Perubahan morfologi dalam tiga edisi Kamus Dewan

Abstract

This article attempts to examine morphological changes that occur in Malay grammar by analysing three editions of Kamus Dewan (1970, 1984, 1994). For the purpose of this article, the morphological aspect that comes under investigation is the affixation of memper-kan with adjectival roots for deriving verbal derived forms. It is apparent that the change is not motivated by natural developments of the language but due to the prescriptive grammar established in the Tatabahasa Dewan (Nik Safiah, 1997) which claims that redundancy features are not permitted in Malay. However based on my observation and the available data, redundancy elements actively occur in the language. Thus, it must be treated as part of the Malay grammar. It is apparent that redundancy has a grammatical function in the language that is to reinforce the linguistic information conveyed by the speakers. If redundancy is regarded as the grammatical aspect of Malay, then the prescriptive change that was performed on Kamus Dewan (1994) should be re-analysed and redefined.