A Grammar of Tauya

Description

Tauya (also Inafosa) is a Rai Coast language spoken in the Ramu River valley, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea by approximately 350 people. [Wikipedia] This book is an excellent introduction to New Guinea grammar for anyone who, like myself, is unfamiliar with the languages of this area of the world. In addition to detailed coverage of the phonology and morphology, it covers selected syntactic topics, provides sample interlinear texts, and throughout provides comparisons to other languages of the area. The treatment of difficult and/or moot points is detailed and refreshingly candid (e.g., the suffixes / - m o / and /-fo/ on pp. 87ff), and the frequent grouping and comparison of data by semantic function (e.g., quantification on pp. 116ff) contributes to providing a good feel for how the language works. (…) I will refrain from deploring the brevity of the description of syntax, and the lack of a chapter on discourse analysis: MacDonald's fieldwork continues, and we will no doubt be treated to ample descriptions of these topics over the years. (…) [Review by Paul Proulx] Cover Title Page Acknowledgements A note on transcription Abbreviations Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction 1.1. The setting 1.2. Overview of typological characteristics 1.3. Linguistic relationships Chapter Two: Phonology 2.1. The phoneme inventory 2.2. The phonetic inventory 2.3. Syllable structure 2.4. Phonological rules 2.4.1. Introduction 2.4.2. Rules affecting vowels 2.4.3. Rules affecting consonants 2.4.4. Rules affecting the personal pronouns 2.5. Suprasegmentale Chapter Three: Morphology 3.1. Introduction 3.2. The noun phrase 3.2.1. Introduction 3.2.2. The noun stem 3.2.3. Qualifiers 3.2.4. Quantifiers 3.2.5. Case suffixes 3.2.6. Possessive constructions - the genitive case 3.2.7. NP conjunction and the comitative case 3.2.8. Other suffixes on NP 3.2.9. Mood in the noun phrase 3.2.10. Interrogative pronouns 3.2.11. Negation of NPs 3.3 The verb phrase 3.3.1. Introduction 3.3.2. Final verbs 3.3.2.1. Introduction 3.3.2.2. The verb stem 3.3.2.3. The auxiliary system 3.3.2.4. The personal desinences 3.3.2.5. Dubitative /-rafo-/ 3.3.2.6. Mood 3.3.2.7. Negation 3.3.2.8. Object prefixes 3.3.3. Medial verbs 3.3.3.1. Introduction 3.3.3.2. Coordinate medial verbs 3.3.3.3. Subordinate medial clauses 3.4. Other parts of speech Chapter Four: Selected Topics in Syntax 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Relative clauses 4.3. Conditional sentence 4.4. Ergativity 4.5. Left-dislocation Chapter Five: Sample Texts 5.1. Introduction 5.2. The mango story 5.3. Finding a wife Index