Corpus-based approach meets LFG: Puzzling voice alternation in Indonesian
Creators: name: Rajeg, Gede Primahadi Wijaya
name: Rajeg, I Made
name: Arka, I Wayan
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Linguistics
subject: FOS: Languages and literature
subject: 200408 Linguistic Structures (incl. Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics)
subject: 200313 Indonesian Languages
subject: 200402 Computational Linguistics

description: This version (Version 3) adds the pre-print of the full paper. Data, codes, and figures for the quantitative analyses can be accessed from here or here.<br>Accepted paper for the <i>25<sup>th</sup> International Lexical-Functional Grammar Conference</i> (organised virtually from 23 - 26 June 2020). <br>In this talk, we show that voice alternation is not only about meaning-preserving phenomenon and re-alignment of grammatical relations and semantic roles. We argue, instead, that such phenomenon also involves lexical-meaning construction with holistic morpho-semantic and usage properties that may differ between voice types for a given verbal root. <br>We contrast the distribution of different senses for verbs based on the Indonesian verbal root <i>kena</i> 'get hit' in different voice constructions (i.e. <i>dikenai, dikenakan, mengenai, </i>and <i>mengenakan</i>). <br>Based on quantitative, corpus-based evidence, we show that different meanings conveyed by a given verb (e.g. <i>kenai</i>)<i> </i>find different expression in different voice types (e.g. the different predominant sense for the A(ctive) V(oice) <i>mengenai</i> vs. PASS(ive) voice <i>dikenai</i>). Another important finding is that certain sense of a given verb can be directly constructed in one voice type (i.e. PASS) without any usage evidence of that sense in AV (hence, no voice alternation for that sense, let alone its meaning-preserving status).<br>Our findings challenge the status-quo in linguistic theorising that voice alternation is a matter of re-alignment of syntactic function and semantic-role as well as meaning-preserving phenomenon (cf. Kroeger 2005: 271); however, from the usage-based perspective, voice in Indonesian can be seen as morphological constructions as they may involve lexical-meaning construction for each voice type for a given root, bringing about distinct usage/semantic preferences between alternating voice (e.g. between AV and PASS form). Moreover, we argue that voice alternation needs to be relativised to (i) a certain (rather than all potential) sense(s) of a verb, and (ii) (statistical) usage constraints of the verb's semantics in certain voice.<br>We capture distinct semantic preferences across voice using Lexical-Functional Grammar formalism and Optimality Theory (OT) analysis.<br>The precursor of this study can be seen in G.P.W. Rajeg, I M. Rajeg, I W. Arka (2020).<br>We are also working on language-production experimental data to further test our corpus-based findings regarding the predominant sense for a given verb in a given voice.<br><br><b>Reference</b>Rajeg, Gede Primahadi Wijaya, I Made Rajeg &amp; I Wayan Arka. 2020. Contrasting the semantics of Indonesian -<i>kan</i> and -<i>i </i>verb pairs: A usage-based, constructional approach. In I Wayan Mulyawan, Made Sri Satyawati, I Nyoman Suparwa, Ketut Artawa &amp; Maria Matildis Banda (eds.), <i>Prosiding Seminar Nasional Bahasa Ibu XII</i>, 328–344. Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia: Udayana University Press. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12311192.<br>Rajeg, Gede Primahadi Wijaya, I Made Rajeg &amp; I Wayan Arka. 2020. Corpus-based approach meets LFG: Puzzling voice alternation in Indonesian. OSF. doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/YMD2V. osf.io/ymd2v.<br>