Yang in the Question and Answer Sentences of Indonesian Language

摘要

In Indonesian grammar, yang used only with question words siapa 'who' and apa 'what', in specific position, like in Siapa yang menulis surat? 'Who wrote the letter?', and Surat apa yang ditulis oleh Ali? 'What kinds of letter did Ali wrote?'. Yang did not used in the sentences Kamu mencari siapa (*yang)? 'You look for whom?/Whom did you look for?', Ali menulis apa (*yang)? 'Ali write what? / what did Ali write?' From the contrast of two kinds of sentences, we ruled out that yang used only with apa and siapa which asked grammatical subject. In the sentences such as Siapa yang bajunya sobek? 'Whose shirt is torn?' and Ali apanya yang sobek? 'What Ali's thing is torn?'. Do the two last sentences ask the grammatical subject? The answer of Siapa yang menulis surat? is Ali yang menulis surat 'Ali wrote the letter'. The answer of Siapa yang bajunya sobek? is Ali yang bajunya sobek. The answer sentences used yang. This article will rule out the usage of yang in question and answer sentences.