Silzer, Peter James
Description
Ambai is a little-known Austronesian language of Irian Jaya,
Indonesia. In this work we discuss the more common elements of
the phonology, morphology, and clause-level syntax. This work is
basically a synchronic description of the Ambai dialect of the
Ambai language, but mention is also made of comparative materials
in other Austronesian languages , especially in the morphology
section, where they shed light on the Ambai data. We have chosen
to limit the scope of this work by not...[Show more] discussing any level
higher than the simple sentence or what we will call the expanded
clause so as to be able to provide some depth of discussion on
those areas covered.
Chapter 1 places Ambai in its geographical and linguistic
setting as a member of Blust's (1978) South Halmahera - West New
Guinea group. The theoretical models used are summarized in 1.2
and the scope and purpose of this study in 1.3.
In chapter 2 the sound system of Ambai is described in terms
of distinctive features, morpheme-structure rules, and
phonological processes.
An overview of the basic open and closed word classes is
given in chapter 3. We also relate Ambai syntax to syntactic
universals as put forth by Greenberg (1966) to provide a concise
summary of Ambai word order constraints.
Chapter 4 discusses the Ambai noun
function-based model which describes the NP as
phrase employing a
consisting of a
referential core modified by Association, Qualification,
Quantification, and Orientation elements. The final three
chapters of this dissertation employ a
layered clause model which sees the clause as consisting of a
nuclear predicate, core arguments, and peripheral arguments. The
clause nucleus is discussed in chapter 5, along with aspect and
directionals which are held to be operators over the clause
nucleus. The clause core is considered in chapter 6 where the
core arguments (i.e. Subject and Object) are defined. Modality,
which expresses the intent or ability of the Actor of the
predication to perform the action is discussed as the core-level
operator. Chapter 7 completes the discussion of the clause by
analyzing the peripheral argument~ (e.g. GOAL, LOCATION, etc.)
and the operators which obtain to the entire clause (i.e. Status,
which includes a realis irrealis continuum; Tense; and
Illocutionary Force, which involves declarative, interrqgative,
and imperative.
Appendix A continues the discussion of the verbal Subject
affixes presenting diachronic aspects of the problem. Appendix B
presents a narrative text in Ambai and Appendix C provides a
basic vocabulary list with the Proto-Austronesian roots from
which the words are derived. References cited conclude the
dissertation.
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