Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/9631
Title: | Na Passive and na- Associative in Abma: Shared Properties; Shared Origin? | Contributor(s): | Schneider, Cynthia (author) | Publication Date: | 2011 | DOI: | 10.1353/ol.2011.0030 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/9631 | Abstract: | The passive is not widely attested in Melanesian languages, but Abma, an Oceanic language of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, does have an impersonal passive that is flagged by deleting the subject NP, suffixing the verb with -an 'passive', and encoding definiteness (na) on the object NP. Na 'definite' is probably related to Proto-Oceanic *a/*na, an article that likely marked the common nonhuman NP as definite. Of course, nonhuman NPs tend to be semantic patients. Abma also has an "associative" construction that codes a special kind of nominal relationship - syntactically and semantically distinct from indirect possession - where the "possessor" NP has little or no control over the "possessed" NP. The "possessor" NP follows an associative marker (of the form na-), and shares semantic and referential properties with passive NPs. This paper examines the present-day instantiation of na as a marker on passive NPs and na- on noncontrolling associative "possessors." It argues that the two forms have similar functionality, and considers a possible shared origin for the two morphemes. | Publication Type: | Journal Article | Source of Publication: | Oceanic Linguistics, 50(2), p. 380-398 | Publisher: | University of Hawai'i Press | Place of Publication: | United States of America | ISSN: | 0029-8115 1527-9421 |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 200408 Linguistic Structures (incl Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics) | Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 950201 Communication Across Languages and Culture 950202 Languages and Literacy |
Peer Reviewed: | Yes | HERDC Category Description: | C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal |
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Appears in Collections: | Journal Article School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences |
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