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Lexical flexibility in Oceanic languages

  • Eva van Lier EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: September 27, 2016

Abstract

While word classes are language-specific categories, lexical flexibility remains under discussion. This article investigates this phenomenon in a balanced sample of 36 Oceanic languages, a genetic group that has figured prominently in this debate. Based on a systematic survey of the morphosyntactic behavior of a range of semantic word types in three propositional functions, it is shown how lexical flexibility can be measured and compared across languages and constructions. While Oceanic flexibility is pervasive in some respects, lexical categorization in these languages does not qualitatively deviate from relevant typological tendencies.

Acknowledgements

The research reported in this article was carried out with a personal grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). I wish to thank four anonymous reviewers and Frans Plank for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. Thanks are also due to Alena Witzlack-Makarevich and Sebastian Bank for their advice on the statistical analyses used for this article. Any remaining errors are the responsibility of the author.

Abbreviations

1/2/3

1st/2nd/3rd person

art

article

attr

attributive

const

construct suffix

excl

exclusive

fut

future

gen

genitive

incl

inclusive

indf

indefinite

irr

irrealis

loc

locative

neg

negation

nmlz

nominalizer

nom

nominative

obl

oblique

pl

plural

poss

possessive

prox

proximal

prs

present

pst

past

real

realis

rel

relative

sbj

subject

seq

sequential

sg

singular.

Appendix: Composition of language sample

In the triplets, the first figure indicates the Diversity Value, the second the total number of languages in a subphylum, and the third the number of branches in a subphylum.

First-level subphylumNumber of languages in sampleLanguages
Second-level subphylum
Third-level subphylum
Fourth-level subphylum
Admiralty Islands (3, 31, 2)3→2
Eastern (3.5, 28, 3)2→1
Manus1Loniu
Paktong1→0missing
Southeast Islands
Western (1, 3, 1)1Wuvulu
Central-Eastern Oceanic (21.28, 228, 3)15→14
Remote (18.67, 193, 5)11→10
Central Pacific (4.75, 44, 2)2
East Fijian-Polynesian1Marquesan
West-Fijian-Rotuman1Rotuman
Loyalty Islands (1, 3, 1)1Drehu
Micronesian (3.89, 20, 2)2→1
Nauruan (isolate)1→0missing
Micronesian proper1Ponapeian
New Caledonian (5.33, 29, 3)2Nêlêmwa, Tinrin
North & Central Vanuatu (7.83, 97, 3)4
East Santo (2, 5, 2)1Sakao
Malekula Interior (3, 12, 3)1Neverver
Northeast Vanuatu-Banks Islands (5.5, 80, 5)2Tamambo,Northeast Ambae
South Vanuatu (3, 9, 3)2Erromangan,Whitesands
Southeast Solomonic (3.62, 26, 2)2
Gela-Guadalcanal1Lengo
Malaita-San-Cristobal1Longgu
St. Matthias (1, 2, 1)1Mussau
Temotu (2, 10, 2)1Engdewu
Western Oceanic (27.96, 241, 3)19→17
Meso-Melanesian (9.13, 71, 3)6→5
Bali-Vitu (1, 2, 1)1Vitu
New Ireland (9.69, 65, 5)4→3Nalik, Kokota, Barok, missing
Willaumez (1, 4, 1)1Nakanai
North New Guinea (15.28, 106, 4)9→8
Huon Gulf (7.1, 31, 4)3Bukawa, Labu, Hote
Ngero-Vitiaz (9.08, 44, 2)4
Ngero (2, 6, 2)1Kove
Vitiaz (11.06, 38, 9)3Mangap-Mbula, Lote, Mato
Sarmi-Jayapura Bay (2, 13, 2)1→0missing
Schouten (2.5, 16, 2)1Manam
Papuan Tip (5.25, 64, 2)4
Nuclear (5.33, 44, 3)2Tawala, Saliba
Peripheral (3.99, 20, 2)2
Central Papuan1Mekeo
Kilivila-Louisiades1Kilivila
Yapese (isolate)1Yapese

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Received: 2015-7-20
Revised: 2016-5-5
Published Online: 2016-9-27
Published in Print: 2016-10-1

©2016 by De Gruyter Mouton

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