series: Pacific Linguistics [PL]

Published by De Gruyter Mouton

Pacific Linguistics [PL]

In collaboration with: I. Wayan Arka, Danielle Barth, David Bradley, Don Daniels, Bethwyn Evans, Nicholas Evans, David Nash, Bruno Olsson, Bill Palmer, Andrew Pawley, Malcolm Ross, Dineke Schokkin and Jane Simpson
Edited by: Alexander Adelaar

ISSN: 1448-8310

e-ISSN 2194-2048

Overview
Volumes

From 1963 to 2011 Pacific Linguistics, located at the Australian National University, published over six hundred books concerned with the languages of the Pacific, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Southeast, South and East Asia. The Mouton Pacific Linguistics series represents a continuation of this publishing venture under the same Editorial Board.

The Pacific Linguistics series presents linguistic descriptions, dictionaries, and other materials concerned with languages of this region.

The authors and editors of Pacific Linguistics publications are drawn from a wide range of institutions around the world, and its publications are refereed by international scholars with relevant expertise.

Pacific Linguistics has built a reputation as the most authoritative publisher of works on the languages of the Pacific and neighbouring areas, read by scholars with an interest in the region as well as by linguists with interests in language typology, sociolinguistics, language contact and the reconstruction of linguistic change and culture history. Pacific Linguistics is proud to act as a vehicle for the dissemination of knowledge about the languages of the Pacific and the Pacific Rim, many of which are little known, and to bring them to the attention of scholars around the world, as well as providing local communities with published language material, at a time when many minority languages are under threat.

Supplementary Materials

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book: A Grammar of Nama

Book Ahead of Publication 2023

A Grammar of Nama

A Papuan Language of Southern New Guinea

Jeff Siegel

Volume 668 in this series

Nama is a Papuan language spoken by around 1200 people in the Morehead district of southern New Guinea. It is a member of the Nambu subgroup of the Yam family of languages (also known as the Morehead-Upper Maro family). This grammar is the first published comprehensive description of a language in this subgroup. Nama has an interesting complex morphology with 21 nominal suffixes (17 case-marking) and 31 verbal prefixes and suffixes, indexing arguments (person/number) and indicating tense (current, recent, remote) and aspect (perfective/imperfective, inceptive, punctual, delimited, durative). Nama also has some linguistic features that are either very rare or not attested in other languages.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.0000/9783111077017
ISBN:: 9783111077017
ISBN:: 9783111076614
ISBN:: 9783111077116
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Levels of Linguistic Analysis
Subject:: Morphology
Subject:: Syntax
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Language Documentation
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Sketch Grammar of Kopar

Book 2022

A Sketch Grammar of Kopar

A Language of New Guinea

William A. Foley

Volume 667 in this series

Kopar is a very moribund, close to extinct, language spoken in three villages at the mouth of the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea. This is the only description of the language available. It also discusses areas where rapid language shift is affecting the structure of Kopar.

Although the period of fieldwork was necessarily short, this book provides as comprehensive a description as possible of the grammatical structure of this complex and fascinating language. It is quite thorough and detailed and goes well beyond what is normally considered a sketch grammar. It covers all the phenomena essential to description and comparison and gives clear, typologically sound definitions and explanations. The grammar is written with the research interests of language typologists and comparative grammarians foremost in mind.

Typologically, Kopar can be described as a split ergative, polysynthetic language. The language lacks nominal case marking so ergativity or lack thereof is signaled by verbal agreement affixes. Tenses and moods which describe as yet unrealized events, like future and imperative, pattern accusatively for agreement affixes, while those express realized events, like past and present, pattern ergatively. In addition, the ergative case schema is overlaid by a direct-inverse inflectional schema determined by a person hierarchy, a feature Kopar shares with other languages in its Lower Sepik family. As a polysynthetic language, incorporation of sentential elements like temporals, locationals, adverbials and verbals is extensive, though noun incorporation is not.

Sadly, this work is all the documentation we will likely ever have of Kopar, a language of potentially very high theoretical interest, given its rare typological profile. It will certainly be of interest to language typologists and comparative grammarians, and anyone who wants to explore the range of language variation

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110791440
ISBN:: 9783110791440
ISBN:: 9783110791181
ISBN:: 9783110791549
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Levels of Linguistic Analysis
Subject:: Morphology
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: General Linguistics
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammar of Yélî Dnye

Book Open Access 2022

A Grammar of Yélî Dnye

The Papuan Language of Rossel Island

Stephen C. Levinson, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics

Volume 666 in this series

More Cite Download EPUB Download PDF

This is a comprehensive description of a language spoken some 450 km offshore from the mainland of Papua New Guinea. The language is remarkable for its phonological, morphological and syntactic complexity. As the sole surviving member of its language family, and with little historical contact with surrounding languages, the language provides evidence of the kind of languages spoken in this part of the world before the Austronesian expansion.

The grammar provides detailed information on the phoneme inventory, morphology, syntax and select semantic fields. Remarkable features include a 90 phoneme inventory including unique sounds, a morphology with thousands of non-compositional portmanteau elements, complex rules for negation, and extensive ergative syntax. Unusual patterns are also found in the organization of semantic fields, for example in partonymies of the body, taxonomies of the natural world, verbal semantics and kinship terms. The combination of linguistic ‘rara’ suggest that linguistic evolution under low contact can yield baroque and unusual patterns. The volume should be of special interest to linguists, typologists, sociolinguists, anthropologists and researchers in Oceania and Melanesia.

Endorsement:

"This long-awaited grammar is a major contribution to Papuan and general linguistics, providing as it does by far the most comprehensive and accurate grammatical description of a language that has already assumed a position as one of the world's most complicated. Hitherto, the most extensive grammatical description of the language has been the survey-like Henderson (1995), and while Levinson explicitly acknowledges his debt to this earlier grammar and to unpublished work by Henderson, his own detailed grammar clearly takes the level of description and analysis of the language to a completely new level. In particular, Levinson's grammar makes clear precisely to what extent and in what ways the language's morphology is complex beyond even what most studies on morphologically complex languages envisage. In addition, it provides a much more detailed account of the language's syntax, based on a judicious combination of corpus attestation and careful elicitation (incl. using the kits developed by Levinson's group at the MPI for Psycholinguistics). The grammar thus not only fills a major lacuna in our knowledge of the non-Austronesian languages of the New Guinea area, but also provides grist for future studies on the implications of the language's complexities."
Bernard Comrie, University of California, Santa Barbara

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110733853
ISBN:: 9783110733853
ISBN:: 9783110733907
ISBN:: 9783110738476
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Language Documentation
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Dictionary of Atong

Book 2021

A Dictionary of Atong

A Tibeto-Burman Language of Northeast India and Bangladesh

Seino van Breugel

Volume 664 in this series

Atong is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Northeast India and Bangladesh. In this dictionary, Seino van Breugel provides a rigorous, well-illustrated and well-referenced lexical description of the language, making this book of great interest and value to general linguists, typologists, as well as area specialists and cultural anthropologists. Comprising not only of an Atong-English, but also an English-Atong dictionary, as well as semantic lexica, this volume is one of the most thorough lexical descriptions of a Bodo-Garo language to date. The grammatical lexica allow the reader quick access to lists of members of the various Atong word classes, collocations and idiomatic expressions. The grammatical compendium makes this book self-contained, while its many references link it to the rest of the author’s corpus on the Atong language. The appendix of photos not only provides visual illustrations to many of the Atong dictionary entries, but also offers the reader a glance at the physical environment in which the language is spoken.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110718003
ISBN:: 9783110718003
ISBN:: 9783111114736
ISBN:: 9783110718072
ISBN:: 9783110717976
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Applied Linguistics
Subject:: Lexicography
Subject:: Writing Systems and Orthography
Subject:: Languages of Asia
Subject:: Sino-Tibetan Languages
Subject:: Sino-Tibetan Languages, other
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammar of Paluai

Book 2020

A Grammar of Paluai

The Language of Baluan Island, Papua New Guinea

Dineke Schokkin

Volume 663 in this series

This is the first comprehensive description of Paluai, an Oceanic Austronesian language spoken on Baluan Island in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea. Based on extensive field research, the grammar covers all linguistic levels, including phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics, while paying particular attention to pragmatics and discourse practices.

This is the first comprehensive description of Paluai, a language from the underdescribed Admiralties subgroup, a first-order branch of Oceanic (Austronesian). Paluai is spoken on Baluan Island in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea, by two to three thousand people.

The grammar is based on extensive field research by the author and covers all linguistic levels. After a general introduction of its socio-cultural context, the language's phonology is discussed, followed by two chapters on its parts of speech, divided by open and closed word classes. Following chapters address topics such as the structure of the noun phrase, verbal and non-verbal clauses, grammatical relations, serial verb constructions, mood, negation and clause combining. The final chapter provides an in-depth discussion of pragmatics and discourse practices relevant to Paluai, illustrated through two narrative texts that are included integrally at the end of the book.

This grammar is of interest to scholars working on Austronesian languages, particularly those of the New Guinea region, and those working on linguistic typology. It is also relevant to those interested in the history, languages and cultures of this region more generally.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110675177
ISBN:: 9783110675177
ISBN:: 9783110777772
ISBN:: 9783110675221
ISBN:: 9783110675139
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Austronesian Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Language Documentation
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: Noun Phrases in Australian Languages

Book 2019

Noun Phrases in Australian Languages

A Typological Study

Dana Louagie

Volume 662 in this series

This book presents a first comprehensive typological analysis of noun phrases in Australian languages, covering the domains of classification, qualification, quantification, determination and constituency. The analysis is based on a representative sample of 100 languages. Among other points, the results call into question the classic idea that Australian languages tend to lack phrasal structures in the nominal domain, with over two thirds of the languages showing evidence for phrasehood. Moreover, it is argued that it may be more interesting to typologise languages on the basis of where and how they allow phrasal structure, rather than on the basis of a yes-no answer to the question of constituency. The analysis also shows that a determiner slot can be identified in about half of the languages, even though they generally lack 'classic' determiner features like obligatory use in particular contexts or a restriction to one determiner per NP. Special attention is given to elements, which can be used both inside and beyond determiner slots, demonstrating how part of speech and functional structure do not always align. The book is of interest to researchers documenting Australian languages, as well as to typologists and theorists.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501512933
ISBN:: 9781501512933
ISBN:: 9781501512872
ISBN:: 9781501525704
ISBN:: 9781501517808
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of Australia
Subject:: Pama–Nyungan Languages
Subject:: Non Pama–Nyungan Languages
Subject:: Levels of Linguistic Analysis
Subject:: Syntax
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammar and Dictionary of Tayap

Book 2019

A Grammar and Dictionary of Tayap

The Life and Death of a Papuan Language

Don Kulick, Angela Terrill

Volume 661 in this series

Tayap is a small, previously undocumented Papuan language, spoken in a single village called Gapun, in the lower Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea. The language is an isolate, unrelated to any other in the area. Furthermore, Tayap is dying. Fewer than fifty speakers actively command it today.

Based on linguistic anthropological work conducted over the course of thirty years, this book describes the grammar of the language, detailing its phonology, morphology and syntax. It devotes particular attention to verbs, which are the most elaborated area of the grammar, and which are complex, fusional and massively suppletive.The book also provides a full Tayap-English-Tok Pisin dictionary.

A particularly innovative contribution is the detailed discussions of how Tayap’'s grammar is dissolving in the language of young speakers. The book exemplifies how the complex structures in fluent speakers’ Tayap are reduced or reanalyzed by younger speakers.

This grammar and dictionary should therefore be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the mechanics of how languages disappear. The fact that it is the sole documentation of this unique Papuan language should also make it of interest to areal specialists and language typologists.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501512209
ISBN:: 9781501512209
ISBN:: 9781501525520
ISBN:: 9781501517570
ISBN:: 9781501512025
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Language Contact
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

Book 2020

Volume 3

Part of the multi-volume work The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar

Volume 660 in this series

These volumes present sketches of the Papuan languages scattered over the islands of Timor, Alor and Pantar. Together they give an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the unique and diverse grammars of the Timor-Alor-Pantar languages, a family of 'Papuan outliers' located at the western perimeter of Melanesia. While largely undescribed until recently, the Timor-Alor-Pantar languages are now among the most intensively studied Papuan families. In this third volume, five new sketches of members of the family are presented, all written by specialist linguists on the basis of original field work.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501511158
ISBN:: 9781501511158
ISBN:: 9781501516689
ISBN:: 9781501511073
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Language Contact
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Subject:: Sociolinguistics
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammar of Papapana

Book 2020

A Grammar of Papapana

An Oceanic Language of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea

Ellen Smith-Dennis

Volume 659 in this series

This monograph is not only the first comprehensive grammar of Papapana (a previously undocumented and under-described endangered language) but the first full reference grammar of any Oceanic language of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, despite this region displaying considerable linguistic innovation and language contact phenomena with numerous typologically significant features. This book describes Papapana on various levels, including phonology, morphology and syntax in noun phrases and the verb complex, and syntax at the clause- and sentence-level. Throughout the grammar, the described phenomena are related to the current research on typological and Oceanic linguistics. Typologically unusual features of Papapana include multiple reduplication, inverse-number marking in the noun phrase and postverbal subject-indexing. The book also describes the sociolinguistic and historical context within which Papapana is spoken and highlights linguistic changes resulting from language contact. The monograph fills an important gap in terms of grammatical descriptions of Bougainville Oceanic languages, and makes a significant contribution to the field of Oceanic linguistics, and to future comparative linguistic and typological research.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501509971
ISBN:: 9781501509971
ISBN:: 9781501520730
ISBN:: 9781501516801
ISBN:: 9781501509896
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Language Contact
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: Koromu (Kesawai)

Book 2019

Koromu (Kesawai)

Grammar and Information Structure of a New Guinea Language

Carol Priestley

Volume 658 in this series

This book is a grammatical description of Koromu (or Kesawai), an endangered and previously undescribed language in Papua New Guinea's Ramu Valley. Koromu belongs to the Madang subgroup of the putative Trans New Guinea family. The grammar covers the structures of the language, with an emphasis on information structure. Geographic, linguistic, social and historical setting are described as well as phonology and morphophonology. The book examines the morphosyntactic structures of the language, covering basic clause structure, word classes, phrase structures and structures of spatial reference, verbal morphology, serial verb constructions, experiencer object constructions and the various constructions of clause combining (clause chaining, complement clauses, adverbial and relative clauses). Chapters also deal with noun phrase (non)realisation and morphological signaling of prominence and show how links and tails are encoded grammatically. Appendices contain texts and a wordlist.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501510953
ISBN:: 9781501510953
ISBN:: 9781501517099
ISBN:: 9781501510229
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Generative Linguistics
Subject:: Language Contact
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: The Greater Awyu Languages of West Papua

Book 2020

The Greater Awyu Languages of West Papua

Lourens de Vries

Volume 657 in this series

This book is a comprehensive and authoritative description of the Greater Awyu family of Papuan languages. The book brings together many decades of research on Greater Awyu languages, including 10 years of field work by the author. The book presents a description of major patterns found in languages of the family: phonology, morphology, syntax and discourse. In addition, major aspects of the anthropological linguistics of Greater Awyu languages are described: counting systems, language names, kinship, linguistic ideologies, lexical substitution registers, avoidance and taboo. The linguistic patterns of Greater Awyu languages are systematically placed in the genetic, typological, areal and historical contexts of New Guinea.

The long dialect continuums within the family, by reflecting different diachronic stages, offer a window on the origin of switch reference, clause chaining, topic markers, postpositions and double-headed relative clauses.

The book is relevant for readers interested in the typological, historical and cultural linguistics of New Guinea but also for anthropologists and historians because the history and cultural practices of Greater Awyu speakers are a key part of the story of this language family.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501506956
ISBN:: 9781501506956
ISBN:: 9781501527203
ISBN:: 9781501515569
ISBN:: 9781501506918
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Language Contact
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: Conceptual Transfer as an Areal Factor

Book 2019

Conceptual Transfer as an Areal Factor

Spatial Conceptualizations in Mainland Southeast Asia

Stefanie Siebenhütter

Volume 656 in this series

By analyzing conceptual transfer this volume offers new insight in areal linguistics. Mainland Southeast Asia unifies great linguistic richness consisting of numerous languages and countless varieties of genetically diverse language families. Nevertheless, the area is known as a prime example for linguistic convergence. Exemplified by spatial reference in Thai, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese, this study reveals conceptual borrowing due to language contact as an areal defining feature. The results from the field-based data analysis may help answer what extent cultural impact can be used as evidence for the existence of linguistic areas. A speaker’s cultural background might have a stronger impact on the choice of spatial language encoding than expected. Method and structure of argumentation can provide a model for similar questions addressing the existence of linguistic areas as well as to other cognitive dimensions within the Southeast Asian area under consideration. Therefore, the study can be seen as a significant contribution to analyze possibly existing conceptual areas empirically and exemplarily. Additionally, the investigation can serve as an important complement to empirical assumptions of conceptual transfer.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501506642
ISBN:: 9781501506642
ISBN:: 9781501515286
ISBN:: 9781501506604
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of Asia
Subject:: Asian Languages, other
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Language Contact
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

Book 2017

Volume 2

Part of the multi-volume work The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar

Volume 655 in this series

Volume 2 brings together four new sketches of Timor-Alor-Pantar languages. Each sketch is written by specialist linguists on the basis of their own original field work conducted in the last decade. The languages show significant grammatical variation which will be of great interest to typologists and historical linguists. A substantial introduction orients the reader in the major issues, both historical and typological, of TAP linguistics.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614519027
ISBN:: 9781614519027
ISBN:: 9781501500336
ISBN:: 9781614519065
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammar of Kilmeri

Book 2018

A Grammar of Kilmeri

Claudia Gerstner-Link

Volume 654 in this series

This book is a description of Kilmeri, a language of Papua New Guinea, based on the author's fieldwork. The volume is dedicated to the detailed description of form and meaning and their interface, which is supported through extensive illustration by examples. The narrative structure of entire texts is accessible via a small collection of fully glossed personal and traditional stories included in the Online Supplement. The typological evaluation of selected properties of Kilmeri rounds out the description of the language.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501506765
ISBN:: 9781501506765
ISBN:: 9781501515378
ISBN:: 9781501506666
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: Murrinhpatha Morphology and Phonology

Book 2019

Murrinhpatha Morphology and Phonology

John Mansfield

Volume 653 in this series

Murrinhpatha is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken in a region of tropical savannah and tidal inlets on the north coast of the continent. Some 3000 speakers live mostly in the towns of Wadeye and Nganmarriyanga, though they maintain close ties to their traditional lands, totems and spirit ancestors.

Murrinhpatha word structure is highly complex, and quite distinct from the better-known Pama-Nyungan languages of central and southern Australia. Murrinhpatha is characterised by prolific compounding, clitic clusters, cumulative inflection, irregular allomorphy and phonological assimilation. This book provides a comprehensive account of these phenomena, giving particular attention to questions of morphological constituency, lexical storage, and whether there is really such thing as a ‘word’ unit.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501503306
ISBN:: 9781501503306
ISBN:: 9781501524424
ISBN:: 9781501511394
ISBN:: 9781501503108
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of Australia
Subject:: Australian Languages, other
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Dictionary of Austronesian Monosyllabic Roots (Submorphemes)

Book 2022

A Dictionary of Austronesian Monosyllabic Roots (Submorphemes)

Robert Blust

Volume 652 in this series

This book documents an understudied phenomenon in Austronesian languages, namely the existence of recurrent submorphemic sound-meaning associations of the general form -CVC.

It fills a critical gap in scholarship on these languages by bringing together a large body of data in one place, and by discussing some of the theoretical issues that arise in analyzing this data. Following an introduction which presents the topic, it includes a critical review of the relevant literature over the past century, and discussions of the following: 1. problems in finding the root (the "needle in the haystack" problem), 2. root ambiguity, 3. controls on chance as an interfering factor, 4. unrecognized morphology as a possible factor in duplicating evidence, 5. the shape/structure of the root, 6. referents of roots, 7. the origin of roots, 8. the problem of distinguishing false cognates produced by convergence in root-bearing morphemes from legitimate comparisons resulting from divergent descent, and 9. the problem of explaining how submorphemes are transmitted across generations of speakers independently of the morphemes that host them. The remainder of the book consists of a list of sources for the 197 languages from which data is drawn, followed by the roots with supporting evidence, a short appendix, and references.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110781694
ISBN:: 9783110781694
ISBN:: 9783110781618
ISBN:: 9783110781779
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Austronesian Languages
Subject:: Levels of Linguistic Analysis
Subject:: Morphology
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Historical Linguistics
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammar of Vurës, Vanuatu

Book 2016

A Grammar of Vurës, Vanuatu

Catriona Malau

Volume 651 in this series

This book is a comprehensive grammatical description of the Vurës language, spoken on the island of Vanua Lava, in the Banks group of islands, northern Vanuatu. Vurës is a previously undescribed language, with very few minor published works referring to the language.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501503641
ISBN:: 9781501503641
ISBN:: 9781501511660
ISBN:: 9781501503580
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Austronesian Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: Spatial Expression in Caac

Book 2018

Spatial Expression in Caac

An Oceanic Language Spoken in the North of New Caledonia

Aurélie Cauchard

Volume 650 in this series

In this study, the author describes the linguistic expression of space in Caac, an endangered and under-documented Oceanic language spoken in New Caledonia, from both a descriptive and theoretical perspective. Part I provides a concise description of Caac grammar, presenting a first formal portrait of this language to the reader. Part II describes the formal and semantic features of the linguistic resources available in Caac to encode spatial relationships. Part III presents the theoretical framework based on and exploring further the vector analysis developed by Bohnemeyer (2012) and Bohnemeyer & O'Meara (2012).

In particular, the author proposes an additional sub-category of vectors (Head-unspecified Vectors) which accounts for the uses of centrifugal forms in Caac. The resulting framework provides a systematic account of expressions of orientation as well as location and motion, and to combine the Frames of Reference typology (Pederson et al. 1998; Levinson, 1996, 2003; Bohnemeyer & Levinson, not dated) with an analysis of deictic expressions within a single framework. Special attention, moreover, is given to the use of Caac absolute and deictic directionals in spatial constructions involving Fictive Motion. The analysis of Caac data leads us to introduce an additional category of Fictive Motion beyond those previously recognised in the literature, labelled here "Anticipated Paths", which in turn shed new light on the nature of vectors and the relationship between location, motion and orientation.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501503498
ISBN:: 9781501503498
ISBN:: 9781501511547
ISBN:: 9781501503351
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Austronesian Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia

Book 2015

Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia

The State of the Art

N.J. Enfield, Bernard Comrie

Volume 649 in this series

The studies in this book represent the rich, diverse and substantial research being conducted today in the linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia. The chapters cover a broad scope. Several studies address questions of language relatedness, often challenging conventional assumptions about the status of language contact as an explanatory factor in accounting for linguistic similarities. Several address the question of Mainland Southeast Asia as a linguistic area, exploring new ways to imagine and define the boundaries, and indeed the boundedness, of a Mainland Southeast Asia area. Two contributions rethink the received notion of the 'sesquisyllable' with new empirical and theoretical angles. And a set of chapters explores topics in the morphology and syntax of the region's languages, sometimes challenging orthodox assumptions and claims about what a typical language of Mainland Southeast Asia is like. Written by leading researchers in the field, and with a substantial overview of current knowledge and new directions by the volume editors N. J. Enfield and Bernard Comrie, this book will serve as an authoritative source on where the linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia is at, and where it is heading.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501501685
ISBN:: 978-1-5015-0843-1
ISBN:: 978-1-5015-0168-5
ISBN:: 9781501501708
ISBN:: 9781501515897
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of Asia
Subject:: Asian Languages, other
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammar and Lexicon of Yintyingka

Book 2015

A Grammar and Lexicon of Yintyingka

Jean-Christophe Verstraete, Bruce Rigsby

Volume 648 in this series

This book provides a description of Yintyingka, a Pama-Nyungan language of Cape York Peninsula in Australia. The language is no longer spoken, but the analysis is based on a range of archival materials from the 1920s to the 1990s, as well as the authors' fieldwork experience with neighbouring languages. This book pays special attention to the language in its social context, historical-comparative analysis, and the methods used to analyse the archival material.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614519003
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-899-0
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-900-3
ISBN:: 9781501500718
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of Australia
Subject:: Pama–Nyungan Languages
Subject:: Levels of Linguistic Analysis
Subject:: Syntax
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammar of Unua

Book 2015

A Grammar of Unua

Elizabeth Pearce

Volume 647 in this series

The book presents a description of Unua, one of two dialects of Unua-Pangkumu, an Oceanic language of Malakula Island, Vanuatu. Unua has about 700 speakers who are bilinguals using Unua in local interactions and using the national language, Bislama, non-locally, as well as in local public and religious settings.

The description is based on material collected in the field from speakers of different age-groups in the five Unua villages. The data corpus includes a substantial body of material: contemporary translations of the New Testament gospels; audio-recorded transcribed and glossed texts; and elicited material collected with a range of speakers. The analysis includes comparisons with other Malakula languages and is both of typological and historical-comparative interest. The data documentation is substantial and detailed.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614516590
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-765-8
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-659-0
ISBN:: 9781501500510
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands, other
Subject:: Levels of Linguistic Analysis
Subject:: Syntax
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: Symmetrical Voice and Linking in Western Austronesian Languages

Book 2014

Symmetrical Voice and Linking in Western Austronesian Languages

Sonja Riesberg

Volume 646 in this series

This book is an in-depth study of the voice systems of Totoli, Balinese, Indonesian, and Tagalog, which shows that the symmetrical nature of these systems poses a problem to current linking theories. It provides an analysis of symmetrical linking within two grammatical theories (LFG & RRG) and develops a modified LFG linking mechanism that sheds light on the differences as well as the similarities of symmetrical and asymmetrical voice systems.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614518716
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-878-5
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-871-6
ISBN:: 9781501500664
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Austronesian Languages
Subject:: Levels of Linguistic Analysis
Subject:: Syntax
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: Jarai Clauses and Noun Phrases

Book 2014

Jarai Clauses and Noun Phrases

Syntactic Structures in an Austronesian Language

Joshua Jensen

Volume 645 in this series

The first published treatment of the syntax of Jarai, an Austronesian language of Southeast Asia, this volume focuses on the noun phrase and three regions of the clause: the left periphery, inflectional elements, and the verbal domain. Close attention is given to pseudo-cleft questions and serial verb constructions. Phenomena are carefully described, then analyzed within the Minimalist framework.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614516804
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-771-9
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-680-4
ISBN:: 9781501510069
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Austronesian Languages
Subject:: Levels of Linguistic Analysis
Subject:: Syntax
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Generative Linguistics
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

Book 2014

Volume 1

Part of the multi-volume work The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar

Volume 644 in this series

This volume provides descriptive sketches of the Papuan languages scattered over the islands of Timor, Alor, and Pantar at the western perimeter of Melanesia. Timor-Alor-Pantar languages are a group of related "Papuan outliers," which until recently were largely undocumented. This book provides an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the unique and diverse grammars of the Timor-Alor-Pantar languages.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614515241
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-723-8
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-524-1
ISBN:: 9781501501159
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Subject:: Levels of Linguistic Analysis
Subject:: Syntax
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammatical Sketch of Hainan Cham

Book 2014

A Grammatical Sketch of Hainan Cham

History, Contact, and Phonology

Graham Thurgood, Ela Thurgood, Li Fengxiang

Volume 643 in this series

This volume is a grammatical sketch of Hainan Cham, an endangered tonal Austronesian language. The study focuses on three areas: social background and contact history, the grammar (including all the recorded vocabulary), and a description of the sound system (including acoustic description). The appendixes also include the wordlist of Sanya Chinese forms and four analyzed texts.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614516040
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-734-4
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-604-0
ISBN:: 9781614518778
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Austronesian Languages
Subject:: Levels of Linguistic Analysis
Subject:: Syntax
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: The Dynamics of Nominal Classification

Book 2016

The Dynamics of Nominal Classification

Productive and Lexicalised Uses of Gender Agreement in Mawng

Ruth Singer

Volume 642 in this series

The use of grammatical gender in the Australian language Mawng calls into question prevailing ideas about the functions of nominal classification systems. Mawng’s gender system has a strong semantic basis and plays an important role in the construction of meaning in discourse. Gender agreement in verbs is frequently lexicalized, creating idioms called lexicalised agreement verbs that are structurally similar to noun-verb idioms. This book will be of interest to anyone interested in nominal classification or cross-linguistic approaches to idioms.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614513698
ISBN:: 9781614513698
ISBN:: 9781614514244
ISBN:: 9781501501203
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Austronesian Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: Early Tahitian Poetics

Book 2013

Early Tahitian Poetics

David Meyer

Volume 641 in this series

Tahiti has a rich history of oral tradition. Early visitors to the island transcribed recitations of myth, battle address, and land description. Until now their poetic organization has remained unexplored. From a computationally assisted analysis, this book describes early use of meter and parallelism and speculates on manner of composition. It sheds light on a poetic style unanticipated for Polynesia and remarkable among world poetries.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614513759
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-525-8
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-375-9
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Austronesian Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Anthropological Linguistics and Ethnolinguistics
Subject:: Language Documentation
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammar of Bilinarra

Book 2013

A Grammar of Bilinarra

An Australian Aboriginal Language of the Northern Territory

Felicity Meakins, Rachel Nordlinger

Volume 640 in this series

Felicity Meakins was awarded the Kenneth L. Hale Award 2021
by the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) for outstanding work on the documentation of endangered languages

This volume provides the first comprehensive description of Bilinarra, a Pama-Nyungan language of the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory (Australia). Bilinarra is a highly endangered language with only one speaker remaining in 2012 and no child learners. The materials on which this grammatical description is based were collected by the authors over a 20 year period from the last first-language speakers of the language, most of whom have since passed away. Bilinarra is a member of the Ngumpin subgroup of Pama-Nyungan which forms a part of the Ngumpin-Yapa family, which also includes Warlpiri. It is non-configurational, with nominals commonly omitted, arguments cross-referenced by pronominal clitics and word order grammatically free and largely determined by information structure. In this grammatical description much attention is paid to its morphosyntax, including case morphology, the pronominal clitic system and complex predicates. A particular strength of the volume is the provision of sound files for example sentences, allowing the reader access to the language itself.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614512745
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-268-4
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-274-5
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of Australia
Subject:: Pama–Nyungan Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Dictionary of Owa

Book 2013

A Dictionary of Owa

A Language of the Solomon Islands

Greg Mellow

Volume 639 in this series

The Solomon Islands has a rich linguistic heritage of over 60 languages, many of which have not been described in detail. This first dictionary of Owa, a South East Solomonic Language, contains over 3900 entries, which are typically illustrated with examples of natural language. An overview of the phonology, morphology, and syntax is supplemented by notes on discourse features.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614513612
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-398-8
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-361-2
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Austronesian Languages
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Dictionary of Tauya

Book 2013

A Dictionary of Tauya

Lorna MacDonald

Volume 638 in this series

Comprising over 2500 entries, this is the first dictionary available for Tauya, a Trans New Guinea language of the Madang Family.Many entries are accompanied by several examples illustrating the use of these words in natural language. A brief overview of the structure of Tauya is included, consisting of information about its phonological, morphological, and syntactic systems, along with a description of various lexical classes.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614513360
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-563-0
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-336-0
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of the Pacific Islands
Subject:: Papuan Languages
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

book: A Grammar of (Western) Garrwa

Book 2012

A Grammar of (Western) Garrwa

Ilana Mushin

Volume 637 in this series

Mushin provides the first full grammatical description of Garrwa, a critically endangered language of the Southwest Gulf of Carpentaria region in Northern Australia. Garrwa is typologically interesting because of its uncertain status in the Australian language family, its pronouns and its word order syntax. This book covers Garrwa phonology, morphology and syntax, with a particular focus on the use of grammar in discourse. The grammatical description is supplemented with a word list and text collection, including transcriptions of ordinary conversation.

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614512417
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-306-3
ISBN:: 978-1-61451-241-7
Subject:: Linguistics and Semiotics
Subject:: Languages of Australia
Subject:: Australian Languages, other
Subject:: Theoretical Frameworks and Disciplines
Subject:: Linguistic Typology
Publisher:: De Gruyter Mouton

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