PACIFIC LINGUISTICS Se�ie� B - No. 70 NAKANAI OF NEW BRITAIN THE GRAMMAR OF AN OCEANIC LANGUAGE by Raymond Leslie Johnston Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Johnston, R.L. Nakanai of New Britain: The grammar of an Oceanic language. B-70, xiv + 323 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1980. DOI:10.15144/PL-B70.cover ©1980 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. � J PACIFIC LINGUISTICS is issued through the Ling ui�zic Ci4cie 06 Canbe44a and consists of four series: SERIES A - OCCAS IONAL PAPERS SERIES B - MONOGRAPHS SERIES C - BOOKS SERIES V - SPECIAL PUBLICATI ONS EDITOR: S.A. Wurrn. ASSOCIATE EDITORS: C.D. Laycock, C.L. Voorhoeve, D.T. Tryon, T.E. Dutton. EDITORIAL ADVISERS: B. Bender, University of Hawaii J. Lynch, University of Papua D. Bradley, University of Melbourne New Guinea A. Capell, University of Sydney K.A. McElhanon, University of Texas S. Elbert, University of Hawaii H. McKaughan, University of Hawaii K. Franklin, Summer Institute of P. Mlihlhausler, Linacre College, Linguistics Oxford W.W. Glover, Summer Institute of G.N. O'Grady, University of Linguistics Victoria, B.C. G. Grace, University of Hawaii A.K. Pawley, University of Hawaii M.A.K. Halliday, University of K. Pike, University of Michigan; Sydney Summer Institute of Linguistics A. Healey, Summer Institute of E.C. Polorn�, University of Texas Linguistics G. Sankoff, universit� de Montr�al L. Hercus, Australian National E. Uhlenbeck, University of Leiden University J.W.M. Verhaar, University of N.D. Liern, University of Hawaii Indonesia, Jakarta ALL CORRESPONDENCE concerning PACIFIC LINGUISTICS, including orders and subscriptions, should be addressed to: The Secretary, PACIFIC LINGUISTICS, Department of Linguistics , School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T. 2600 . Australia . Copyright � R.L. Johnston. First published 1980. The editors are indebted to the Australian National University for help in the production of this series. This publication was made possible by an initial grant from the Hunter Douglas Fund. National Library of Australia Card Number and ISBN 0 85883 209 7 PREFACE This work gives an account of the morphology and syntax of Nakanai, an Oceanic Austronesian language of We st New Br itain. The study takes the form of a reference guide to the contrastive structures and major syntactic features of Nakanai. Concomitantly , selected issues in the grammar of Oceanic languages and in syntactic theory are discussed in terms of their manifestation in Nakanai. The work constitutes a revision of my doctoral dissertation submitted to the Department of Linguist ics in the Research Scho 1 of Pacific Studies at the Australian National University in February, 1978 . There is a lack in the field of Oceanic languages of a critical account of the morphology and syntax of a New Britain language. The task of attempt ing to provide such a descript ion would appear best ' undertaken set against an understanding of previous comparative research and at least an awareness of the variable aspects of language , in terms of social and regional factors, as they bear upon Nakanai. These matters are discussed in the first chapter . Chapters two and three deal with the semant ics and syntax respec­ tively of the Nakanai clause , attempting to demonstrate that case frames have to be defined language-spec ifically , with attendant separation of role and contextual factors in clause constituent analysis. Modality elements and modality contours in the clause are discussed in chapter three, along with the syntactic configurations of intransit ive and trans­ itive clauses. Chapter two deal s with the definitions of nuclear and peripheral cases, the analysis of case frames, and the discussion of complex relationships such as reflexive , reciprocal and comparative. In chapter four the influenc e of thematic organisation of discourse on the speaker 's selection of topicalisation options in sentence enco­ ding is considered . Two dist inct kinds of topicalisation are discerned, highlighting, utilising fronting of constituents, and foregrounding, in which determiners mark thematic nouns. The former strategy introduces iii iv new theme s, while the latter focusses already introduced part icipants in the discourse , thus providing coherence. Relat ivisation is seen to be a foregrounding (i.e. a focussing) strategy . The role of demonstra­ tives , deictics, and pronouns in foregrounding is considered in some detail. Partitioned and juxtaposed clauses are also discussed. Chapters five and six deal with the basic structures, the VP and the NP, respectively, and their constituents. The influence of context does not significantly affect the analysis of the VP, but comes very much into play in the NP in chapter six. In the VP discussion, matters such as the modification of the head verb by adverbs of manner and intensity, aspectual inflect ions , derivations and verbal compounds are considered in some detail. Inflectional and derivational aspects of reduplicat ion are separately discussed , especially the formation of continuative/habituative aspect and the derivat ion of intransitive verbs by reduplication , the form of which is phonologica ly condit ioned. In chapter six the modifier NP is analysed in terms of the condi­ tioning of constituent opt ionality and ordering with regard to the head noun according to contextual factors . A contextual concept of cohesion in the NP is put forward , complementing the syntactic conditioning fac­ tor of bondedness . Also discussed in chapter six is the inalienable possession system in Nakanai . This is seen to be a two-class 'gender ' type of syst em, unlike the cont extually-determined mu ltiple systems of possession which operate in many Oceanic languages. Only 'dominant ' possession , in which the actor is operative with regard to the patient , is encoded in Nakanai, there being no Polynesian-t ype 'subordinate' possession. Noun compounding , articles (personal and common) , modifiers and deverbal nouns are also considered in some detail in this chapter . Serial verbs, discussed in chapter seven, encode semantic notions of range, accompaniment , location and mo tion . A morphologically and syntactically distinct set of compound serial verbs are shown to encode notions of locatior. and motion, and are analysed according to a view of the VP as a 'wave '. That is, particles and auxiliary elements with some of the grammatical characterist ics of verbs reflect the diachronic development of these forms from verbs, a view which challenges the notion of discrete clear-cut cat egories in syntactic analysis. Locat ion and motion verbs are analysed uniformly with other serial verbs, it being argued on the basis of standard coordinated constructions in the language that a clause chain with obligatory coreferential deletion of the clause topics occurs in constructions in which serial verbs follow main verbs in close-knit sequence. v In chapter eight complex interclausal relat ionships are considered which have to do with those constructions which are clearly of a con­ joined or subordinating type as against the merged and close-knit types of construction in chapter seven . Dependent subordinate clauses are analysed as sentence topic s encoding presuppositions of condition, sequence, reason or result . All types of complementation are found to be subsumed under the embedded quotative type of sentence , there being direct quotation, indirect quotation, reported thought and intentional variants of this sentence type. Coordinate sentences are shown to be of a range of variet ies such as conj unctive sequence, conj unctive asso­ ciation, disjunction and juxtaposition, depending on semantic factors . The concluding comments of the study are found in chapter nine , which seeks to comment briefly on the possible origins of the Nakanai language . Nakanai is regarded as innovative in the deletion , simplification and reanalysis of basic Proto-Oceanic grammatical categories, and in the light of comments of comparative linguists, it is suggested that such changes may have occurred with emigration from an intermediary homeland east of New Britain . A number of people ought to be thanked in connection with the com­ pletion of this study of the Nakanai language . My appreciation is extended in the first instance to the influential and courteous senior men of Karapi, whose trust , protection and confidence my family and I have enj oyed during a number of years of residence in their village . I should like also to thank those who sat for hours to converse with me as I haltingly learned their language, and who graciously continue to abide my mistakes. To those who came and worked as advisers in the cold of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea also go my appreciation for a very real cont ribution. Fieldwork would often have been very difficult witr.out the help of the United Church ministers, teachers and nursing st aff, the staffs of the Sacred Heart Missions at Valoka and Vavua , officers of the Depart­ ment of Provincial Administration, and various of the townspeople of Kimbe and Hoskins, as well as colleagues of the Summer Inst itute of Linguistics, especially the pilots and others in supporting roles. For technical assistance and guidance I thank firstly the supervisors of my dissertat ion at the Re search School of Pacific Studies, A.N.U., in the Department of Linguistics, Dr Don Laycock and Dr Darrell Tryon ; and especially Dr Bill Foley of the School of General Studies, A.N.U. , Department of Linguistics. The critical comments of the members of my dissertation examining committee have also been of value , and a number vi of improvements in the analysis and discussion have been made as a result of the diligence of all three: Professor J.W.M. Verhaar, Profes­ sor Andrew K. Pawley , and Professor John Lynch. All of those mentioned above are absolved of any responsibility for any infelicities which might still remain despite their efforts.