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Jespersen Cycles on Malekula

  • Julie Barbour EMAIL logo
From the journal Linguistic Typology

Abstract

In the indigenous languages of Malekula Island, members of Oceanic, diverse standard negation strategies have been identified, including double negation, simple preverbal negators, and simple postverbal negators. Individual languages may display more than one strategy. In this article, evidence from Malekula is considered for the typological hypothesis known as the Jespersen Cycle(s). Six standard negation strategies are described in detail and illustrated using data from a sample of Malekula languages. Here, the Jespersen Cycle hypothesis is employed to understand diversity in the synchronic patterning of standard negation in a comparative analysis of the sample: the diverse standard negation strategies found both language-internally and comparatively can be understood as iterations of the Jespersen Cycle(s).

Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Marsden Fund for grant ll-UOW007 (Exploring Mood in the Oceanic Languages of Vanuatu), as well as support from the University of Waikato’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Thanks also to valuable feedback and comments from two anonymous reviewers.

Abbreviations

1/2/3=1st/2nd/3rd person; ana=anaphoric; compl=completive; cont=continuative; dem=demonstrative; dem.ana=anaphoric demonstrative; dem.id=identifying demonstrative; du=dual; dup=reduplication; emph=emphatic; incl=inclusive; indf=indefinite; irr=irrealis; neg=negator; nsg=non-singular; nsp=non-specific; num=number; obl=oblique; part=partitive; pl=plural; poss= possessive; pst=;past tense; r=realis; sg=singular; subj=subject; tr=transitive.

Appendix A: Standard Malekula Orthography (SMO)

Malekula languages have traditions of literacy that have developed independently of each other. In some cases, the traditions are strongly tied to missionary work; in other cases, to linguistic or anthropological work. This means that words that sound very similar from one language to the next can have somewhat different spellings. In order to draw out similarities between data from different languages, a Standard Malekula Orthography has been employed.

The Standard Malekula Orthography is a typological convenience. In no way is it intended to supersede existing orthographic practices in individual communities.

Vowels:

/i//e//ə//a//u//o//ø, ɔ//y/
ieëauoöü

Nasals

/m//mw//m̼//n//ŋ/
mmwm’nng

Plosives:

/p//pw//p̼//mb//mbw//m̼b̼//t//nd//k//ŋg//ʔ/
ppwp’bbwb’tdkgq

Fricatives and affricates:

/v, β//vw//v̼, β̼//s//ʧ//nʤ//x, ɣ//h/
vvwv’schjkhh

Liquids, Approximants, Trills:

/ɾ, r//r//l//j//w//mb//nd/
rrrlywbbdr

A small number of languages (including Unua) have a phonemic contrast between the flap /ɾ/ and the trill /r/. In these languages, ‘r’ is used for the flap, while ‘rr’ is used for the trill. Strictly speaking, Neve‘ei should be written as “Neveqei”, using the SMO; however given the orthographic form of the language name in several publications, it is spelt with an apostrophe representing the glottal stop in this work.

Appendix B: Data sources

Table 7:

Case study languages.

ISO codeLanguageAlternate namesPublished data sourcesCorpora
lgkNeververLingarak, Bushman’s BayBarbour (2009, 2012)Barbour: nvt
vnmNeve‘eiVinmavisCrowley (2002), Deacon (1934), Musgrave (2001, 2007)Crowley/Musgrave/Barbour: vnm
upvUripivNortheast MalekulaMcKerras (2001)McKerras/Barbour: upv
snsNahavaqSinesip, SeniangDeacon (1934), Dimock (2009)Dimock: nhv
onuUnuaUnua-Pangkumu, RerepPearce (2015)
mrsTapeMaragusCrowley (2006b)
Table 8:

Other Malekula languages discussed.

ISO codeLanguageAlternate namesPublished data sourcesCorpora
tmbAvavaKhatbol, TisvelCrowley (2006a)Crowley/Barbour: ava
lrvLarevetLarevatBarbour: lvt
aulAuluaPaviour-Smith (2005), Paviour-Smith & Makenzie (2005)
klvMaskelynesKuliviu, UleveuHealey (2013)
(upv)Atchin(Northeast Malekula)Capell & Layard (1980)
nmbV’ënen TautBig NambasFox (1979), Dodd (2013)Dodd: nmb
mllMalua BayEspiegle’s BayWessels (2013), Holmes (2014)Wessels: mll
lzlNamanLitzlitzCrowley (2006c)Crowley/Barbour: lzl
NeseMatanvatCrowley (2006d)
mmeTiraxMaeBrotchie (2009)

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Received: 2015-4-13
Revised: 2015-10-5
Published Online: 2015-12-22
Published in Print: 2015-11-1

©2015 by De Gruyter Mouton

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