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Nominalized Predicates in Vurës, Vanuatu

Nominalized Predicates in Vurës, Vanuatu <p>Abstract:</p><p>In Vurës, spoken on the island of Vanua Lava in northern Vanuatu, clauses are categorized as either verbal or nonverbal. A verbal clause has as the head of the predicate a verb, which can be preceded by verbal proclitics or particles. Verbs are classified as either active or stative. While stative verbs can occur underived as the head of either a verbal or nonverbal predicate, active verbs can, for the most part, occur only as the head of a verbal predicate. Active verbs can generally only occur as the head of a noun phrase if the verb is nominalized via reduplication, and such noun phrases can be arguments or adjuncts, but cannot be predicates. There is, however, a clause type with a limited distribution—approximately one percent of clauses in a corpus of 7,095 clauses—in which the head of the predicate is an underived active verb, preceded by <i>o. O</i> is the form of the common noun article, suggesting that these are nominalized predicates. This paper examines the form, functions, and distribution of this predicate type in order to confirm that <i>o</i> in these clauses is the common article marking a nominalized predicate and not a homophonous verbal particle with a specific function.</p> http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Oceanic Linguistics University of Hawai'I Press

Nominalized Predicates in Vurës, Vanuatu

Malau, Catriona
Oceanic Linguistics , Volume 57 (2) – Dec 12, 2018
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Publisher
University of Hawai'I Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 University of Hawai'i Press.
ISSN
1527-9421

Abstract

<p>Abstract:</p><p>In Vurës, spoken on the island of Vanua Lava in northern Vanuatu, clauses are categorized as either verbal or nonverbal. A verbal clause has as the head of the predicate a verb, which can be preceded by verbal proclitics or particles. Verbs are classified as either active or stative. While stative verbs can occur underived as the head of either a verbal or nonverbal predicate, active verbs can, for the most part, occur only as the head of a verbal predicate. Active verbs can generally only occur as the head of a noun phrase if the verb is nominalized via reduplication, and such noun phrases can be arguments or adjuncts, but cannot be predicates. There is, however, a clause type with a limited distribution—approximately one percent of clauses in a corpus of 7,095 clauses—in which the head of the predicate is an underived active verb, preceded by <i>o. O</i> is the form of the common noun article, suggesting that these are nominalized predicates. This paper examines the form, functions, and distribution of this predicate type in order to confirm that <i>o</i> in these clauses is the common article marking a nominalized predicate and not a homophonous verbal particle with a specific function.</p>

Journal

Oceanic Linguistics – University of Hawai'I Press

Published: Dec 12, 2018

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