Preliminary Grammatical Notes on Damar Batumerah Or West Damar

Preliminary Grammatical Notes on Damar Batumerah or

West Damar, a Language of Southwest Maluku

SVETLANA F. CHLENOVA Moscow State Lomonosov University

Introduction

Damar Batumerah or West Damar, an Austronesian language spoken by approximately 800 speakers in the villages Batumerah and Kwai on the Northwestern coast of Damar island (Eastern Indonesia) remains almost unexplored, whereas – like some other languages of the region – it may disappear in the nearest future suppressed by local Indonesian. Damar Batumerah obviously occupies a specific place in the area. Some general characteristics of the language and its wordlist are given in Chlenov and Chlenova (this volume). The present paper contains a brief grammatical sketch and a sample of Damar Batumerah sentences glossed and grammatically commented. In this paper I take a very preliminary look at the grammatical system of Damar Batumerah based on the limited material of above 500 items wordlist, a set of 36 elicited sentences and two verbal paradigms provided by our informant S. Lutrunawawoy, a native speaker of village Batumerah and the material is rather limited:. In the analysis, it was helpful to compare the set of the Damar Batumerah sentences with their equivalents in other Southwest Moluccan languages, for which we have similar data: Leti, Meher (Kisar), Moa, Luang (Sermata), Nila, Serua, Tepa- Teun, and Daweloor. Especially helpful was consulting to Van Engelenhoven’s (2004) grammar of Leti, the first exhaustive study of a Southwest Moluccan language.

Phonology

Our brief notes on the Damar Batumerah phoneme inventory are based on the analysis of the entries of the wordlist individually written down by the informant and then compared by us with the corresponding entries in Taber’s (1993) wordlist, which are displayed in the phonetic transcription. Damar Batumerah (as well as Indonesian) data are presented here according to the rules of modern Indonesian orthography, i.e. with “y” for earlier “j”, “c” for “tj”, “j” for “dj”. With the exception of this, Damar words and sentences have spelling provided by the informant. This spelling is characterized with a salient feature, namely “ch” occurring as frequently as “h” and just like the latter corresponding to [h] in Taber’s phonetic transcription. However, in our data there are some words that are spelled in both variants as exemplified by the verb ‘run’, which is attested as k-nehi in the wordlist and as n-nechcha in the sentence (21)1. It seems reasonable to retain /ch/ as a unit of the phonemic inventory. Though rules governing the distribution of “ch” and “h” are not clear for the time being, this distinction is argued by different historical reconstructions (Chlenov and Chlenova, this volume).

1 Numbers enclosed in brackets refer to the sentences given in the Appendix. 163

The phoneme inventory of Damar Batumerah includes the following consonants and vowels: Consonants: p, (b), m, w, t, d, n, r, tʃ, (dʒ), j, s, l, k, (g), ŋ, ɲ, ch, h Vowels: i, e, o, u, a The phonemes given in brackets occur in borrowings mostly from or via Indonesian: /b/ as in biasa ‘normal’, benua continent’, bangsa ‘people’; /dʒ/ as in bajako ‘plough’, jamo ‘hour’, sajako ‘poem’; /g/ as in sorga ‘heaven’, gembalai ‘herd’. Though /ŋ/ is mostly attested in loan words as in bunga ‘flower’, kentango ‘potatoe’, kuningano ‘yellow’, tongko (< Indonesian tangkap) ‘catch’ etc., our wordlist does include some Damar words containing this phoneme, and it is worth mentioning that it usually occurs before /ch/ as in nungcho (cf. {nunho}2 in Taber’s list) ‘mouth’, nanngcha ‘anger’, ‘fight’, tingcha ‘story’, tintingcha ‘fairy tail’, mlungchu ‘sour’, nyenholingchono ‘forget’. Damar Batumerah displays the geminate consonants as followings: /ss/ in Passo ‘ God’, desseri ‘who’, isso ‘meat’; /tt/ in dittirayo ‘criket’, itto ‘breast’, wertto ‘ heavy’; /pp/ in ppelo ‘diligent’; /kk/ in ppakko ‘tobacco’; /ll/ in hollo ‘road’, klullyo ‘wave’, yollopo ‘half’; /chch/ in luhluchcha ‘dance’. No instances of geminate vowels have been attested. Damar lexical roots are mostly disyllabic or trisyllabic. Relying on Taber’s wordlist, it can be asserted that stress is fixed on the penultimate syllable of the lexical root as in {ul’konna} ‘head’, {wah’lejo} ‘mountain’, {le’lεmma} ‘tongue’ – except for some numerals such as {viε‘ru } ‘two’, {vi’ti} ‘seven’, {vi’a:} ‘eight’, {vi’si} ‘nine’, which are stressed on the ultimate syllable, and {’deweja} ‘woman’, {‘dodamo} ‘snake’, {‘muhəlo} ‘sky’, {wa’wathono} ‘sit’ which are stressed on the syllable preceded penultimate .

Morphology

A Damar Batumerah word elicited out of context has a final vowel, and this is typical for Southwest Moluccan languages. A salient feature of Damar Batumerah words found in the list is that almost all of them display final /o/, whereas /i/, /a/, /u/, /e/ occur much more rarely. Borrowings from or via Indonesian that have a final vowel keep it, cf. pala ‘nutmeg’, kuasa ‘force’, sapi ‘cow’, brani ‘brave’, capatu ‘shoes’, perlu ‘necessary’. Loan words with final consonant are regularly attached with /o/ or /yo/, cf. tabibo (< tabib) ‘physician’, masyarakato (< masyarakat) ‘society’, k-leso ‘read’ (< Dutch lezen), sembayango (< sembayang) ‘pray’, sombongo (< sombong) ‘arrogant’, lillyo (< lilin) ‘candle’, pepekoyo (< bebek) ‘duck’. Exceptions comprise few Indonesian borrowings: turunan ‘ descent’, korban ‘victim’, mahal ‘expensive’, murah ‘cheap’, trimakasih ‘thanks’, silahkan ‘please’, ancam ‘threaten’. It is worth to emphasize that these are the only consonant-final entries attested in our Damar Batumerah wordlist. The examples given above imply that final /o/ can be categorized as a productive affix which is not intrinsic to the single word class, but can be attached to nouns, verbs, adjectives when they appear as free forms. In context, content words usually lack the affix -o and combine with each other through apocope as in yowentetmo (< yowenyo ‘good’ + tetteto ’very’) ‘the most beautiful’ (24). When suffixed, lexical morphemes not only delete the final affix -o but are subjected to some morphological processes. We can exemplify this for possessive constructions. In the case of wolseni (wols-o/eni) ‘his/her price’ (18), the affix -o is replaced with the 3SG possessive suffix -eni, whereas in the case of kakamcheni (kak- o/mcheni) ‘your older brother/sister’ (35), wowsumcheni (wows-o/mcheni) ‘your pig’(18) or wowsuyeni (wows-o/eni) ‘his/her pig’(18), weseni (we-yo/eni/-seni) ‘his/her younger brother/

2 Taber’s data are enclosed in figured brackets. 164 sister’(35), the lexical morphemes not only replace the final /o/ with possessive suffixes but exhibit allomorphs: kaka-, wowsu-, wes-. What is /a/ in the case of kaka-mcheni, /u/ in wowsu-mcheni or in wowsu-eni and /s/ in wes-eni? Why is /u/ inserted in the possessive form of wowso but not in that of wolso? Unfortunately, the available data are too scarce for revealing phonotactic rules. The examples given above show that Damar Batumerah does not formally distinguish between alienable and inalienable possession. The same suffixes mark possession on any nouns, be they alienable or inalienable: cf. kakamcheni (kako-mcheni) ‘your older brother/sister’ (35) and wowsumcheni (wowso-mcheni) ‘your pig’ (18); weseni (weyo-seni) ‘your younger brother/ sister’ (35) and wowsuyeni (wowso-eni) ‘his/her pig’ or wolseni (wolso-eni) ‘his/her price’ (18). A full set of possessive suffixes is illustrated in Table 1 by the inflection of weroto, which was provided by our informant as an equivalent to Indonesian verb punya ‘have’ but is likely to be a noun ‘possession’. Like other languages of the area, Damar Batumerah lacks verb designating possession.

weroto Possessive suffixes 1SG odo weruchchi -chchi (?) 2SG ede werumcheni -mcheni 3SG idi wereni -eni 1PL:INC itito werotoni -toni 1PL:EXCL odomo weromoni -moni 2PL edmi werumseni -mseni 3PL idiro weroroni -roni Table 1: The inflection of weroto (equivalent to punya ‘have’)

With the exception of 1SG suffix -chchi, which may be not a possessive marker proper (e.g., another suffix is observed in ulkona-cheni ‘my head’ in (2) and (4)), all possessive suffixes include a segment -ni. Meanwhile, this -ni occurs as a separate affix in sentences and in the Damar Batumerah wordlist. In the wordlist, the suffix -ni is displayed by two inalienable nouns: ulchuni ‘husband’ < ulcho ‘man’/ ‘male’ and deweyeni ‘wife’ < deweya ‘woman’/ ‘female’. But mostly -ni occurs with nouns which are not eligible for inalienable status; cf. muchloni ‘sky’, lawoni, ‘sun’, ulloni3 ‘moon’, uhnoni ‘rain’, Ahulchini4 ‘God’, horani ‘anchor’. Many phrases that exhibit the suffix -ni are not possessive ones (see 17, 21, 23, 26, 27, 28, 30), and the rules of its distribution remain unclear. However, we may assume that -ni is one of the affixes filling the slot of the phrase determiner and its function is ‘to signal that the speaker identifies the referent of the phrase within his frame of reference’ (to use the formula given for Leti in Van Engelenhoven 2004:160). Damar Batumerah seems to display no formal singular/plural distinction on nouns. Compare uma ‘house’ in the two sentences: uma-i ‘this house’ for Indonesian rumah ini in (9) and uma-dari ‘that house’ for Indonesian rumah-rumah itu ‘those houses’ in (36) or kmemeyo ‘child’ (Indonesian anak) and kmemeidini ‘(the?) child’ for Indonesian anak-anak ‘children’ in (11). In both cases, nouns are not marked overtly as singular/plural, although in the corresponding Indonesian phrases plurality on nouns is marked by means of reduplication.

3 Our informant distinguished ulloni ‘moon’ from ullo ’month’ by means of -ni. 5 Compare Ahulchini ’God’ with ahuli provided for Indonesian atas ‘on top of, above’. 165

Whereas Damar Batumerah nouns seemingly do not display a number distinction, 3PL 5 personal pronoun idiro may be analyzed as 3SG idi + plural marker -ro . Moreover, plurality might be marked by -ri on a verb (11) and probably even on an adverb as in (34):

(34) deyo wyeru dahmenlo arolmari deyo wyeru da-hmen-lo arolmo-ri man two REL-be.located-LOC inside-(PL?) ‘two men inside it’

Verbs in Damar Batumerah as well as in the other languages of the region are inflected by means of pronominal prefixes, indicating person and number of the subject. (In the wordlist verbs usually appear in bound forms, mostly with prefixes of 3SG, and 1PL.INC.) Pronominal prefixes mark subject cross-reference not only on verbs: thus, a pronominal prefix is attested in combination with the locative clitic marker -lo used predicatively:

(7) Priginlo? prigi-n-lo well-3SG-LOC ‘Where is the well?’

Damar Batumerah features a verb yio designating the relation ‘to be with’ where Indonesian displays the conjunction sama ‘with’. In our data, this verb is observed with the 1SG prefix (odo wiyo Piter ‘I and/with Piter’ in (19)) and the 3SG prefix (cf. Kakamcheni iyo weseni ‘Your elder sibling with his/her younger sibling’ in (35)).6 Damar Batumerah conjugation exemplified in Table 2 by the verb yoni7 ‘eat’.

yoni subject prefixes 1SG w-oni w-

2SG m-oni m- 3SG y-oni y- 1PL.INC t-oni t- 1PL.EXCL m-oni m- 2PL ms-oni ms- 3PL r-oni r- Table 2: The pronominal inflection of the verb yoni ‘eat’

This is the only complete verbal paradigm which we have. Besides the pronominal prefixes exhibited in Table 2, other variants of the prefixes are attested in our collection of sentences and in the wordlist. Thus, the following pronominal prefixes can be added to the above inflection: 1SG nche- (nche-pondo ‘be ill’); 3SG n- (n-poko ‘explode’, n-woludlo ‘hunt’,

5 It may be that -ro also marks verbs for plurality in (19) and (34). 6 This verb only occurs with human nouns. Non-human nouns are combined by means of the conjuction ne. It is worth noting that in the Teun variety of the Wetan language, the human/non-human opposition is realized in a similar way: the.conjunction used for human nouns differs from that combining non-human nouns (Chlenova 2006:50). 7In our wordlist as well as in Taber’s list the verb tawco is given for ‘eat’ (Indonesian makan). 166

n-hakro ‘boil’, n-dekro ‘ be dry’, ng- (ng-kerso ‘be thin’); 1PL.INC k- (k-la ‘go’, k-wadano ‘hear’, k-hoto ‘talk’, k-mattuni ‘sleep’, k-nehi ‘run’), 2SG/PL my- (mlyo < lo ‘go’, mnyedi < nadi ‘fall’; these two verbs combine with the 2SG/PL pronominal prefix my-, which is subjected to the metathesis -y- of the prefix and the initial l- and n- of the stems).8 The subject prefixes attested in our data are summarized in Table 3.

1SG w-, nche- 2SG m- 3SG y-, n-, ng- 1PL.INC t-, k- 1PL.EXCL m- 2PL my-, ms- 3PL r- Table 3: Subject prefixes

Personal deictic system in Damar Batumerah comprises personal pronouns, pronominal prefixes, and possessive suffixes, as is displayed in Table 4. Our data does not provide evidence for the existence of possessive pronouns.

Pronoun Subject prefixes Possessive suffixes

1SG odo w-, nche- -cheni (-chchi) 2SG ede m- -mcheni 3SG idi y-, n-, ng- -eni 1PL.INC itito t-, k- -toni 1PL.EXCL odomo m- -moni 2PL edmi my-, ms- -mseni 3PL idiro r- -roni Table 4: Personal deictics

Personal pronouns fill subject and object slots. Personal subjects may be encoded as independent NPs of the clauses, although they are cross-referenced on verbs with pronominal prefixes. This is exemplified in (1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 18, 22, 30).

(1) Ede mpondai? ede m-pondo-ai 2SG 2SG-ill-(Q?) ‘Are you ill?’

For the examples of pronominal objects encoded as constituents of VPs see (20, 22, 24).

(22) Idi ngkerpondeh odoi. idi ng-kerso-pondeh odo-i 3SG 3SG-thin-(more?) 1SG-(D) ‘He is thinner than I am.’

8 Similar metathesis in 2PL but in verbs with initial w- is attested in Daweloor (Chlenova 2002:151). 167

Personal pronoun can occupy possessive modifier slot as in (2, 4, 19):

(4) Odo ulkonacheni nchepondo. odo ulkona-cheni nche-pondo 1SG head-1SG:POS 3SG-ill ‘I have a headache.’

The demonstrative pronouns available in our Damar Batumerah data are dai / dei ‘this’, ‘here’ (Indonesian ini / di sini) and dari ‘that’ (Indonesian itu). Dai occupies the subject position; cf. (29):

(29) Ke mormoprsa we dai kudai [dai].9 ke-mormorsa-we dai kuda-i NEG-buffalo-NEG DEM horse-D ‘It is not a buffalo, it is a horse.’

Dei fills the determiner slot in NP:

(24) Bunga da yawentetmo dunyadei pernah di lo Irianno. bunga da yawenyo-teto-mo dunya-dei pernah r-olo-i-lo idi flower REL beautiful-AUG-LOC world-DEM PERF 3PL-give-D-DIR 3SG lo Irianno LOC Irianno ‘The most beautiful flower in the world was given to him in Irian.’

Besides dei, the suffix -i can be used in the determiner slot, as in (9, 27)

(9) Umai wewechei? uma-i wewecha-ei house-D RED-new-(D/Q?) ‘Is this house new?’

Dei can also fill the locative modifier slot in VP (as in (10)) and occur in combination with a locative marker mo as a separated locative phrase modei (11, 25)

(10) Keggunawelo ede mmudei. Mlyonano! Keg-guna-we-lo ede m-mu-dei my-lo-nano 10 NEG-use-NEG-LOC1 2SG 2SG-come-DEM 2SG-go-EXC ‘In vain you have come here. Go away!’

(25) Tetomolmolonlo tonalo roko momodei! teto-molmolono-lo tona-lo roko momo-dei AUG-RED-(molono?)-LOC1 (tona?)-LOC1 smoke RED-LOC-DEM ‘No smoking here!’

9 This second dai was written down but then rejected by the informant. 10 The main function of the clitic marker -lo is to profile location or direction (Loc); cf. (8, 17, 24, 36). However, -lo attested in (5, 6, 10, 12, 17, 25, 30) is obviously not locative. It covers different functions, whose range is not quite clear for the time being. While designating -lo in its default function LOC, I use LOC1 as a gloss for the second (non-locative) –lo. 168

As is seen from (29, 24, 9) above, both dai / dei and the suffix -i were given by the informant for the Indonesian ini ‘this’. For Indonesian itu ‘that’, dari is provided in the wordlist, but this form is only attested in (36):

(36) Umadari hmenlo oldayeni tlina. uma-dari hmen-lo oldo-yeni tlina house-DEM be located-LOC (forest?)-3SG:POS ear ‘Those houses are at the edge of the forest.’

In other sentences a variety of equivalents for Indonesian itu ‘that’ are used. Usually they fill the determiner slot in NPs. Among them are the suffix -nyeri in the NP prigi-nyeri ‘that well’ (Indonesian sumur itu) in (8), the 3SG possessive suffix -eni in nuch-eni ‘that coconut tree’ (Indonesian pohon kelapa itu) in (14) and perhaps in portreto-yeni ‘the photo’ in (34),11 and the suffix -ni in lepa-ni ‘that monkey’ (Indonesian kera itu) in (26):

(8) Desserhe ntip wiyolo priginyeri? desseri-he n-tip wiyo-lo prigi-nyeri who-(REL?) 3SG-scoope water-LOC well-D ‘Who is scooping water out of the well?’

(14) Mani mpana nucheni! mani m-pana nucho-eni PROH 2SG-climb coconut tree-D ‘Don’t climb that coconut tree!’

In the sentence (33) itu ‘that’ is encoded by means of -i, which is suffixed to the noun and also appears with the predicate being also modified by -yeri, another determiner. Perhaps it may be taken as an example of stacking of deictic markers, which is a feature of many other indigenous languages of Southwest Maluku.

(33) Dawari semantara urusiyeri.12 dawar-i semantara urus-i-yeri matter-D IPF settle-D-D ‘The matter is still being settled.’

This is not the only case where the determiner -i takes a predicate as its host. For another example of -i found on a verb, see (24, 30). Recall also that in (19) and (22) -i is suffixed to 1SG personal pronoun. In its ability to collocate to nouns, pronouns and verbs, the determiner -i seems to be similar to the Leti -e, which is suffixed practically to any constituent to mark it for definiteness (Van Engelenhoven 1994:106). At the time being, it is difficult to formulate any rules of the distribution of i- and similar elements of the deictic system. That is why they are conventionally categorized here as determiners (D). Negation in Damar Batumerah is encoded by means of kewe ‘no, not’. Kewe as a whole unit is confined to one-word sentences that function as replies in a dialog (5-6):

11 In the ambiguous context of the source Indonesian sentence (34), either ini ‘this’or itu ‘that’ could be considered a semantic source. 12 This sentence may present an example of mixing of the languages: the lexical morphemes are Indonesian, yet they take Damar Batumerah affixes. 169

(5) – Idi nmotlo imnyo susu? ‘Does he /she like to drink milk?’ (6) – Kewe, nmotlo yano dagino. ‘No, he / she likes to eat meat.’

Kewe as an internal-clausal negator is a circumfix that attaches to nouns, verbs and adjectives. Negation through circumfixation does not occur in other Southwest Moluccan languages, yet it is attested in some Austronesian languages of Timor (Hull 2001:172). Damar Batumerah negation through circumfixation is exemplified in (10, 11, 18, 20, 29):

(20) Piter ketuwchuhwemo odai / [odoi].13 Piter ke-tucha-we-mo odo-i Piter NEG-old-NEG-(mo-?) 1SG-D ‘Peter is not as old as I am.’

In one sentence (11) negation is encoded by means of krawui which fills the predicate slot. Krawui is provided by the informant for Indonesian tidak ada ‘is not available’. Probably krawui is derived from the negator kewe and the determiner i.

(11) Da kmemeidini k-tachrari krawui modei. Mlyonano! da kmemeyo-dini k-tachro-ri krawui mo-dei my-lo-nano REL child-(?) (?)-look for-(PL?) NEG LOC-DEM 2PL-go-EXC ‘What are you looking for is not available here. Go away!’

Damar Batumerah pre-verbal prohibitive marker mani occurs in two sentences (14, 15) and looks like a verb inflected for the 2nd person:

(15) Mediyoho, mani mnyedi! be careful PROH 2SG-fall ‘Be careful, don’t fall!’

Syntax

Like Leti (Van Engelenhoven 2004:175) and other Southwest Moluccan languages, Damar Batumerah is characterized by the ‘head-modifier-determiner’ default phrase structure. Members of the phrase are linked to each other through apocope as in oth purani (< otho dog’, purani ‘wild’) ‘wild dog’(27) or in Neno dacho nwot aryo ‘Mother is still cooking rice’ (31), where the VP head woto ‘cook’ looses its final /o/: n-wot aryo ‘(he/she) cooks rice’ (< woto ‘cook’, aryo ‘rice’). Besides apocope the integrity of NPs such as wow daroni (< wowso ‘pig’, daro(?)14 ‘wild’, -ni: determiner) ‘wild boar’ is maintained by the final determiner -ni, an indicator of a phrase’s border. However, the prototypical phrasal word order ‘head-modifier’ is reversed in possessive constructions, where a modifier (possessor noun) precedes the head (possessed noun), and the possessive relation is expressed with a pronominal suffix cross-referencing the possessor. Compare the possessive NP wowsuyeni wolseni (lit. pig-3SG:POS price-3SG:POS) ‘his/her pig’s

13 The variant in square brackets is due to the illegible spelling. 14 This adjective does not occur in the wordlist and therefore this free form is not confirmed. 170 price’ (18) with NPs including an adjective or numeral modifier such as wowi kmirsuni (lit. pig-Det fat-Det) ‘the fat pig’ (27) or deyo wyeru (lit. man two) ‘two men’ (34). In general, Damar Batumerah displays S-V-O word order. Subjects obligatory precede predicates but objects are not confined to the post-verbal position, that is O-S-V order is admitted as well. Objects precede the clause cores in the Damar Batumerah sentences (24, 26, 34), which are provided by the informant for Indonesian passive constructions. An important function of the passive voice is to promote the patient referent. This is exemplified in (26).

(26) Lepani odwithi ko lyo tinamani. lepa-ni od-withi ko lyo tina-mani monkey-(D) 1SG-bring (?) DIR garden-(animal?) ‘The monkey is brought to the Zoo by me.’

Here the patient occupies a precore position, while the agent is encoded by the 1SG person pronoun, which looses its final /o/ and procliticizes to the verb. The Damar Batumerah verb lacks passive forms. The choice of the verbal pronominal prefix/clitic is determined by the agent – but frequently in the “passive” constructions agents are not available, since another function of the passive voice is to demote the agent referent. If the agent of the action is irrelevant, the verb is inflected with the 3PL pronominal prefix, as in (24, 34).

(34) Dampo potretoyeni redenipo npattonhe deyo wyeru dahmenlo arolmari tetpopp’achiro. dampo potreto-yeni r-edeni-po n-patton-he deyo wyeru SEQ photo-D 3PL-do-SEQ 3SG-(big?)-(REL?) man two da-hmen-lo alormo-ri teto-poppachiro REL-be located-LOC inside-(PL?) AUG-(clear?) ‘After the photo was enlarged, two men became very clearly visible.’

Those Indonesian passive constructions in which agents and patients were encoded by nouns were converted by the informant into the source active structures. Both sentences show a tendency of profiling agents as subjects and patients as objects as in (27, 28):

(27) Oth purani yono wowi kmirsuni. otho puro[a]-ni y-oni wowso-i kmirso[u]-ni dog (wild?)-D 3SG-eat pig-D fat-D ‘The wild dog has eaten the fat pig.’

(28) Wow daroni yono othuni. wowso daro-ni y-oni otho[u]-ni pig (wild?)-D 3SG-eat dog-D ‘The wild pig has eaten the dog.’

Summary

The paper deals with some aspects of the grammatical structure of Damar Batumerah. Very tentative conclusions drawn here are the following: Typologically Damar Batumerah. is similar to other languages of the area. It shows Subject-Verb-Object word order, subject agreement on verbs, no passive voice, tense and aspect marked via adverbials, no formal alienable/inalienable and singular/plural distinction

171 on nouns, a reversed possessive construction, apocope and metathesis as a device to link morphemes within the phrase. However, there is at least one specific feature in Damar Batumerah which is not attested in the other Southwest Moluccan languages but is characteristic to some Austronesian languages of Timor, namely negation through circumfixation.

Appendix: a sample of sentences

(1) Ede mpondai? ede m-pondo-ai 2SG 2SG-ill-(Q?) ‘Are you ill?’ Apa(kah) saudara sakit? (Indonesian)

(2) E’e, odo ulkonacheni nchepondo. e’e odo ulkona-cheni nche-pondo yes 1SG head-(1SG:POS) 3SG-ill ‘Yes, I have a headache.’ Yah, saya sakit kepala. (Indonesian)

(3) Tuane mpondo? tuano-e m-pondo 2SG-(?) 2SG-ill ‘What hurts you?’ Tuan sakit apa? (Indonesian)

(4) Odo ulkonacheni nchepondo. odo ulkona-cheni nche-pondo 1SG head-1SG:POS 3SG-ill ‘I have a headache’ Saya sakit kepala. (Indonesian)

(5) Idi nmotlo imnyo susu? idi n-moto-lo i-mnyo susu 3SG 3SG-like-LOC1 3SG-drink milk ‘Does he/she like to drink milk?’ Dia suka minum susu? (Indonesian)

(6) Kewe, nmotlo yono dagino, sayoro ne buah-buah. kewe n-moto-lo y-ono dagino sayoro ne buah-buah NEG 3SG-like-LOC1 3SG-eat meat vegetables SML fruits ‘No, he likes to eat meat,vegetables and fruits.’ Tidak, dia suka makan daging, sayur-sayuran dan buah-buahan. (Indonesian)

(7) Priginlo? prigi-n-lo well-3SG-LOC ‘Where is the well?’ Di mana sumur? (Indonesian)

172

(8) Desserhe ntip wiyolo priginyeri? desseri-he n-tip wiyo-lo prigi-nyeri who-(REL?) 3SG-scoope water-LOC well-D ‘Who is scooping water out of the well?’ Siapa yang timba air di sumur itu? (Indonesian)

(9) Umai wewechei? uma-i wewecha-ei house-D RED-new-(D/Q?) ‘Is this house new?’ Barukah rumah ini? (Indonesian)

(10) Keggunawelo ede mmudei. Mlyonano! Keg-guna-we-lo ede m-mu-dei my-lo-nano NEG-use-NEG-LOC1 2SG 2SG-come-DEM 2SG-go-EXC ‘In vain you have come here. Go away!’ Sia-sia engkau datang kemari. Pergi! (Indonesian)

(12) Yawenlo mamtattaran nano. yawenyo-lo m-amtattaran nano good-LOC1 2SG-(be silent?) EXC ‘I wish you shut up!’ Baiklah engkau diam saja! (Indonesian)

(13) Mnunanpo kla! // Mnupo klonano!15 mnu-nano-po k-la // mnu-po k-lo-nano let(?)-EXC-SEQ 1PL.INC-go // let(?)-SEQ 1PL.INC-go-EXC ‘Let us go away!’ Marilah kita pergi! (Indonesian)

(14) Mani mpana nucheni! mani m-pana nucho-eni PROH 2SG-climb coconut tree-D ‘Don’t climb that coconut tree!’ Jangan naik pohon kelapa itu! (Indonesian)

(15) Mediyoho, mani mnyedi! be careful PROH 2SG-fall ‘Be careful, don’t fall!’ Awas, jangan sampai jatuh! (Indonesian)

15 Two Damar variants were supplied for the corresponding Indonesian sentence. 173

(16) Mlyo pasar onpo muro ppakko, plone mlyo Sinanpo muro wowso. My-lo pasar onpo m-oro ppakko plone my-lo sinan-po 2SG-go market SEQ 2SG-buy tobacco (then?) 2SG-go Chinese-SEQ m-oro wowso 2SG-buy pig ‘Go to the market, buy some tobacco, then go to the Chinese to buy some pork.’ Pergi ke pasar,beli tembakau dulu,lalu pergi kepada orang Cina dan beli daging babi di sana. (Indonesian)

(17) Yahnan Kei [ni]16men monlo Yartoni troi, dacha salju kpowo npupurlo. yahnan Kei [ni]-men mo-n-lo yarto-ni troi dacha salju (let’s say?) Kei 3SG-be located (?)-3SG-LOC pole-(D) north (so?) snow kpowo n-pu-(puro?)-lo much 3SG-(go down-?)-LOC1 ‘If Kei were located at the North Pole it would have meant heavy snowing’ Andaikata pulau Kei terletak di kutub Utara, maka banyak salju turun. (Indonesian)

(18) Wowsuyeni wolseni keyahnenwe wowsumcheni wolseni. wowso-yeni wolso-eni ke-yahnen(o?)-we wowso-mcheni wolso-eni pig-3SG:POS price-3SG:POS NEG-(same?)-NEG pig-2SG:POS price-3SG:POS ‘The price of his pig is not the same as that of yours.’ Babinya tidak sama harganya dengan babikau. (Indonesian)

(19) Odo wiyo Piter umuro modi[i] mehniro. odo w-iyo Piter umuro mo-di mehni-ro 1SG 1SG-be with Piter age (?-?) same-(PL?) ‘Peter and me are of the same age.’ Umur Piter sama dengan umur saya. (Indonesian)

(20) Piter ketuwchuhwemo odai / [odoi]. Piter ke-tucha-we-mo odo-i Piter NEG-old-NEG-(mo-?) 1SG-D ‘Peter is not as old as I am.’ Piter tidak setua saya. (Indonesian)

(21) Kura-kurani nnechcha kemmehnowepo yahnano rusani. kura-kura-ni n-nech-ch-a kem-mehno-we-po yahnano rusa-ni RED-kura-(D) 3SG-RED-run NEG-one/same-NEG-SEQ (than?) deer-(D) ‘A turtle runs not as well as a deer.’ Kura-kura lari kurang cepat dari rusa. (Indonesian)

(21a) Kura-kurani nnechcha mmehnopondechi rusani.17 kura-kura-ni n-nech-ch-a mehno-pondechi rusa-ni kura-kura-(D) 3SG-RED-run one/same-(more?) deer-(D)

16 In square brackets there are fragments of the words which were written by the informant not quite legiblely. 17 This is a variant of the sentence (21) which was firstly written but then rejected by the informant. 174

(22) Idi ngkerpondeh odoi. idi ng-kerso-pondeh odo-i 3SG 3SG-thin-(more?) 1SG-(D) ‘He is thinner than I am.’ Dia lebih kurus dari saya. (Indonesian)

(23) Wohleyo Binayani idihe hulchupondeheti wohleyo Ahehendini. wohleyo Binaya-ni idi-he hulcu-pondeh-eti wohleyo Ahehendi-ni mountain Binaya-(D) 3SG-(REL?) high-(more?)-(?) mountain Seram-(D) ‘The mountain Binaya is the highest at the Seram island.’ Gunung Binaya adalah gunung yang tertinggi di pulau Seram. (Indonesian)

(24) Bunga da yawentetmo dunyadei pernah di lo Irianno. bunga da yawenyo-teto-mo dunya-dai pernah r-olo-i-lo idi flower REL beautiful-AUG-LOC world-DEM PERF 3PL-give-D-DIR 3SG lo Irianno LOC Irianno ‘The most beautiful flower in the world was given to him in Irian.’ Bunga yang paling indah di dunia pernah diberikan kepadanya di Irian. (Indonesian)

(25) Tetomolmolonlo tonalo roko momodei. teto-molmolono-lo tona-lo roko momo-dei AUG-RED-(molono?)-LOC1 (tona?)-LOC1 smoke RED-LOC-DEM ‘No smoking here!’ Dilarang keras merokok disini! (Indonesian)

(26) Lepani odwithi ko lyo tinamani. lepa-ni od-withi ko lyo tina-mani monkey-(D) 1SG-bring (?) DIR garden-(animal?) ‘The monkey is brought to the Zoo by me’ Kera itu dibawa ke kebun binatang oleh saya. (Indonesian)18

(27) Oth purani yono wowi kmirsuni. otho puro[a]-ni y-oni wowso-i kmirso[u]-ni dog (wild?)-D 3SG-eat pig-D fat-D ‘The wild dog has eaten the fat pig.’ Babi gemuk dimakan anjing liar. (Indonesian)

(28) Wow daroni yono othuni. wowso daro-ni y-oni otho[u]-ni pig (wild?)-D 3SG-eat dog-D ‘The wild pig has eaten the dog.’ Anjin dimakan babi hutan. (Indonesian)

18 Although this sentence is not felicitous in Standard Indonesian, it was given as a stimulus to our informant. 175

(29) Ke mormoprsa we dai kudai [dai]. ke-mormorsa-we dai kuda-i NEG-buffalo-NEG DEM horse-D ‘It is not a buffalo, it is a horse.’ Ini bukan kerbau – ini kuda. (Indonesian)

(30) Itito kwaropapaetnano yambatano da prohnanlo yatetini. itito k-waropapaet-nano yambatano da proh(o?)-nano-lo yateto-ni 1PL.INC 1PL.INC-(repair?)-(?) bridge REL (long ago?)-(?)-LOC1 broken-(D) ‘We have already repaired the bridge which was broken long ago’ Kita telah memperkuat jambatan yang lama rusak itu. (Indonesian)

(31) Neno docho nwot aryo. neno docho n-woto aryo mother IPF 3SG-cook rice ‘Mother is still cooking rice’ Ibu masih memasak nasi. (Indonesian)

(32) Ullo owotoi arolmo lato ncattamokwadmedo liwcho yenoni toweheni seca ispontoloniso . ullo owe-toi arolmo lato n-catta-mo-kwadmedo liwcho yeno-ni month front-(?) inside village 3SG-(catta?)-?-clean (pond?) fish-(D) towehe-ni seca iso-po-n-tolon-iso (bottom?)-(D) by way one-SEQ-3SG-help-one ‘Next month all the villagers will clean the fish pond by way of mutual cooperation.’ Dalam bulan depan seluruh kampung akan membersihkan dasar kolam ikan secara gotong-royong. (Indonesian)

(33) Dawari semantara urusiyeri. dawar-i semantara urus-i-yeri matter-D IPF settle-D-D ‘The matter is still being settled’ Hal itu sedang diurus. (Indonesian)

(35) Kakamcheni iyo weseni isponwaro poppa lowno iso. kako-mcheni iyo weyo-seni elder sibling-2SG:POS 3SG-be with younger sibling-3SG:POS iso-po-n-waro poppa lowno iso one-SEQ-3SG-(waro?) (poppa?) (lowno?) one ‘Your elder sibling and his/her younger sibling love each other.’ Kakakmu dan adiknya berkasih-kasihan. (Indonesian)

176

(36) Umadari hmenlo oldayeni19 tlina. uma-dari hmen-lo oldo-yeni tlina house-DEM be located-LOC (forest?)-3SG:POS ear ‘Those houses are at the edge of the forest.’ Rumah-rumah itu terletak di pinggir hutan. (Indonesian)

Abbreviations

1, 2, 3 – first, second, third person; AUG – augmentive; D – determiner; DEM – demonstrative; DIR – directive; EXC – exclamation marker; IPF – imperfective; LOC – locative; NEG – negative; PERF – perfective; PL – plural; PL.INC – plural inclusive; POS – possessive; PROH – prohibitive; Q – question marker; RED – reduplication; REL – relative; SEQ – sequential conjuction; SG – singular; SML – simultaneous conjuction.

References

Chlenov, Mikhail A. 1976. Naselenije Molukkskikh ostrovov [The population of the Moluccan islands]. Moscow: Nauka. Chlenov, Mikhail A. and Svetlana F. Chlenova. 2004. Serua, isčezajusčij jazyk v Vostočnoj Indonezii [Serua, a vanishing language in Eastern Indonesia]. In In N. F. Alieva et al. (eds), Malaysko- indoneziyskiye issledovaniya XVI. Moscow: Gumanitarij, 265-280. Chlenova, Svetlana F. 2002. Daweloor, a Southwest Moluccan language. In B. B. Parnickel (ed.), Malay-Indonesian studies XV. Moscow: Nusantara Society, the Asia and Pacific Museum, 145- 175. Chlenova, Svetlana F. 2004. Slovar’ jazyka serua [The wordlist of the Serua language (Eastern Indonesia)]. In N.F. Alieva et al. (eds), Malaysko-indoneziyskiye issledovaniya XVI. Moscow: Gumanitarij, 281-299. Chlenova, Svetlana F. 2006. Teunskij variant jazyka wetan: materially i grammaticheskie zametki [ Teun variety of the Wetan language (Eastern Indonesia)]. In T. V. Dorofeeva (ed.), Malaysko- indoneziyskiye issledovaniya XVII. Moscow: Akademija gumanitarnyx issledovanij, 37-83. Hull, Geoffrey. 2001. A morphological overview of the Timoric Sprachbund. Studies in languages and cultures of East Timor 4:94-205. Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.). 2005. Ethnologue: languages of the world. 15th edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/. Taber, Mark. 1993. Toward a better understanding of the indigenous languages of Southwestern Maluku. Oceanic Linguistics 32(2):389-441. Van Engelenhoven, Aone. 1994. On determiners in the Leti Tutukei. In G. P. Reesink (ed.), Topics in descriptive Austronesian linguistics. Leiden: Vakgroep Talen en Culturen van Zuidoost-Azië en Oceanië, Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, 106-129. Van Engelenhoven, Aone. 2004. Leti: A language of Southwest Maluku. Leiden: KITLV Press.

19 The word was written by the informant not quite legiblely. Another variant of its reading is oldoyeni. 177