Terril, A. (1999). A Grammar of Lavukaleve: A Papuan Language of
the Solomon Islands. Thesis. Australian National University.
512pp.
The thesis is in five major parts. The first part, Preliminaries, deals with the basic building blocks on which the grammar is founded; the introductory chapter, the phonology and the word classes.
The second part of the thesis deals with arguments and adjuncts. Chapter 4 outlines Noun Phrase structure and the structure of possessive constructions. Chapter 5 and 6 deal with issues inherent to individual nouns; noun formation in Chapter 5 and gender and agreement in Chapter 6
The morphological processes of noun formation are extremely complex; for example there are at least 86 different ways of forming dual and plural nouns. Chapter 7 discusses nominal adjuncts. Chapter 8 deals with the complex area of deictics, one of the most structurally elaborated areas of the language. There are three paradigms of demonstratives. One is a demonstrative modifier, and two are demonstrative pronouns, which differ in their pragmatic reference; one is used to refer to an entity not uppermost in the minds of the speaker and hearers, and the other is used elsewhere. The relationship between the three demonstrative paradigms is complex and interesting, and is dealt with in some detail. Presentative forms can be created from most of the deictics, as can predicative deictics, by means of additional morphology.
The third part of the thesis conces predicate structure. Basic clause structure and principles of participant marking are outlined in Chapter 9 Constructions using the Agreement Suffix are examined in Chapter 10 The Agreement Suffix, one of the morphological means of marking participants, is a ubiquitous and important suffix in the language. Focus constructions, discussed in Chapter 11, are another very elaborated area of Lavukaleve morphosyntax. There are three paradigms of focus markers in Lavukaleve. Many different types of constituents can be focussed: a predicate, a sentence, an NP or an adjunct, including nominal adjuncts, adverbs, particles and non-main verbs. When predicates and sentences are focussed, the focus marker is the final element of the sentence. The agreement of the focus marker (with the person, gender and number of either the subject or the object of the clause) shows the domain of focus. When arguments and adjuncts are focussed, the focus marker appears immediately after the argument, sentence-inteally.
Chapter 12 deals with the expression of tense, aspect and mood. Chapter 13 deals with valency changing, the creation of predicates from words of other classes, as well as other word class-changing morphological processes. The final chapter of this part, Chapter 14, outlines the types of complex predicates existing in the language, including serial verb constructions, verb compounds, verb-adjunct constructions, and predicates involving the Habitual Auxiliary.
The fourth part of the thesis deals with interclausal syntax: clause chaining constructions (Chapter 15) and subordinate clauses (Chapter 16). There are three types of subordinate clauses; one of them, subordinate adverbial clauses, involves a split-ergative marking system. Most other areas of the language have nominative/accusative alignment. The final part of the thesis, discourse organisation, aims to bring together some of the broader area of importance to Lavukaleve discourse. The expression of questions and negation is described in Chapter 17 In Chapter 18 is a discussion of typical Lavukaleve ways of structuring discourse in narratives for textual cohesion, and an examination of how reference tracking devices operate across a larger section of narrative than a single sentence.
An appendix containing two glossed texts forms the final part of this thesis.
The thesis is in five major parts. The first part, Preliminaries, deals with the basic building blocks on which the grammar is founded; the introductory chapter, the phonology and the word classes.
The second part of the thesis deals with arguments and adjuncts. Chapter 4 outlines Noun Phrase structure and the structure of possessive constructions. Chapter 5 and 6 deal with issues inherent to individual nouns; noun formation in Chapter 5 and gender and agreement in Chapter 6
The morphological processes of noun formation are extremely complex; for example there are at least 86 different ways of forming dual and plural nouns. Chapter 7 discusses nominal adjuncts. Chapter 8 deals with the complex area of deictics, one of the most structurally elaborated areas of the language. There are three paradigms of demonstratives. One is a demonstrative modifier, and two are demonstrative pronouns, which differ in their pragmatic reference; one is used to refer to an entity not uppermost in the minds of the speaker and hearers, and the other is used elsewhere. The relationship between the three demonstrative paradigms is complex and interesting, and is dealt with in some detail. Presentative forms can be created from most of the deictics, as can predicative deictics, by means of additional morphology.
The third part of the thesis conces predicate structure. Basic clause structure and principles of participant marking are outlined in Chapter 9 Constructions using the Agreement Suffix are examined in Chapter 10 The Agreement Suffix, one of the morphological means of marking participants, is a ubiquitous and important suffix in the language. Focus constructions, discussed in Chapter 11, are another very elaborated area of Lavukaleve morphosyntax. There are three paradigms of focus markers in Lavukaleve. Many different types of constituents can be focussed: a predicate, a sentence, an NP or an adjunct, including nominal adjuncts, adverbs, particles and non-main verbs. When predicates and sentences are focussed, the focus marker is the final element of the sentence. The agreement of the focus marker (with the person, gender and number of either the subject or the object of the clause) shows the domain of focus. When arguments and adjuncts are focussed, the focus marker appears immediately after the argument, sentence-inteally.
Chapter 12 deals with the expression of tense, aspect and mood. Chapter 13 deals with valency changing, the creation of predicates from words of other classes, as well as other word class-changing morphological processes. The final chapter of this part, Chapter 14, outlines the types of complex predicates existing in the language, including serial verb constructions, verb compounds, verb-adjunct constructions, and predicates involving the Habitual Auxiliary.
The fourth part of the thesis deals with interclausal syntax: clause chaining constructions (Chapter 15) and subordinate clauses (Chapter 16). There are three types of subordinate clauses; one of them, subordinate adverbial clauses, involves a split-ergative marking system. Most other areas of the language have nominative/accusative alignment. The final part of the thesis, discourse organisation, aims to bring together some of the broader area of importance to Lavukaleve discourse. The expression of questions and negation is described in Chapter 17 In Chapter 18 is a discussion of typical Lavukaleve ways of structuring discourse in narratives for textual cohesion, and an examination of how reference tracking devices operate across a larger section of narrative than a single sentence.
An appendix containing two glossed texts forms the final part of this thesis.