CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

There have been a lot of discussions about grammar of the languages in the
world. In formal occasion, the pattern of the languages is taught in every class.
However, most of the discussions are about the languages which are commonly
used as the national languages. There are only few discussions about the local
languages existing in particular countries, and they are even discussed in irrelevant
way.
In formal education in Indonesia, the same case happens, that only Bahasa
Indonesia as the national language is taught structurally. Meanwhile, the local
languages existing are not considered necessary to be taught that way due to the
fact that local society acquire their language naturally as their first language. The
result, however, shows that there are hardly people of those languages understand
the pattern of their first language.
Sasak is one of the small tribes in Indonesia, whose language is called
Sasaknese. This language is still continuously used in daily conversation at that
area. But the fact is that there has not been any clear and serious discussion about
how the pattern of Sasaknese is formed. If any, the discussion about it in educational
occasion is not really in line with the actual condition in daily conversation. It is
awkward and unaccepted in discourse. This is an interesting matter for the
linguistics learners to dive in this wide pure sea to catch the beautiful fishes.
This paper is written in order to discuss about Sasaknese grammar as the result
of discourse analysis towards Sasaknese. The matter of the discussion, however,
still lies on very specific items, dealing with the fact that the whole discussion about
Sasaknese grammar is extremely wide. Above all, Sasaknese grammar has not been
touched in formal discussion since this language is used for the first time. In this
way, if one is to discuss about all matters about Sasaknese grammar, it will spend a
very long period of time.

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Thus, the discussion in this paper is limited to the following points:
1. Sasaknese in Barabali (due to the fact that Sasaknese varies according to the
regions)
2. The subject and object in Sasaknese
3. The verbal sentence in Sasaknese, with its transitive and intransitive verbs.
4. Sasaknese in daily communication, not including polite forms.
5. Sasaknese in simple present and simple past tense.
6. Positive sentence.

And the topics of the discussion are:

1. Theme; Characteristics of Sasaknese
2. Subjective and Objective Pronouns in Sasaknese
3. Sentence Patterns
4. The Transitive Verb with Particle siq/muq/buq
5. The Intransitive Verb without Particle siq/muq/buq

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 CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION

A. Theme; Characteristics of Sasaknese

Before going to the discussion about theme, it is worth to step back to
what is language in common. In discussing about language, Nordquist (2016)
states that language is a human system of communication that uses arbitrary
signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, and/or written symbols. Furthermore,
Goldstein (2008) states We can define language as a system of communication
using sounds or symbols that enables us to express our feelings, thoughts, ideas,
and experiences.
From these two definitions of language, it can be inferred that language
is a system of symbols or sounds as a tool used to express feelings, thought,
ideas, and experiences in communication. In another discussion, Ward and
Birner (2001: 119) states that in addition to deciding what to say, speakers must
decide how to say it.
In Sasaknese, the emphasizing of communicative function of language,
in the way the speakers express feelings, thought, ideas, and experiences, really
relates to the application of theme in utterance. In Sasaknese, the sentence very
frequently begins with the most important thing to say. Meanwhile, in English,
the sentence stress is varied to express the most important point of the utterance.
For example:
The writers conversation with Wahyu:
Wahyu : Mase musik yaq taoqn?
(Is it possible that its in the music?)
Writer : Iniq bae
(Thats impossible)
Wahyu : Tamen jage
(Perhaps it has moved in)
Oh ni yeqn.
(Oh, here it is)

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 This is the characteristics of Sasaknese. Furthermore, it is time to discuss about
a simple sentence used in Sasaknese in daily conversation.
B. Subjective and Objective Pronouns in Sasaknese
The subjects and objects in Sasaknese are each used in two forms, those
are their base form and their suffixed one. The form of subject and object in
Sasaknese is the same. They are just changed in form when they are used in
particular patterns of sentence (in this case, verbal sentence if the verb is
stressed). The base form of subjects and objects change to be suffix attached at
the end of the verb.
The following table shows the base and suffixed forms of subjective and
objective pronouns in Sasaknese:
Subjective Pronouns Objective Pronouns
Meaning
Base form Suffixed form Base form Suffixed form
Aku -k Aku -k I
Kamu -m Kamu -m You
Side -m Side -m You (politer)
Ite -t Ite -t We
Kamu pade -m pade Kamu -m pade You (plural)
Side pade -m pade Side pade -m pade You (plural, politer)
Nie pade -n pade Nie pade -n pade They
Nie -n Nie -n He, she, it

There are some other forms of personal pronouns in Sasaknese according

to the level of politeness. Since the discussion in this paper does not focus on
politeness, the pronouns provided are just in daily communicative form.

C. Sentence Patterns
Unlike English or even Bahasa Indonesia, the national language of the
society at Sasak, which has the basic sentence pattern in SVO form (e.g.: I
kicked the ball or Saya menendang bola itu), Sasaknese has various patterns of
sentence. For the sentence I kicked the ball, Sasaknese has similar pattern, but
with little addition at the beginning. The addition is a particle siq, muq, or

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 buq at the beginning, suffixed with the subject, and then continued with the
placement of the verb and the object. This pattern forms psVO (particle+Subject
Verb Object) with the subject in the suffixed form.
Siqk tendang bal no.
I kicked the ball

Some sentences in Sasaknese have VsO form, like the sentence bellow:

Melek mangan.
Want I to eat.
(I want to eat.)

There is also Sasaknese sentence in SVO form but with the base form of the
subject. In this case, the sentence stress is placed at the subject.

Aku mele mangan

I want to eat.

But this sentence has different sense. The meaning is not I want to eat,
but it is closer to It is me who want to eat.
In this paper, only the first and the second form of the sentence are
discussed, relating to the following discussions about transitive and intransitive
verbs in Sasaknese.

D. Transitive Verb with Particle Siq/Muq/Buq+Subject

The form of the verb in Sasaknese affects the pattern of the sentence. If
the verb is transitive, the pattern of the sentence is psVO (particle+subject Verb
Object). First, lets see some transitive verbs in Sasaknese:
Bace : Read
Empok : Strike/struck
Beng : Give/gave

These transitive verbs are attached with suffixed forms of the subjects, then
the objects come after them.
e.g.
Subject: She (-n) siqn/muqn/buqn
She read the story.

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 Siqn bace buku no.
If the object is in the form of pronoun, it is in the suffixed form attached at the
end of the verb.
e.g.
Subject: We (-t) siqt/muqt/buqt
Object: You (-m)

We struck you yesterday.

Muqt mpokm uik.

E. Intransitive Verb without Particle siq/muq/buq

If the verb in Sasaknese sentence is intransitive, there is no particle before
the verb. Alternatively, the subject in the suffixed form is attached at the end of
the verb. Now lets first see some intransitive verbs in Sasaknese:
Lalo : Go/went
Pelai : Run/Ran
Kesur : Fly/flew

The sentence pattern is VsC (Verb+suffixed subject Complement)

e.g.
Subject: He (-n)
He went to Mataram.
Lalon jok Mataram.

If the subject of the sentence is followed by the word pade as the pluralizer
for particular subjects, the position of this word (pade) is usually before the
verb.
e.g.
Subject: You (-m pade)
You run to school every week.
Pade pelaim jok sekolah bilang minggu. (pade is before the verb)

Exceptions

Although the verb is transitive, if the object does not exist, the Vs pattern is
used. For example:
I eat every day Mangank bilang jelo.

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 CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION

Sasaknese is one of the unique languages in the world in terms of its

structure. The discussion on this paper is just a tiny part of Sasaknese structure
used in daily conversation, dealing with the fact that Sasak tribe has a number
of sub parts with different styles of language. In fact, even in one sub district,
there could be two or more styles of Sasaknese. This is the proof that Sasaknese
is categorized as a very unique language.

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 REFERENCES

Ward, G. and Birner, B. J. 2001. Discourse and Information Structure. Oxford:

Backwell Publisher.

Nordquist, R. 2016. Language Definition. http://grammar.about.com/

od/il/g/languageterm.htm Retreived on July 22nd, 2016.

Goldstein, E. B. 2008. Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and

Everyday Experience, 2nd ed.