A grammar of Suki, a language of Papua New Guinea

Abstract

This is a grammar of Suki, a Trans New Guinea language spoken by approximately 7500 people living in and around a lagoon, close to the Fly River, in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. The data for this grammar was collected during 18 months of fieldwork. Suki has a rich verb morphology. It inflects for up to three arguments and one of 15 tense-aspect-mood-polarity values. Verbs often occur in serialisation. Verbless and copular clauses are also frequently used. Central to the grammar of Suki is the TAMP-particle unit, a paradigm of forms of which one representative is required in every main clause. The TAMP-particle unit is, on the one hand, an information structuring device, and on the other, a marker of tense-aspect-mood-polarity, which interacts with the marking on the verb. Through its omnipresence, it has a structuring role in many of the language's constructions, including clause combining and insubordination. Show more