Aspect in Malay Verbs: Realigning Time and Volition to Malay Events

Abstract

This article examines existing studies of Malay verbs by major local Malay scholars. An interesting finding from the review is that there is a lack of emphasis on aspect as a semantic category in Malay verbs. The lack of overt tense marking in Malay verbs suggests that the verbs operate according to an internal temporal framework. Hence, it is necessary to highlight aspect as the underlying semantico-syntactic operator in Malay syntax guided with verb. To illuminate the point, verbal frames are incorporated as the necessary semantic template for the operation of Malay verbal prefixes in Malay phrases. The explication, based on existing linguistic notions of syntax and semantics, offers different interpretations of verb structures from previous studies to pave the way for a more detailed analysis of Malay verbs that factors in aspect as part of the phrasal construction.