SIL International Publications

Varli Phonology and Grammar Sketches

Relation Text: 
SIL Language and Culture Documentation and Description 20
Statement of Responsibility: 
Abraham, G. and Hemalatha Abraham
Issue Date: 
2012
Abstract: 

Varli is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by some 600,000 people in India. The sketch of Varli phonology features the analysis of nasalised vowels and homorganic nasal-plosive sequences. The sketch of Varli grammar is followed by an illustrative text with interlinear morpheme-by-morpheme glosses.

Varli is a split-ergative SOV language with inflectional suffixes. Clauses in the simple past and perfective tenses have ergative-absolutive morphosyntax, while those in other tenses have nominative-accusative. Constituents in the noun phrase agree with the head in gender and number. Finite verbs agree with the head of one noun phrase in person—and usually in gender and number.

Extent: 
113 pages
Subject: 
Grammatical Description
Phonological Description
Split-Ergative
Nasalization
Indo-Aryan
Agreement
Country: 
India
Field: 
Subject Languages: 
Content Language: 
Nature of Work: