Discourse and Grammar in Australian Languages

Discourse and Grammar in Australian Languages
Author: Ilana Mushin
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2008
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 902720571X

Discourse and Grammar in Australian Languages is the first major survey to address the issue of the effects of information packaging on Australian languages, widely known for nonconfigurationality. The papers are based on individual fieldwork and describe a wide range of Australian languages of different types, ranging from the polysynthetic languages of Arnhem Land and the Kimberley to the classical types represented by Walpiri. Topics covered include the pragmatics of information exchange, the interaction of noun class marking with polarity and referentiality, the effects of specificity on argument indexing, the discourse uses of the ergative case, the contribution of pronouns to NP reference, the interaction of tense and aspect clitics with information structure, clause-initial position, and discourse and grammar in Australian languages. The volume will appeal to scholars interested in discourse, typology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

Handbook of Australian Languages

Handbook of Australian Languages
Author: R. M. W. Dixon
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 556
Release: 1983-12-31
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9027220050

This handbook makes available short grammatical sketches of Australian languages. Each grammar is written in a standard format, following guidelines provided by the editors, and includes a sample text and vocabulary text. The contributions to this volume are salvage studies, giving all the information that is available on four languages which are on the point of extinction, and an assessment of what linguistic impressions can be inferred from the scant material that is available on the extinct languages of Tasmania.

Grammatical Categories in Australian Languages

Grammatical Categories in Australian Languages
Author: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies
Publisher:
Total Pages: 792
Release: 1976
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN:

Papers presented to symposium at Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies 1974; five grammatical topics discussed; The derivational affix having; ergative, locative and instrumental case inflections; the bivalent suffix -ku; are Australian languages syntactically nominativeergative or nominative-accusative; simple and compound verbs; conjugation by auxiliaries in Australian verbal systems; several papers on other grammatical topics also included; All papers are seperately catalogued.

A Grammar of Bilinarra

A Grammar of Bilinarra
Author: Felicity Meakins
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 558
Release: 2013-12-12
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 1614512744

Felicity Meakins was awarded the Kenneth L. Hale Award 2021 by the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) for outstanding work on the documentation of endangered languages This volume provides the first comprehensive description of Bilinarra, a Pama-Nyungan language of the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory (Australia). Bilinarra is a highly endangered language with only one speaker remaining in 2012 and no child learners. The materials on which this grammatical description is based were collected by the authors over a 20 year period from the last first-language speakers of the language, most of whom have since passed away. Bilinarra is a member of the Ngumpin subgroup of Pama-Nyungan which forms a part of the Ngumpin-Yapa family, which also includes Warlpiri. It is non-configurational, with nominals commonly omitted, arguments cross-referenced by pronominal clitics and word order grammatically free and largely determined by information structure. In this grammatical description much attention is paid to its morphosyntax, including case morphology, the pronominal clitic system and complex predicates. A particular strength of the volume is the provision of sound files for example sentences, allowing the reader access to the language itself.

Handbook of Australian Languages

Handbook of Australian Languages
Author: Robert M. W. Dixon
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 452
Release: 1979
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9027220042

This handbook makes available short grammatical sketches of Australian languages. Each grammar is written in a standard format, following guidelines provided by the editors, and includes a sample text and vocabulary text. The contributions to this volume are salvage studies, giving all the information that is available on four languages which are on the point of extinction, and an assessment of what linguistic impressions can be inferred from the scant material that is available on the extinct languages of Tasmania.

Handbook of Australian Languages

Handbook of Australian Languages
Author: R.M.W. Dixon
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 410
Release: 1979-12-31
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027273553

This handbook makes available short grammatical sketches of Australian languages. Each grammar is written in a standard format, following guidelines provided by the editors, and includes a sample text and vocabulary text. In the introduction the editors discuss some of the recurrent features of languages across the continent, together with grammars of Guugu Yimidhirr by John Haviland; Pitta-Pitta by Barry J. Blake; Gumbaynggir by Diana Eades; and Yaygir by Terry Crowley.

A Grammar of Kunbarlang

A Grammar of Kunbarlang
Author: Ivan Kapitonov
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2021-07-05
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110747111

This is a comprehensive linguistic description of Kunbarlang (Gunbalang), a highly endangered polysynthetic language of northern Australia. Kunbarlang belongs to the non-Pama-Nyungan Gunwinyguan language family and is currently spoken by nearly 40 people. This work draws on elicitations and analysis of narratives from the author's original field work (2015--2018), as well as those from previous recordings. The main areas covered are the sound system, morphology, syntax, and aspects of lexical and constructional semantics. Dictated by the polysynthetic structure of the language and the patterns of its use, the principal focus of the work is the analysis of the verbal complex and the interaction between the verb and other constituents of the clause. The analysis strike a balance between taking into consideration the areal and genetic context, being informed by linguistic typology and theory, yet at the same time remaining data-driven and theory-neutral in the way generalisations are stated. Against the Australian and a broader cross-linguistic background, Kunbarlang possesses remarkable features at all levels of its organisation.

A Grammar of (Western) Garrwa

A Grammar of (Western) Garrwa
Author: Ilana Mushin
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 494
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1614512418

Mushin provides the first full grammatical description of Garrwa, a critically endangered language of the Southwest Gulf of Carpentaria region in Northern Australia. Garrwa is typologically interesting because of its uncertain status in the Australian language family, its pronouns and its word order syntax. This book covers Garrwa phonology, morphology and syntax, with a particular focus on the use of grammar in discourse. The grammatical description is supplemented with a word list and text collection, including transcriptions of ordinary conversation.

The Oxford Guide to Australian Languages

The Oxford Guide to Australian Languages
Author: Claire Bowern
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 1179
Release: 2023-03-16
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0198824971

The Oxford Guide to Australian Languages is a wide-ranging reference work that explores the more than 550 traditional and new Indigenous languages of Australia. Australian languages have long played an important role in diachronic and synchronic linguistics and are a vital testing ground for linguistic theory. Until now, however, there has been no comprehensive and accessible guide to the their vast linguistic diversity. This volume fills that gap, bringing together leading scholars and junior researchers to provide an up-to-date guide to all aspects of the languages of Australia. The chapters in the book explore typology, documentation, and classification; linguistic structures from phonology to pragmatics and discourse; sociolinguistics and language variation; and language in the community. The final part offers grammatical sketches of a selection of languages, sub-groups, and families. At a time when the number of living Australian languages is significantly reduced even compared to twenty year ago, this volume establishes priorities for future linguistic research and contributes to the language expansion and revitalization efforts that are underway.

Language at Large

Language at Large
Author: Alexandra Aikhenvald
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 630
Release: 2011-07-27
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9004207686

The volume brings together important essays on syntax and semantics by Aikhenvald and Dixon, highlighting their expertise in various fields of linguistics. The first part focusses on linguistic typology, covering case markers used on verbs, argument-determined constructions, unusual meanings of causatives, the semantic basis for a typology, word-class-changing derivations, speech reports and semi-direct speech. The second part concentrates on documentation and analysis of previously undescribed languages, from South America and Indigenous Australia. The third part addresses a variety of issues in grammar and lexicography of English. This includes pronouns with transferred reference, comparative constructions, features of the noun phrase, and the discussion of 'twice'. The treatment of Australian Aboriginal words in dictionaries is discussed in the final chapter.