A Morpho-Phonological Study of Verb Derivational Process in Kiwangona Dialect of Lamaholot

Abstract

This research is about A morpho-phonological study of verb derivational process in Kiwangona dialect of Lamaholot. The objectives of this research are to describe the derivational process that attach to verbs in Kiwangona dialect of Lamaholot, to analyze and explain the meaning of the morphemes, and to find out the word class that is produced after the morphemes attach to verbs. This research uses a qualitative method with a descriptive-analytic approach, the data were collected through elicitation with native speakers in Bungalawan Village, Ile Boleng District, East Flores Regency. The findings show that the derivation processes are the prefixes {be-}, {ken-}, {pe-}, and the infix <en>, which change verbs into nouns or adjectives with meanings such as tool, actor, and result. In addition, there are initial phoneme changes such as /d/ → /n/, /g/ → /k/, /h/ → /n/, and /t/ → /n/, which produce nouns. The conclusions of this study enrich our understanding of derivational morpho-phonology, encourage the preservation of regional languages, and provide guidance for further research in the field of linguistics. A suggestion for future researchers is to analyze derivational processes in other word classes or other dialects of language.