Dhivehi: The Language of the Maldives

Description

Dhivehi, the language of the Maldives, has received little attention in the linguistic literature, and no other comprehensive grammar of the standard language has yet been published. This work describes the phonology, unique orthography, morphology, and syntax of standard Dhivehi. Plentiful examples with native orthography, Roman transliteration, and morpheme-by-morpheme glossing illustrate the various features of the language. This grammar will be of use both to linguists and to students of Dhivehi. Foreword Series Editors’ Preface Preface Contents 1 About this Grammar 1.1 Scope of this book 1.2 Sources 1.3 Interpreting examples 1.4 Corpus source codes 1.5 Symbols and abbreviations 1.6 A preview of this grammar 2 The Dhivehi Language 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Geographical setting, dialects, and literacy 2.3 History and people 2.4 Previous work 3 Phonology and Writing System 3.1 Dhivehi phonemes 3.1.1 Consonants 3.1.2 Vowels 3.1.2.1 Nasalized vowels 3.1.2.2 Diphthongs 3.1.3 Glides 3.2 The Thaana script 3.2.1 Written consonants 3.2.2 Written vowels 3.2.3 Writing prenasalized stops 3.3 Writing foreign words 3.4 Syllables 3.4.1 Phoneme distribution 3.4.2 Stress 3.5 Phonological alternations and the coda condition 3.5.1 Spelling and Romanization of coda consonants 3.6 Morphophonology 3.6.1 S-lenition 3.6.2 U-deletion 3.6.3 Alternation of L with long vowels or YO 3.6.4 Gemination and palatalization 3.6.5 N-gemination 3.6.6 Vowel and diphthong shortening 3.7 Numerals 3.8 Punctuation 3.9 Theoretical works 4 Lexicon 4.1 Structure of the lexicon 4.2 Sources of the lexicon 4.2.1 Indo-Aryan vocabulary 4.2.2 Dravidian influence 4.2.3 Loanwords from Arabic, Persian, Urdu 4.2.4 Other sources 4.2.5 Modern loanwords from English 4.3 The honorific system 4.4 Word spacing in Dhivehi 4.5 Lexicographical Works 5 Nouns and Noun Morphology 5.1 Plural formation 5.2 Definiteness inflection 5.3 Cases 5.3.1 Case suffixes 5.3.2 Case suffix allomorphy 5.3.2.1 Genitive and locative case suffixes 5.3.2.2 Ablative/instrumental case suffix 5.3.2.3 Dative and sociative case suffixes 5.3.3 Vocative forms 5.4 Names and kinship terms 5.4.1 Personal names 5.4.2 Kinship terms 5.5 Generic nouns 5.6 Compounding and derivational noun morphology 5.6.1 Collective compounds 5.6.2 Other compounds 5.6.3 Derivational morphology 5.7 Children’s terms 5.8 Honorific suffixes 6 Demonstratives, Pro-forms, and Noun Modifiers 6.1 Demonstratives 6.2 Personal pronouns and pro-forms 6.2.1 First- and second-person pronouns and phrases 6.2.2 Third-person pro-forms and pro-phrases 6.2.3 Logophoric and impersonal pronoun 6.3 Reciprocals and reflexives 6.4 Interrogative pro-forms 6.5 Indefinite pro-forms 6.6 Quantifiers 6.6.1 Numeric quantifiers 6.6.2 Non-numeric quantifiers 6.7 Adjectives 6.7.1 Plural adjectives 6.7.2 Comparatives and superlatives 6.7.3 Adjective derivation 6.7.3.1 Noun-adjective compounds 7 Postpositions and Adverbs 7.1 Postpositions 7.1.1 Nominal postpositions 7.1.2 Verbal postpositions 7.1.3 Other postpositions 7.2 Adverbs 7.3 Degree modifiers 8 Verbs and Verb Morphology 8.1 Derivational verb families 8.1.1 Valence and agentivity 8.1.1.1 Two-valence and existential/locational verbs 8.1.2 Honorific verbs 8.2 Inflectional classes 8.3 Verbal inflections 8.3.1 Finite indicative verbs 8.3.1.1 A-stem verbs 8.3.1.2 E-stem verbs 8.3.1.3 N-stem verbs 8.3.1.4 Monosyllabic-stem verbs 8.3.2 Participles 8.3.2.1 Progressive aspect and focus verbs 8.3.2.2 Suffixed forms of participles 8.3.3 Nonfinite verbs 8.3.3.1 Converbs 8.3.3.2 Converbs and the perfect tense/aspect 8.3.3.3 Verbal Nouns 8.3.3.4 Infinitives 8.3.4 Non-indicative moods 8.3.4.1 Imperative, hortative, and optative moods 8.3.4.2 Potential mood 8.3.4.3 Irrealis mood 8.3.4.4 Prospective irrealis 8.3.5 Particles of relative timing 8.4 Negation of verbs 9 Particles, Interjections, Conjunctions, and Discourse Markers 9.1 Particles 9.1.1 Sentence-ending particle 9.1.2 Quotative particles 9.1.3 Question particles 9.1.4 Copula 9.1.5 Emphatic particles 9.1.6 Negative particles 9.1.7 Complementizers 9.1.8 Particle of present relevance 9.1.9 Adverbial subordination particles 9.1.9.1 Timing particles 9.1.9.2 Manner particles 9.1.9.3 Reason particle 9.1.9.4 Conditional and concessive particles 9.2 Conjunctions and discourse connectives 9.3 Interjections 9.4 Discourse markers 10 Noun Phrases 10.1 Noun phrase elements and their order 10.1.1 Quantifiers 10.1.2 Adjectives 10.1.3 Demonstratives 10.1.4 Genitives and other phrases 10.1.5 Overall order 10.2 Conjunction and disjunction 10.3 Noun-modifying clauses 10.3.1 Participles and participial clauses 10.3.2 Adjectival and negative clauses 10.3.3 Generic noun phrases as free relatives 10.4 Infinitive complements of nouns 10.5 Comparisons and exclusions 10.5.1 Comparative noun phrases 10.5.2 Exclusionary noun phrases 10.6 Verbal noun phrases 11 Compound Verbs, Verbal Collocations, and Verbal Complexes 11.1 Noun-verb compounds 11.2 Verb-verb compounds and collocations 11.2.1 Converb-verb compounds and pseudo-compounds 11.2.1.1 Light verb compounds 11.2.1.2 Honorific compounds 11.2.1.3 Compound-like suffixed verbs 11.2.2 Converb-verb collocations with verbs of motion 11.3 Verbal complexes 11.3.1 Auxiliary complexes 11.3.1.1 Auxiliary-converb complexes 11.3.1.2 Auxiliary-simultaneous complexes 11.3.2 Verbs taking infinitive complements 11.3.2.1 Modals and existential/locational verbs 11.3.2.2 Other verbs with infinitive complements 11.3.2.3 Combinations of infinitives 12 Simple Sentences 12.1 Nonverbal sentences 12.1.1 Adjectival sentences 12.1.2 Copular (equational) sentences 12.2 Verbal sentences 12.2.1 Arguments and their order 12.2.2 Adverbials and their order 12.2.3 Tensed alternatives to adjectival and copular sentences 12.3 Null arguments 12.4 Sentences with IN-verbs 12.4.1 Inactive and passive sentences 12.4.2 Involitive sentences 12.4.3 Sentences of reception and perception 12.4.4 Ability sentences 12.4.5 The status of dative “subjects” 12.5 Non-canonical word orders 12.5.1 Focus 12.5.2 Word order in speech 12.6 Statements of existence, location, and possession 12.6.1 Existence and location 12.6.2 Possession 12.7 Negation 12.7.1 Negation of nonverbal sentences 12.7.2 Existential negation 12.7.3 Verbal sentence negation 12.8 Questions and exclamations 12.8.1 Questions 12.8.2 Exclamations 12.8.3 Tag questions 12.9 Commands and requests 13 Complex Sentences 13.1 Clause chaining 13.1.1 The successive particles ???- -fai and ? ?? - -gen° 13.1.2 Negation of chained clauses 13.2 Clausal complements 13.2.1. Embedded questions 13.3 Quotes 13.4 Adverbial clauses 13.4.1 Conditionals and concessives 13.4.2 Clauses of relative timing 13.4.2.1 Concurrent timing 13.4.2.2 Subsequent timing 13.4.2.3 Prior timing 13.4.3 Reason and cause clauses 13.4.4 Manner clauses 13.5 Exceptions References A Verb Paradigms A.1 Regular Verbs A.2 Irregular verbs Index