Object preposed constructions in Malay

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the syntactic nature of Object Preposed constructions in Malay. Its purpose is to determine whether these constructions exhibit properties typically associated with a passive analysis or a topic analysis. The data elicited for this thesis reveals two pertinent properties: (i) the verb in Object Preposed constructions cannot bear any morphology (i.e. inflectional prefixing); (ii) the appearance of an aspectual marker, modal or adverb (with certain restrictions regarding adverbs) is a necessary requirement for acceptability. The first of these properties has been widely recognized in the literature, whereas the second has not been acknowledged. -- The analysis put forward in this thesis is within a Government and Binding (Generative) framework. Various assumptions have been made with regard to constraints on A'-movement, licensing properties of INFL, and the availability of an alternate subject position. Based on these assumptions, this thesis argues that the properties exhibited by Object Preposing, with regard to morphology and required elements, are indicative of a syntactic structure typically associated with topicalization rather than passivization. -- Examples from Mandarin Chinese involving preverbal object NPs are discussed as they are remarkably similar to the Malay data found-in this thesis. These examples also require the appearance of an additional element. Mandarin, however, imposes further restrictions than Malay as the element is limited to a small group of aspectual markers and adverbs. -- Constructions sharing a similar syntactic structure with topicalization (e.g. wh-movement and focusing) are also examined and compared with those of Object Preposing. These provide further evidence that Object Preposed constructions are essentially topicalized constructions and not a second form of Passive in Malay.