M.A. - Linguistics

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10125/2091

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A Syntactic Treatment of Nukuoro Demonstratives
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2024) Asperheim, Margaret; Fukuda, Shinichiro; Linguistics
This thesis is a novel analysis of the syntax of nominal and verbal demonstratives in Nukuoro, an understudiedOutlier Polynesian language. In Nukuoro and other Polynesian languages, any one of three demonstratives, distinguished by speaker distance, may follow the noun. When in the post-nominal position, the demonstrative modifies the spatial position of the object: a noun followed by the proximal demonstrative is interpreted as close to the speaker, for instance. Unusually, this same suite of demonstratives may also follow verbs. When in the post-verbal position, the demonstrative modifies the temporal semantics of the event: a verb followed by the proximal demonstrative must be interpreted as happening in the present, and a verb followed by the medial demonstrative must be interpreted as happening in the future or in the irrealis mood. The first part of this thesis provides an overview of Nukuoro syntax, mostly based on Drummond (2023), with particular emphasis on the syntax and semantics of demonstratives. I propose, based on cross-linguistic evidence, e.g. Brugè and Giusti (1996), Panagiotidis (2000), Giusti (2002), and Shlonsky (2004), and evidence from Nukuoro, that demonstratives are modifiers which originate in the specifier position of a functional phrase above NP or VP. To derive the observed post-nominal and post-verbal position of demonstratives, I argue that NP and VP move to a position directly below the functional projections DP and IP, respectively. Next, I discuss the position of nominal and verbal complements with respect to demonstratives in the DP and IP. It is observed that, in both nominal and clausal environments, complements may either precede or follow demonstratives. I show that all positions of demonstrative and complement can be accounted for by positing two relevant functional heads: a lower head F2, which has an uninterpretable EPP feature, and a higher head F1, which has an uninterpretable [Pred] feature. Similar proposals have been made on the basis of verbal complement behavior in related Polynesian languages (Massam 2001; Collins 2017; Drummond 2023); I extend these proposals, arguing that a complementary process takes place in the nominal domain. I conclude with a critical look at two other analyses of Nukuoro post-verbal demonstratives (PVDs): one which considers them syntactic instantiations of tense, and another which considers them to be temporal adverbs. I show that neither appropriately categorizes post-verbal demonstratives, which consistently behave unlike both tense and adverbials; instead, I suggest that the class of syntactic demonstratives – which likely originated in the nominal projection – modify verbs as well as nouns, with a subsequent extension in deixis from the temporal domain.
Preliminaries to a field study of Mono-Alu, Solomon Islands
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1979) Fagan, Joel L.; Linguistics
In 1908 and 1909 Gerald Camden Wheeler spent ten months on the islands of Mono and Alu in the Bouqainville Straits for the purpose of carrying out ethnological research . His activities there included collecting a number of folktales in the local lanquaqe
A study of Fijian grammatical particles
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1973) Shōji, Kakuko; Linguistics
This paper is an attempt of a non-native speaker of English to look at Fijian in a different way, according to the writer’s own language intuitions. Although it is not a comparative work, included are some examples from Japanese or Polynesian languages wh
The verb in Bena-Bena: its form and function
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1970) Young, Robert Alexander
This work gives a description of the structure of the verb in Bena-bena, a language of the Eastern Highlands District of the Territory of New Guinea. The study of the composition of the verb gives much deeper insight into the structure of the language than does the study of other constituents of the clause. This paper therefore deals only with the verb constructions.
The structure of the Penrhyn phrase
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1968) Yasuda, Ayako
Penrhyn is a Polynesian language spoken on the atoll of Tongareva in the Northern Cook Islands.The Northern Cook Islands form an area for which information is particularly deficient. Penrhyn is in the Northern Cooks and there is no grammar or dictionary of this language.The purpose of this thesis is, therefore, to discover and describe the structure of the Penrhyn phrase so that it will fill one of the existing gaps in our knowledge of the Polynesian languages and at the same time it will give an idea of the range of differentiation to be found within the Cook Islands.
Tuamotuan phonology
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1969) Kuki, Hiroshi
This thesis deals with the phonology of Tuamotuan.Three styles of speech are distinguished in this thesis, namely slow deliberate speech, fast deliberate speech and natural speech.
A preliminary statement of Witu grammar: the syntatic role and structure of the verb
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1967) Kerr, Harland B.
The following grammatical description of Witu adheres to no particular descriptive model. It is essentially a working analysis aiming to consolidate information already gained as a stepping stone to further insights into the grammatical structure of the language. It is particularly concerned with verbal constructions. Nominal constructions are less structured than verbal constructions and reveal relatively little significance to an interpretation of clause and sentence patterns.
Palauan phonology
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1968) Carlson, Clayton H.
This paper looks at determining the general phonemic inventory of Palauan. Location and history, dialectical variation, analysis of syllables, consonants, consonant allophones, vowel allophones, excrescent schwa; distribution of consonants, vowels and initial syllables without vowels. Stress, pitch, tone, terminal contour, internal juncture, text and a comparison with Oiterong and Hsu are also discussed.
Substitutes and classifiers in Trukese
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1968) Benton, Richard Anthony
The primary concerns of this study are the investigation of the forms and processes in Chuukese which correspond to definitions of 'substitutes’ and ’substitution', and of the nature of numeral and possessive classification in Chuukese Related concepts found in the work of later writers, are explored.The systems of numeral and possessive classification, perhaps among the most interesting aspects of Chuukese for speakers of Indo-European languages, are examined.The classifiers and classification systems are discussed in relation to each other, as well as to their functioning within the general process of substitution. Grammatical assumptions characterize the present study. Pronouns, demonstratives, pro-sentences, and other Chuukese 'substitutes' are examined.
A preliminary statement of Witu grammar: the syntatic role and structure of the verb
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1967) Kerr, Harland B.
Sketch grammar of Satawalese: the language of Satawal Island, Yap State, Micronesia
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007) Roddy, Kevin M.
Planning Kadazandusun (Sabah, Malaysia): labels, identity, and language
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005) Tangit, Trixie M.
The recipient construction in Naxi
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005) Lu, Jung-yao
This thesis focuses on describing the recipient construction of Naxi, a minority language spoken in the Naxi autonomous county in the northwestern Yunnan province of China. The Naxi language belongs to the Yi language branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family. It has been a matter of great importance to document Naxi in its entirety because it is seriously endangered. This thesis is very special for the following two reasons. First, unlike most of the other subfields of linguistics, studying the grammar of an undocumented language cannot be done in a comfortable research room or in a library; it must be done in the field. Most of the Naxi data provided in this thesis were gathered directly from native speakers in the field. Second, this thesis not only provides a basic grammatical description of the recipient construction in the Naxi language, but it also includes pioneering. The basic grammar is introduced in Chapter 2 before discussing the recipient construction. In our analysis, Naxi is an ergative language involving an active case marking system. Furthermore, Naxi is traditionally classified as an SOY or APV/SV language; however, certain traits show that it could be considered a 'free word order' language. We also found that structural topicalization in Naxi only occurs in the triadic constructions, including the instrumental construction, the benefactive construction, and the recipient construction. In this thesis, the recipient construction is defined as "the triadic construction which involves the thematic role-recipient". The recipient construction in Naxi consists of three different patterns: the ditransitive construction (or double object construction), the dative construction, and the GIVE serial verb construction. Each of them contains three NPs: an agentive subject, a theme-object, and a recipient-object. We further discuss the verbs which occur in the recipient construction. We found that ditransitive verbs occur much less frequently in Naxi than do dative verbs or GIVE serial verbs. In addition, the semantic classifications among the ditransitive verbs, the dative verbs, and the GIVE serial verbs are different from one another. Those discussions are treated in Chapter 3, Chapter 4, and Chapter 5, respectively. In this study, we also found an argument concerning the constituent 'verb-GIVE', mentioned in the last chapter. Some examples related to the syntactic property of the 'verb-GIVE' sequences in the ditransitive construction and the dative construction will be discussed briefly. It is doubtless that the 'verb-GIVE' sequence could be identified as either a serial verb pattern or a compound verb. However, a reasonable judgment will not be made in this thesis; this question is open to discussion.

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