Tawala grammar : a functional approach

Abstract

Tawala is an Austronesian lan guage spoken in Milne Bay Province on the easternmost tip of the Papua New Guinea mainland. This thesis aims to present a general introduction and reference grammar for the Tawala language . Eight broad topics are handled. 1) The introductory chapter presents details of my involvement in the project and an assessment of the database. 2) The second chapter outlines the Tawala situation, including its relationship to other languages of the Pacific basin. Also outlined is some details of the study of Tawala by the scholarly world. 3) The third chapter gives some broad typological features relating Tawala to the broad spectrum of the world's languages. The recently proposed head-marking typology provides a unified explanation for what would otherwise be a number of curious facts in the Tawala language. 4) The fourth chapter summarises the broad features of Tawala phonology. 5) Three aspects of Tawala words are dealt with in separate chapters. Chapter 5 presents details of Tawala word classes and sub-classes, which provides a semantic basis for the grammar presented in the remainder of the thesis . The strategies involved in changing word classes of items is the topic of chapter 6. Of particular significance is the discussionon valence change ( chapter 7) which lies at the heart of Tawala syntax . 6) Phrasal structure involves a study of the major consistituents of the clause: the verb phrase ( chapter 8), noun phrases ( chapter 9) and adpositional phrases ( chapter 10), of typological interest is the fact that Tawala has both prepositions and adpositions . 7) Ten different clause types are established for Tawala. Chapter 11 seeks to establish a model giving theoretical unity between the verbal and non -verbal clauses . The four verbal clause types are outlined in chapter 12, and the six non-verbal clause types are outlined in chapter 13. 8) The final chapters discuss relationships between clauses : relative and nominalised clauses ( chapter 14), complement clauses ( chapter 15) and other combinations of clauses ( chapter 16). Stress throughout is placed on the function of the various consistuents and structures , hence the sub title of this thesis .