STRUKTUR SINTAKTIK BAHASA INGGRIS DAN BAHASA SELAYAR: SEBUAH STUDI KONTRASTIF = SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES OF ENGLISH AND SELAYARESE: A CONTRASTIVE STUDY

This study analyzes the syntactic structure of English and Selayarese, focusing on their similarities and differences at the sentence level. Using a qualitative research method, the study explores the formation of simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences, as well as the structure of noun and verb phrases in both languages. The findings show that English follows a rigid Subject-VerbObject (SVO) structure and uses auxiliary verbs and modal verbs to indicate tense, aspect, and mood. In contrast, Selayarese demonstrates flexibility in word order, using either Verb-Subject-Object (VSO) or Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) patterns depending on the focus of the sentence, and employs a rich system of affixation to mark tense, aspect, and grammatical relationships without altering the base form of the verb. Both languages share similarities in using adverbial and prepositional phrases to provide additional information and in connecting clauses in compound and complex sentences. However, significant differences are observed in verb morphology, conjunction usage, and the structure of relative clauses. English relies on explicit conjunctions and relative pronouns to form complex clauses, while Selayarese is more flexible in combining clauses without the need for relative pronouns. This contrastive study contributes to a broader understanding of syntactic structure, showing how linguistic systems reflect universal grammatical patterns while accommodating specific linguistic requirements.

Keywords: Contrastive study, English language, syntactic structure, Selayarese