Semantics of Sa'a transitive suffixes and thematic consonants
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Issue Date:
2012-06
Degree:
Extent:
Abstract:
In the Sa'a language of the Solomon Islands, the transitive form of some verbs is
made by adding only an object clitic. Other verbs add a transitive suffix of the form -(C)i
before the object clitic. Some verbs form a second intransitive by adding -(C)a'i and a
second transitive with -(C)a'ini plus object clitic. Most verbs may also be nominalized by
adding -(C)a.
These patterns of affixation are shared by many Oceanic languages. In each of
these forms the -C is chosen from a limited set, known in the literature as the thematic
consonants. Most Oceanic analysts consider the consonants to be lexically determined
and meaningless, although a few identify semantic groups of verbs which tend to share a
consonant.
This thesis presents several semantic features, instigation, affectedness,
intentionality, durativity, telicity, and result, which interact to control the choice of
consonant and suffix for Sa'a verbs and deverbal nouns.
Publication Status:
Published
Table of Contents:
Table of contents --
Dedication --
Acknowledgements --
List of tables --
List of maps and figures --
Abbreviations and other conventions --
1. Introduction --
1.1 Overview of thesis --
1.2 Geography --
1.3 Language family --
1.4 History of linguistic study --
1.5 Detailed preview of thesis --
1.6 Data corpus description --
2. Phonology --
2.1 Phoneme inventory and orthographic conventions --
2.2 Vowel raising --
2.3 Syllable and stress patterns --
3. General features of Sa'a morphosyntax --
3.1 Basic clause structure --
3.2 Noun phrases and their constituents --
3.3 Prepositional Phrases --
3.4 Verb phrase constituents other than the verb word --
3.5 Clause order and topicalization --
4. Verb morphology --
4.1 Verbal affixes --
4.2 Literature review --
4.3 Relevant semantic concepts --
4.4 The typology applied to Sa'a: patterns of the (C) i suffix sequence --
4.5 The meaning of the ‘thematic consonant’ suffixes --
4.6 Further complexity involving derived verbs --
4.7 Summary --
5. Applications beyond Sa'a --
5.1 Thematic consonant meanings in other Oceanic languages --
5.2 The meanings of the Sa'a thematic consonants m and r --
5.3 The (C) i sequence in other Oceanic languages --
5.4 Extending the feature-based event structure template model --
5.5 Concluding remarks --
Appendix A. Person-number markers and grammatical relations --
Appendix B. Infrequent clause templates --
References Cited --
Vita for Karen Crowder Ashley
Country:
Solomon Islands
Subject Languages:
Content Language:
Field:
Work Type:
Subject:
Nature of Work:
Entry Number:
54423