Ebook: Tak and Kok in Javanese Language

Publisher: Utrecht University The Netherlands
Publication date: 2008
Number of pages: 66Javanese language Ngoko has many sophisticated verbal affixes, and two of them, tak and kok, are widely known as passive markers in Javanese. However, these two affixes seem to have other functions as well. They can also occur as personal pronouns and as modal operators. This raises the question whether these so-called passive markers really marked passive voices. At issue is whether tak and kok are single morpheme with multiple functions or multiple homophonic morphemes, each with a different function. This paper argues that Javanese tak and kok are one type of morpheme when they function as passive markers and personal pronouns, but another homophonous type when they function as modal operators.