The main structures of Imonda : a Papuan language

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to describe the main structures of Imonda, a Papuan language spoken by less than 300 people in the West Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. The introductory chapter provides some socio-historical background information and discusses the genetic affiliation of Imonda. This chapter also contains brief discussions on the assumptions underlying the grammar, the organisation of the grammar and related matters. Chapter 2 describes the most important aspects of the Imonda sound system. Chapters 3 through 9 contain the main body of the thesis. Word classes or parts of speech are formally identified and discussed in chapter 3* Chapter 4 examines the noun phrase and the ways its functions are signalled in the clause. Chapter 5 describes the verbal complex. Chapter 6 provides a discussion of a particularly fascinating aspect of Imonda grammar, the noun-classification system, which appears to have arisen through a reinterpretation of serial verbs. Chapters 7 and 8 discuss aspect» of the clause and chapter 9 addresses the question of clause linkage. The first of the three appendixes provides some comparative data of other Waris languages. The second contains an Imonda narrative which illustrates all the major grammatical features previously discussed in the grammar. Finally, the last appendix looks at the impact the two periods of Malay presence in the Imonda area have had on the language.