Sri Lankan Malay morphosyntax
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Peter Slomanson
Abstract
In this paper the convergence of Sri Lankan Malay on the grammars ofMuslim Tamil and colloquial Sinhala is discussed. This convergence is incomplete and its extent is asymmetrical across syntactic domains. The verbal domain remains closer to the syntax of other contact Malay varieties, as demonstrated by the pre-verbal surface position of major functional elements, including temporal markers, modal elements, and negation. Greater convergence in the nominal domain follows a shift from pre-nominal to post-nominal adpositions. The conservative distribution of functional morphology in the verbal domain (predominantly pre-verbal) is associated with weak verb movement, contra Tamil and Sinhala. This reflects the verbal syntax of contact Malay varieties from Indonesia, from which most lexical material in Sri Lankan Malay has been retained.
Abstract
In this paper the convergence of Sri Lankan Malay on the grammars ofMuslim Tamil and colloquial Sinhala is discussed. This convergence is incomplete and its extent is asymmetrical across syntactic domains. The verbal domain remains closer to the syntax of other contact Malay varieties, as demonstrated by the pre-verbal surface position of major functional elements, including temporal markers, modal elements, and negation. Greater convergence in the nominal domain follows a shift from pre-nominal to post-nominal adpositions. The conservative distribution of functional morphology in the verbal domain (predominantly pre-verbal) is associated with weak verb movement, contra Tamil and Sinhala. This reflects the verbal syntax of contact Malay varieties from Indonesia, from which most lexical material in Sri Lankan Malay has been retained.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Introduction 1
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Part I: Structure
- The phonetics of tone in Saramaccan 9
- Tracing the origin of modality in the creoles of Suriname 29
- Modelling Creole Genesis 61
- The restructuring of tense/aspect systems in creole formation 85
- Syntactic properties of negation in Chinook Jargon, with a comparison of two source languages 111
- Sri Lankan Malay morphosyntax 135
- Sri Lanka Malay 159
- The advantages of a blockage-based etymological dictionary for proven or putative relexified languages 183
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Part II: Variation
- A fresh look at habitual be in AAVE 203
- Oral narrative and tense in urban Bahamian Creole English 225
- Aspects of variation in educated Nigerian Pidgin 243
- A linguistic time-capsule 263
- The progressive in the spoken Papiamentu of Aruba 291
- Was Haitian ever more like French? 315
- The late transfer of serial verb constructions as stylistic variants in Saramaccan creole 337
- Index 373
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Structure
- The phonetics of tone in Saramaccan 9
- Tracing the origin of modality in the creoles of Suriname 29
- Modelling Creole Genesis 61
- The restructuring of tense/aspect systems in creole formation 85
- Syntactic properties of negation in Chinook Jargon, with a comparison of two source languages 111
- Sri Lankan Malay morphosyntax 135
- Sri Lanka Malay 159
- The advantages of a blockage-based etymological dictionary for proven or putative relexified languages 183
-
Part II: Variation
- A fresh look at habitual be in AAVE 203
- Oral narrative and tense in urban Bahamian Creole English 225
- Aspects of variation in educated Nigerian Pidgin 243
- A linguistic time-capsule 263
- The progressive in the spoken Papiamentu of Aruba 291
- Was Haitian ever more like French? 315
- The late transfer of serial verb constructions as stylistic variants in Saramaccan creole 337
- Index 373
