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Description:
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This is a detailed application of the methods of linguistic analysis to the
sentence structure of Malay. It is based on extended analysis of short
dramatic texts in colloquial Malay by Dato’ Dr Haji Zainal-Abidin bin
Ahmad, best know under his pen name Za‘ba. Miss Lewis’ analyses are, with
certain modifications, kept within the grammatical framework which she
deduced from a thesis presented by Dr E. M. F. Payne in 1964. She has shown
that the framework is viable when applied to actual texts, though her
analysis leads to certain modifications and extensions of the original
plan. The book has a double interest. Students with a basic knowledge of
Malay will find that the investigation into sentence formation refines
their understanding of the language. Linguists interested in the
application of a formal grammatical framework to the sentences of a
Austronesian language will welcome this pioneer study.
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