This book is a synchronic description of the syntax of Sarikoli, an Eastern Iranian and Pamir language spoken exclusively in China. It is the first modern linguistic description of Sarikoli... Show moreThis book is a synchronic description of the syntax of Sarikoli, an Eastern Iranian and Pamir language spoken exclusively in China. It is the first modern linguistic description of Sarikoli syntax in English. The approach is theory-neutral, presenting and describing language data with commonly-accepted linguistic terminology. It includes copious linguistic examples transcribed in IPA accompanied by morpheme glosses and free translations. The entire corpus of texts and all linguistic research were gathered and conducted in the field by the researcher in cooperation with native speakers of Sarikoli. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the Sarikoli people and language in their geographical, historical, and cultural context. The typological profile, sociolinguistic situation, and previous research conducted on the language are discussed, along with short summaries on phonology, morphology, and verbs. The following chapters focus on different topics in the syntax of Sarikoli: noun phrase, pronouns and demonstratives, possession, comparison, adverbial modifiers, mood, clause structure, negation, clause combinations, modality, and evidentiality and new information. The concluding chapter introduces routine phrases and expressions. The appendices include transcripts of oral texts covering a wide range of genre and topics, as well as an orthography proposed by a native Sarikoli scholar. Show less
This thesis presents a detailed description of the phonology, the tone system and the grammar of Liko, a Bantu language spoken by about 70,000 people in the northeastern part of the Democratic... Show moreThis thesis presents a detailed description of the phonology, the tone system and the grammar of Liko, a Bantu language spoken by about 70,000 people in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides numerous examples. Liko has a nine-vowel system with ATR contrast in the mid and high vowels. Its pervasive vowel-harmony system is [+ATR] dominant, but there are dominant verbal and nominal [−ATR] enclitics which influence preceding [+ATR] non-high vowels. Liko is a tone language with both lexical and grammatical tone contrasts, depressor consonants and automatic as well as non-automatic downstep. Liko is one of the "Northern Bantu Borderland" languages. The Bantu noun-class and agreement system is present to a large extent. Nevertheless, subject agreement is limited in verbal morphology, and object agreement is obligatory for first and second persons and class 1 and 2 objects only. The Liko verbal system is complex. To encode Tense/Aspect/Mood, the language uses segmental morphemes, tone melodies as well as time adverbials. Tone and vowel-harmony rules determine the surface realization of the verb form. Topics in syntax include: verb valency and object agreement, word order, relative clauses, complex sentences and information structure, including an analysis of focus marking. Liko is a language with strict SVO word order. Relativization and left-dislocation reveal a syntactic means to differentiate between objects and adjuncts in this language. The two appendices contain ten texts as well as verb paradigms. Show less
The Ik language (Icé-tód), spoken in northeast Uganda, forms the Kuliak(Rub) subgroup along with So/Tepeth and Nyang’í. These latter two lectshave already succombed to assimilative pressures from... Show moreThe Ik language (Icé-tód), spoken in northeast Uganda, forms the Kuliak(Rub) subgroup along with So/Tepeth and Nyang’í. These latter two lectshave already succombed to assimilative pressures from neighboring Niloticpastoralists like the Karimojong, Turkana, and Pokot. Despite similarsociolinguistic circumstances, Ik has so far held up and still remains vital asthe mother-tongue of hundreds of young children. Since Ik is the lastmember of a waning subgroup, its documentation and description mayprovide key pieces to the puzzle of East African linguistic and ethnic prehistory. The complexity of this prehistory is embodied in Ik grammar which shows many traits shared with languages in both Afroasistic and Nilo- Saharan language families. And so a full grammatical treatment of Ik can shed some needed light on the classification of other language groups.To that end, this study offers a comprehensive but balanced grammatical analysis of Ik. It covers the basics of the Ik sociolinguistic milieu, genetic classification, phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon. Of particular typological interest are Ik’s unusual systems of vowel harmony, tone, and case, as well as the syntax of subordinate clauses, the grammaticalization of case in the verbal system, and sequential and simultaneous clause chains. Other fascinating topics include pre-pause devoicing, frozen prefixes, tensed modifiers, non-canonical passives, and an irrealis-realis modal distinction. Lastly, between the grammar and lexicon is provided a collection of five culturally relevant Ik texts as holistic examples of Ik in its natural context. Show less
This book presents a description of Sandawe, a Khoisan language spoken by approximately 60 000 speakers in Dodoma Region, Tanzania. The study presents an analysis of the phonology, morphology, and... Show moreThis book presents a description of Sandawe, a Khoisan language spoken by approximately 60 000 speakers in Dodoma Region, Tanzania. The study presents an analysis of the phonology, morphology, and syntax of the language, as well as a sample of four texts. The data for this dissertation were gathered by the author during fieldwork in the area where the language is spoken. The language has a rich phonology, with sets of lateral fricatives and affricates, ejectives, and fifteen clicks. The nominal domain is characterized by the absence of regular number marking. The verbal domain, on the other hand, shows various ways of number marking, which can express participant plurality and pluractionality. The study further provides a comprehensive description of the morphology and semantics of verbal derivation, such as iterative, factitive, causative and middle stems, and verbal case markers that introduce an additional pronominal object. Sandawe has various types of clitics, notably subject/modality markers and mediative clitics, which have a variable position in the clause. A grammar of Sandawe is of relevance to specialists in Khoisan studies as well as to general linguists and typologists interested in number marking, verbal derivation, and clitics. Show less
'A Web of Relations' is a descriptive grammar of the Jiaomuzu dialects of rGyalrong, a Qiangic language of the Tibeto-Burman family. rGyalrong is spoken in north-west Sichuan Province in the People... Show more'A Web of Relations' is a descriptive grammar of the Jiaomuzu dialects of rGyalrong, a Qiangic language of the Tibeto-Burman family. rGyalrong is spoken in north-west Sichuan Province in the People's Republic of China. The dissertation contains eight chapters and a collection of texts. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the Qiangic languages, the rGyalrong people and Jiaomuzu Township, the field work site. Chapter 2 describes the phonology. Chapters 3 through 7 contain a description of the morphology, dealing with pronouns, nouns, adverbs and some smaller word classes such as expressives, interjections and conjunctions, and finally verbs. In Jiaomuzu the verbal morphology is by far the most complex part. Chapter 8 discusses sentence structure. The three texts at the end of the dissertation illustrate the structures described in the previous chapters. Native speakers of Jiaomuzu place a high value on understanding and communicating the exact relationships between participants in a speech act as well as their position in the contexts both of the particular situation in which the speech act occurs and in their wider environment. The language reflects, especially in the verbal morphology, this web of relations. Show less
This work is the first comprehensive description of Makalero, a language spoken by approximately 6,500 speakers in the Iliomar subdistrict, in the south-east of the Republic of East Timor. Makalero... Show moreThis work is the first comprehensive description of Makalero, a language spoken by approximately 6,500 speakers in the Iliomar subdistrict, in the south-east of the Republic of East Timor. Makalero has been classified as belonging to the Trans-New Guinea family, making it one of the westernmost Papuan languages. While it retains scattered derivational and inflectional processes, it is largely isolating in structure. Underlying the organisation of discourse at a very basic level is the rigid structure of the Makalero clause, which allows for the expression of two verbal arguments at most. A characteristic feature of this clause structure is the presence of two distinct, mutually exclusive argument positions within the verb phrase, the first of which is reserved for undergoers, while the second may express either undergoers, or location and manner information. The description brought forward in this dissertation is not couched in a particular theoretical framework, although insights from several linguistic theories are adduced to support the analysis. The appendices provide transcripts of several Makalero texts as well as a Makalero-English and an English-Makalero word list. Show less
This work contains the first comprehensive description of Abui, a language of the Trans New Guinea family spoken approximately by 16,000 speakers in the central part of the Alor Island in Eastern... Show moreThis work contains the first comprehensive description of Abui, a language of the Trans New Guinea family spoken approximately by 16,000 speakers in the central part of the Alor Island in Eastern Indonesia. The description focuses on the northern dialect of Abui as spoken in the village Takalelang. This study is based on primary data collected by the author on Alor. With Pantar island, Alor Island is the western-most area where Papuan languages are spoken. Abui syntax is characterized by rigid head-final word order. The language presents a number of typologically interesting features such as semantic alignment. Characteristic for Abui is the extensive use of generic verbs. Generic verbs appear as parts of complex verbs or in serial verb constructions. This grammar covers the phonology, morphology and basic syntax of Abui. The appendix contains several Abui texts and word lists. Not being written against any particular theoretical background, this book is of interest to scholars of both Papuan and Austronesian languages, as well as linguistic typology. Show less
