Perspectives on Information Structure in Austronesian Languages

Perspectives on Information Structure in Austronesian Languages
Author: Atsuko Utsumi
Publisher:
Total Pages: 436
Release: 2020-10-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9781013291920

Information structure is a relatively new field to linguistics and has only recently been studied for smaller and less described languages. This book is the first of its kind that brings together contributions on information structure in Austronesian languages. Current approaches from formal semantics, discourse studies, and intonational phonology are brought together with language specific and cross-linguistic expertise of Austronesian languages. The 13 chapters in this volume cover all subgroups of the large Austronesian family, including Formosan, Central Malayo-Polynesian, South Halmahera-West New Guinea, and Oceanic. The major focus, though, lies on Western Malayo-Polynesian languages. Some chapters investigate two of the largest languages in the region (Tagalog and different varieties of Malay), others study information-structural phenomena in small, underdescribed languages. The three overarching topics that are covered in this book are NP marking and reference tracking devices, syntactic structures and information-structural categories, and the interaction of information structure and prosody. Various data types build the basis for the different studies compiled in this book. Some chapters investigate written texts, such as modern novels (cf. Djenar's chapter on modern, standard Indonesian), or compare different text genres, such as, for example, oral narratives and translations of biblical narratives (cf. De Busser's chapter on Bunun). Most contributions, however, study natural spoken speech and make use of spoken corpora which have been compiled by the authors themselves. The volume comprises a number of different methods and theoretical frameworks. Two chapters make use of the Question Under Discussion approach, developed in formal semantics (cf. the chapters by Latrouite & Riester; Shiohara & Riester). Riesberg et al. apply the recently developed method of Rapid Prosody Transcription (RPT) to investigate native speakers' perception of prosodic prominences and boundaries in Papuan Malay. Other papers discuss theoretical consequences of their findings. Thus, for example, Himmelmann takes apart the most widespread framework for intonational phonology (ToBI) and argues that the analysis of Indonesian languages requires much simpler assumptions than the ones underlying the standard model. Arka & Sedeng ask the question how fine-grained information structure space should be conceptualized and modelled, e.g. in LFG. Schnell argues that elements that could be analysed as "topic" and "focus" categories, should better be described in terms of 'packaging' and do not necessarily reflect any pragmatic roles in the first place. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

Austronesian and Theoretical Linguistics

Austronesian and Theoretical Linguistics
Author: Raphael Mercado
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2010
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027255504

"The papers presented within this volume were selected from the fourteenth meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association (AFLA XIV), held May 4-6, 2007 at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada."

The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar

The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar
Author: K. Alexander Adelaar
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 866
Release: 2005
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 0700712860

An essential source of reference for this linguistic community, as well as for linguists working on typology and syntax.

Prominence in Austronesian

Prominence in Austronesian
Author: Bethwyn Evans
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2024-01-29
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110730758

The cognitive concept of prominence is increasingly seen as key to understanding the organisation of grammar. This volume explores the encoding of prominence in languages from across the Austronesian family. The contributions show how prominence is relevant to understanding asymmetries at different levels of grammatical structure, from discourse and information structure to argument expression and socio-pragmatics. Moreover, common themes across contributions point to crosslinguistic tendencies that underpin the conventionalisation of communicative patterns for coordinating interlocutors' attention, and to points of departure for further crosslinguistic exploration of how grammatical asymmetries can be explained in terms of prominence.

Proto-Austronesian Phonology with Glossary

Proto-Austronesian Phonology with Glossary
Author: John U. Wolff
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 611
Release: 2018-10-18
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1501735993

This work, divided into two volumes, is the study of the history of words in the Austronesian (An) languages—their origin in Proto-Austronesian (PAn) or at later stages and how they developed into the forms that are attested in the current An languages. A study of their history entails the reconstruction of the sound system (phonology) of PAn and an exposition of the sound laws (rules) whereby the original sounds changed into those attested in the current An languages. The primary aim of this work is to examine exhaustively the forms that can be reconstructed for PAn and also for the earliest stage after the An languages began to spread southward from Taiwan. For the later stages—that is, forms that can be traced no further back than to the proto-languages of late subgroups, we do not attempt to be exhaustive but confine ourselves to only some of the forms that are traceable to those times, treating those that figure prominently in the literature on historical An linguistics or those that have special characteristics important for understanding in general how forms arose and the processes that led to change. In short, the aim of this study is not just to reconstruct protomorphemes and order the reflexes according to the entries they fit under, but rather to account for the history of each fom1 that is attested and explain what happened historically to yield the attestations. Volume 2 of the Proto-Austronesian Phonology is divided into four parts and contains a glossary, finder lists from the English translation, a bibliography, and an index.

The Austronesian Languages

The Austronesian Languages
Author: R. A. Blust
Publisher: Pacific Linguistics Research School of Pacific and Asian Stu
Total Pages: 864
Release: 2009
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN:

The Language of Hunter-Gatherers

The Language of Hunter-Gatherers
Author: Tom Güldemann
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 747
Release: 2020-02-27
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1107003687

Offers a linguistic window into contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, looking at how they survive and interface with agricultural and industrial societies.

Endangered Languages of Austronesia

Endangered Languages of Austronesia
Author: Margaret Florey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2010
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0199544549

This book explores the challenges to linguistic vitality confronting many minority languages in the highly diverse and geographically far-flung Austronesian language family. The contributions bring together Indigenous language activists and academic researchers with a long-standing commitment to language documentation.

AUSTRONESIAN DIASPORA

AUSTRONESIAN DIASPORA
Author: Bagyo Prasetyo
Publisher: UGM PRESS
Total Pages: 602
Release: 2021-01-28
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 6023862020

This book is a proceeding from a number of papers presented in The International Symposium on Austronesian Diaspora on 18th to 23rd July 2016 at Nusa Dua, Bali, which was held by The National Research Centre of Archaeology in cooperation with The Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums. The symposium is the second event with regard to the Austronesian studies since the first symposium held eleven years ago by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences in cooperation with the International Centre for Prehistoric and Austronesia Study (ICPAS) in Solo on 28th June to 1st July 2005 with a theme of “the Dispersal of the Austronesian and the Ethno-geneses of People in the Indonesia Archipelago’’ that was attended by experts from eleven countries. The studies on Austronesia are very interesting to discuss because Austronesia is a language family, which covers about 1200 languages spoken by populations that inhabit more than half the globe, from Madagascar in the west to Easter Island (Pacific Area) in the east and from Taiwan-Micronesia in the north to New Zealand in the south. Austronesia is a language family, which dispersed before the Western colonization in many places in the world. The Austronesian dispersal in very vast islands area is a huge phenomenon in the history of humankind. Groups of Austronesian-speaking people had emerged in ca. 7000- 6000 BP in Taiwan before they migrated in 5000 BP to many places in the world, bringing with them the Neolithic Culture, characterized by sedentary, agricultural societies with animal domestication. The Austronesian-speaking people are distinguished by Southern Mongoloid Race, which had the ability to adapt to various types of natural environment that enabled them to develop through space and time. The varied geographic environment where they lived, as well as intensive interactions with the outside world, had created cultural diversities. The population of the Austronesian speakers is more than 380 million people and the Indonesian Archipelago is where most of them develop. Indonesia also holds a key position in understanding the Austronesians. For this reason, the Austronesian studies are crucial in the attempt to understand the Indonesian societies in relation to their current cultural roots, history, and ethno-genesis. This book discusses six sessions in the symposium. The first session is the prologue; the second is the keynote paper, which is Austronesia: an overview; the third is Diaspora and Inter-regional Connection; the fourth is Regional highlight; the fifth is Harimau Cave: Research Progress; while the sixth session is the epilogue, which is a synthesis of 37 papers. We hope that this book will inspire more researchers to study Austronesia, a field of never ending research in Indonesia.