Subject
actionality, animacy, aspect, clause combining, deixis, Mwotlap, negation, number, incorporation, Oceanic, possession, predication, pronoun, referentiality, serial verbs, valency change, vowel harmony, [SHS.LANGUE]Humanities and Social Sciences/Linguistics

Domains
Linguistique, Sciences Sociales, Sciences humaines

Description

Cet article est également consultable à l'adresse suivante :
http://www.atypon-link.com/WDG/toc/lity/9/1 International audience The typologist reader is presented here with an overview of the most interesting characteristics ofMwotlap, an Oceanic language of Vanuatu. After a short presentation of its phonology, its main morphosyntactic categories are described and explored from a functional angle. The construal of noun phrases reveals a cognitive asymmetry between human individuals and other referents. Nouns, just like verbs or adjectives, are predicative, and are even sensitive to tenseaspect- mood markers and actionality properties. The argument structure of a verb can regularly be affected by its modifiers. Finally, deictics can be shown to play a major role in the structuring of discourse and complex sentences.Whenever relevant, the grammar of Mwotlap is briefly compared to other languages, and assessed in the light of existing typological generalisations.

Keywords

Language
English (en-GB)

Creators
François, Alexandre

Contributors
Langues et civilisations à tradition orale (LACITO) ; Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3-Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Sources
ISSN: 1430-0532, EISSN: 1613-415X, Linguistic Typology, https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00136308, Linguistic Typology, 2005, 9(1), pp.115-146

Relation

Coverage
Vanuatu

Name of newspaper