Roberts, John R;
(1986)
Amele Grammar.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), University of London.
Preview |
Text
Roberts_10207104_Thesis.pdf Download (36MB) | Preview |
Abstract
The thesis is a -full grammatical description of the Amele language of Papua New Guinea(PNG). The Amele are a group of about 5000 people living on the north coast of PNG just south of the town of Madang. The Amele language is the largest language of the Gum language family. Mabuso Stock. Madang Super-Stock. Madang-Adelbert Range Sub-phylum. Data for the thesis were collected in the area mainly during a period of residence from September 1984 to November 1985 under the auspices of the Summer Institute of Linguistics. The description follows the format of the Lingua Descriptive Series questionnaire (now Croom Helm Descriptive Series) edited by Prof. Bernard Comrie and Prof. Norval Smith. A full account of the language is given covering the areas of syntax (including di rect/indirect speech, question sentences, sentence structure, subordination, coordination, negation, anaphora, reflexives, possession and topic), morphology (including noun and verb inflection and derivational morphology) and phonology (including segments and suprasegmentals and morphophonology) all in some detail. In line with the thinking behind the questionnaire a basic descriptive approach is adopted not leaning towards any particular linguistic model although for the phonology and morphophonology sections the generative model has been used to describe these areas. Some of the linguistically interesting features of the language are described in detail including the switch-reference system, the modal system, the impersonal verbs and the inalienably possessed nouns. Where these phenomena relate to current linguistic debate these matters are addressed as part of the descriptive analysis. Although the author of the thesis is a fluent speaker of Amele every effort has been made to qualify all aspects of data and analysis with native speaker intuitions. As far as can be ascertained there is no other description of the Amele language in existence so in this respect the data itself should contribute to the database for linguistic research.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Amele Grammar |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10207104 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
