions of the prefixes. The study applies a descriptive-qualitative method, where data were obtained through elicitation, interviews, and natural conversations with native speakers in Wee Rame Village. The findings reveal four main types of prefixes used in verb formation: causative prefixes (pa-, ma-), reciprocal prefix (pa-), anticausative prefixes (ma-, man-, mang-), and derivational prefixes (pa-, ma-). These prefixes exhibit distinct morphological and semantic functions, indicating that prefixation in the Wewewa Tengah dialect not only generates new verbs but also encodes relationships between agents, actions, and events. Phonological processes such as nasal assimilation and semantic processes such as valency change are also found to in formation. Overall, the study concludes prefixation the Wewewa Tengah dialect is a morphological that reflects both grammatical and cultural aspects of the language, contributing to the broader understanding and documentation of Austronesian linguistic diversity.