A GRAMMAR SKETCH OF SULAGWALU - USP Thesesdigilib.library.usp.ac.fj/gsdl/collect/usplibr1/index/... · 2017-11-05 · 1 Chapter 1 Introduction Give your mind a chance to travel through

A GRAMMAR SKETCH OF SULAGWALU

by

Alice Aluta-Rore

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Copyright © 2017 by Alice Aluta-Rore

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July, 2017

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Dedication Dedicated to my hardworking parents, Richard Sesi (late) and Raylyn Aluta.

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Acknowledgement �

I am indebted to the following:

Sulagwalu community and elders for allowing the fieldwork to take place and

individuals who have been part of the study through interviews, contributing texts

and providing information through informal stori stori ‘story telling’.

The Solomon Islands Government (2006-2007) for scholarship, Faculty of Arts, Law

and Education (FALE), The University of the South Pacific (USP), Laucala (2007)

and the Research Office (USP-2010) for research funds to carry out fieldwork.

Dr Robert Early (2016-2017) and Dr Paul Geraghty (2010-2015) for supervision and

Dr Ellen Smith for being my mentor (2014).

Late Barbara Hau‘ofa for editing parts of my write-up (coordinated by the FALE

Postgraduate Committee).

Several individuals contributed during the initial stages of the field work (2007), in

particular, Patrick Aluta, my field assistant during the research period, the staff of

Solomon Islands National Library and of the Solomon Islands National Museum. In

addition, my UU114 colleagues for the team support throughout our respective

individual academic journeys.

My husband Calvin and daughter Tumuteku, immediate family and friends for your

enduring support.

Where this paper falls short of the acknowledgement due, it is unintentional but I am

confident that all the support received throughout the compilation of this document

has in every way contributed to the knowledge about Sulagwalu.

To God is the Utmost Glory!

iii

Abstract

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Abbreviations �� "9��

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1 first person

2 second person

3 third person

AD anaphoric demonstrative

ADJ adjective

ADJP adjectival phrase

ADV adverb

ADVP adverbial phrase

AN anaphoric

ART article

ASSERT assertive

ASP aspect

BEN benefactive

C classifier

CAUS causative

COL collective

COM consecutive object marker

COND conditional

CONJ conjunction

CONT continuative

COORD coordination

CSM consecutive subject marker

DEF definitive

DEM demonstrative

DIR directional

DIRF directional function

DIRPART directional particle

DL dual

DM discontinuous morpheme

EM emphasis marker

v

EV existential verb

EX exclusive

FM focus marker

FUT future

FUTM future tense marker

FUTSUBJM future subject marker

GM gerund marker

IMMED immediate-past/immediate-future preverbal particle

IMP imperative

IN inclusive

INS instrument

INT intensive

INTR intransitive

LIM limitative

LOC locative

LOCART locative article

MOD modifier

N noun

NEG negative

NEGIMP negative imperative

NEGM negative marker

NOM nominaliser

NOMS nominalizing suffix

NP noun phrase

NUM number

OBJ object

OBJM object marker

OTR obligatory transitive

P Pijin

PART particle

pers comm personal communication

PERF perfect

PL plural

vi

PLM plural marker

PLOBJ plural object

PNM proper noun marker

POSS possession

POSSCL possessive classifier

PREP preposition

PREPINS prepositional instrument

PREPV prepositional verb

PRON pronoun

PRONM pronoun marker

PROG progressive

PVP postverbal particle

Q quantifier

RAMSI Regional Assistance Mision to the Solomon Islands

RC relative clause

RECBEN recipient-benefactive

RECPPRON reciprocal pronoun

RECPRONM reciprocal pronoun marker

REDUP reduplication

SEQ sequentiality

SG singular

SGOBJ singular object

SSEC South Seas Evangelical Church

SUBJM subject marker

SUBJPRON subject pronoun

SUB subordination

SVO subject-verb-object

syn synonym

TEMPM temporal marker

TEMPN temporal noun

TM tense marker

TR transitive

V verb

vii

vd voiced

vl voiceless

VOC vocative

VP verb phrase

VS verbal suffix

UNESCO United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisations

USP The University of the South Pacific

VPOSS verbal possession

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viii

Table of Contents

Dedication i

Acknowledgement ii

Abstract iii

Abbreviations iv

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Purpose 1

1.2 Place and speakers 1

1.3 Language name 2

1.4. Genetic affiliation 3

1.5 Previous studies 4

1.6 Language situation 5

1.6.1 Religion 6

1.6.2 Education 7

1.6.3 Literacy 8

1.6.4 Media 10

1.6.5 Work 10

1.6.6 Home and community 11

1.6.7 Intermarriage and intergeneration transmission 12

1.6.8 Sports 13

1.6.9 Health clinic 13

1.6.10 Ceremonies 13

ix

1.6.11 Market and social events 14

1.6.12 Transport 14

1.6.13 Economy 14

1.7 Multilingualism and language attitudes 15

1.8 Loan words 17

1.9 Methodology 17

1.10 Thesis outline 19

Chapter 2 Phonology 20

2.1 Orthography 20

2.2 Segmental Phonology 20

2.2.1 Consonants 20

2.2.2 Vowels 24

2.2.2.1 Vowel sequences 25

2.3 Introduced phonemes 25

2.4 Nativised English sounds 26

2.5 Phonotactics 27

2.5.1 Syllables 27

2.5.2 Word shape 27

2.6 Stress 29

Chapter 3 Nouns and noun phrases 30

3.1 Nouns 30

3.1.1 Pronouns 30

3.1.1.1 Reflexive Pronouns 31

x

3.1.2 Proper nouns 31

3.1.3 Common nouns 32

3.1.4 Compound nouns 32

3.1.5 Locative nouns 33

3.1.6 Temporal nouns 34

3.2 Nominalization 36

3.3 Vocative 37

3.4 Noun phrase structure 38

3.5 Articles 38

3.6 Numerals and quantifiers 40

3.6.1 Numerals 41

3.6.2 Plural marking 46

3.6.3 Quantifiers 48

3.6.4 Collective plural 51

3.7 Adjectives 52

3.7.1 Simple adjectives 52

3.7.2 Adjective derivation 56

3.8 Possession 57

3.8.1 Direct possession 57

3.8.2 Indirect possession 60

3.9 Demonstratives 62

3.10 Conjunctive coordinators 65

Chapter 4 Prepositions 66

xi

4.1 Directional 66

4.2 Motion from 67

4.3 Locatives 67

4.4 Prepositions of time 69

4.5 Prepositional suffix 69

Chapter 5 Verbs and verb phrases 71

5.1 Verbs 71

5.1.1 Intransitive verbs 71

5.1.2 Verbal suffix: Transitive verbs 73

5.1.3 Verbal prefixes 77

5.1.3.1 Causative 77

5.1.3.2 Reduplication 77

5.1.3.3 Reciprocal verbs 78

5.2 Verbal derivation 78

5.3 Verbal compound 79

5.4 Verb prhase structure 79

5.4.1 Subject markers 80

5.4.2 Negatives 80

5.4.3 Benefactives 81

5.4.4 Tense and aspect marker 84

5.4.5 Postberbal particles 86

5.4.5.1 bonā 86

5.4.5.2 bō 87

xii

5.4.5.3 mai 87

5.4.5.4 kau 87

5.5 Adverbs 88

5.5.1 lau 88

5.5.2 Adverbs of manner 89

5.5.3 Adverbs of degree 89

5.5.4 Adverb of time 89

5.6 Imperatives 90

Chapter 6 Clause types 91

6.1 Simple sentences 91

6.1.1 Interjections 91

6.1.2 Declarative clauses 94

6.1.3 Interrogative clauses 95

6.1.4 Locative clause 98

6.1.5 Temporal clause 98

6.1.6 Negative clauses 98

6.2 Coordination 99

6.3 Subordination 100

6.3.1 Relative clauses 100

6.3.2 Conditional clauses 100

6.3.3 Complement clauses 101

Bibliography 102

Appendices� 2%:�

xiii

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1

Chapter 1 Introduction Give your mind a chance to travel through foreign languages. (Neil Simon)

1.1 Purpose

This paper provides a sketch grammar of Sulagwalu, one of the many unwritten

communalects of the Solomon Islands. Also, this sketch provides basic but valuable

groundwork for more comprehensive work in the future.

This is an important study to Solomon Islands because of the gap in linguistic

knowledge about many lects in this region. To date, there has been no linguistic

study of this community and the communalect spoken there and this will be the first

record.

1.2 Place and speakers

Sulagwalu is a coastal community of approximately 700 people on the border

between the Lau/Baelelea and To‘abaita Constituencies which are official

government divisions, based on the respective language boundaries of north Malaita

(see Map 2). The community comprises the villages of Sulagwalu and Banamā in the

Mātakwalao District of North Malaita in Malaita Province, Solomon Islands (see

Map 2). The ancestors of Sulagwalu came from the tolo ‘of the hills or mountains’

some eleven or twelve generations ago. The lect they spoke was Bolale, which is also

the name of the people. Therefore, the source of Sulagwalu vocabulary is said to be

70% Bolale, 20% Baelelea and 10% To‘abaita (Pastor pers comm 2007). Presently,

these percentages have changed where Sulagwalu borrowing of To‘abaita vocabulary

and use have increased, with zero Bolale vocabulary and use, and less Baelelea

vocabulary as well as almost zero use. The elderly (60+ years) remember hearing

Bolale but could not provide any evidence of utterances for the purpose of this paper

because knowledge of it has been lost (Village elder 2007).

In the early 1900s, all across Malaita, there was this movement from inland to the

coast and Sulagwalu was no exception because of various reasons: road access,

outside contact, market access, education, Christianity and Mātakwalao (see Map 1)

being an administrative Centre during the Colonial period (Pastor pers comm 2007).

Sulagwalu is thirty minutes travel by land transport to the nearest business centre,

Malu‘u in the To‘abaita region of north Malaita and four hours to the provincial town

centre of Auki. North of Sulagwalu is a chain of villages speaking Baelelea, several

coastal communities speaking a mixture of Lau and Balelea, and speakers of Lau

2

mainly on the artificial islands (man-made) off the mainland. Travelling west

towards the Malu‘u station are To‘abaita speaking villages.

1.3 Language name

The lect name used in this thesis comes from the village name, although the original

dialect Bolale (of Baelelea) was spoken by the Bolale ancestors of which currently,

there are no speakers (Pastor pers comm 2010), but there is knowledge of its

existence from the time when the first settlers moved to the coast in the early 1920-

1930s.

Map 1: Solomon Islands (��;��+��"��+��5

The term ‘communalect’ is used to refer to this lect because it is neither Baelelea nor

To‘abaita, it is a language variety that is unique to the community. As Pawley

(2003:10) states, “It is convenient to use the neutral term ‘communalects’ to refer to

a set of local speech traditions, in contexts where we want to leave aside the question

of whether or not they are dialects of one language.” There is also variation in the

spelling, ‘Sulanggwalu’ and ‘Banamaa’, however, Sulagwalu and Banamā are

preferred. The locals themselves are not familiar as to what name to use for the lect

and speaking it does not qualify the villagers to be from To‘abaita, however, they see

themselves as more connected to To‘abaita than Baelelea and they consider

3

themselves as speaking a dialect of To‘abaita because of economic, religio-cultural

connections and political divisions.

1.4 Genetic affiliation

It is sometimes quite challenging to really differentiate between what a language,

dialect or lect is. The so-called five languages of North Malaita (Baelelea, Baegū,

Fataleka, Lau and To‘abaita) have mutual intelligibility to certain extents. Baelelea,

Lau and To‘abaita are more similar than Baegū and Fataleka in mostly vocabulary.

Intonation varies for all the languages and there are some key phonological

differences. This is evident in the phonemes /k/ ~ /g/, /ngw/ ~ /w/, and /θ/ ~ /s/.

Generally, speakers of all these languages understand these sound correspondences

(Pastor pers comm 2007) and grammar remains consistent for all. Despite previous

studies that may suggest (see Figure 1) that North Malaita is the language and the

above mentioned are the dialects (see Tryon and Hackman: 1983), literature still

refers to them as separate languages (see Map 2) and the government recognizes that

language status for all the five languages. Thus, this paper will refer to these as

languages and not dialects. Sulagwalu is a communalect situated between the

languages of Baelelea and To‘abaita and it has dialectal roots in both. Mutual

intelligibility between Baelelea and Sulagwalu and between To‘abaita and Sulagwalu

is high. This is because first, Sulagwalu has its roots in both and second is based on

the strong contact or relations established between this lect and the two mentioned

major languages. Thus, mutual intelligibility results both from inherent and learned

knowledge, informally acquired through oral histories about time, culture, language

and contact, tribe relationships and spirituality. This acquisition is influenced by

some factors such as age, marital status, experience, exposure and relations.

Northern Malaita is a member of the Austronesian language family and is part of the

Central-Eastern Oceanic subgroup (Tryon and Hackman: 1983:67) as in Figure 1.

Austronesian = Malayo-Polynesian = Central-Eastern = Eastern

Malayo-Polynesian = Oceanic = Central-Eastern Oceanic Subgroup

= Southeast Solomonic = Proto Malaita/San Cristobal = Malaita =

Northern Malaita (Baelelea, Baegū, Fataleka, Lau,To‘abaita) =

Sulagwalu (this is added but not from Tryon and Hackman)

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4

Map 2: Language boundaries, Malaita (after Keesing 1969)

1.5 Previous studies

There has been no study done on this communalect so this section provides

information on some previous research on North Malaitan languages related to

Sulagwalu.

Codrington (1885) compiled a book on Melanesian languages providing very brief

grammars of various languages around Malaita and the Solomon Islands. Ross

(1973) conducted an ethnographic study of the Baegū people, one of the five major

Sulagwalu + Banamā

5

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Lichtenberk (1984, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2010) has done extensive linguistic research

on To‘abaita. His works have been consulted much because Sulagwalu sits on the

language border between Baelelea and To‘abaita, however, Baelelea has very limited

documents. Overall, there is a need for the north Malaitan languages to be studied

again and documented because so much has changed over the years since the

publications mentioned. The present study is based on field work conducted in the

Sulagwalu community for four weeks in 2007 and 2010 for another four weeks, and

data collected from two informants from the community over a period of six years.

The description given here is meant as an account of present-day Sulagwalu which I

have maternal links to.

1.6 Language situation

This section provides a brief description concerning the ethnolinguistic context of

communalect use and choice. Sulagwalu is used more in domains like religion, home

and community dialogues, interactions at village sports activities, health discussions,

cultural ceremonies, market and social events and transport negotiations, but less

used in education, literacy, media and formal or outside employment. The language

repertoire of a community member will include, Sulagwalu (fluent), To‘abaita

(fluent) and Pijin (mostly fluent) with very limited or no English.

6

1.6.1 Religion

The three Christian religions present are: South Seas Evangelical Church (SSEC),

Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) and the Seventh Day Adventists (SDA). There are some

who claim to belong to a church but practice otherwise. This claim stems from the

idea that because someone’s parents are affiliated to one of the religious groups, they

automatically become members (although non-attending). These three groups can be

easily identified because of the location of their churches and houses for SSEC and

SDA but houses only for JW in the village. JW and SDA are situated at the two ends

of the village whilst SSEC (the majority) is in the middle. JW (2 households) does

not have a church building in the community but the members go to a nearby village

where the church is located. Only the SDAs (6 households) and the SSECs have

church buildings in the village.

Queensland Kanaka Mission (QKM later SSEC) missionaries first came to the

Solomons in 1904 at the request of Peter Ambuofa, a man from Gwai‘au village,

To‘abaita region. They were active in evangelizing many parts of Malaita (Fugui and

Butu in Laracy 1989:89) including Sulagwalu in 1926. This mission came before the

other two groups and since To‘abaita speakers brought the SSEC, the language of

preaching, scripture and worship was in To‘abaita. As Sulagwalu people got

converted and are now active, the services are conducted in the local communalect

all the time although they still use the To‘abaita Bible and/or readings and songs. It is

only when preachers from the other four north Malaitan languages are invited that

they speak in their languages because they are mutually intelligible. When preachers

from different parts of Solomon Islands visit, Pijin is used and when the visitors are

from outside of Solomon Islands, English is used and this applies to all religious

groups.

At larger meetings, conferences or conventions organized elsewhere in the north

Malaita region, the language used may differ due to the mixture of congregation and

preacher. When worship services are conducted in English or Pijin, there is usually

no translation done.

In regards to such gatherings or meetings, the general view is that when English is

used in services for preaching, the locals do not understand well and when Pijin is

7

used they understand to some extent, but if the local communalect is used they will

understand much better.

1.6.2 Education

Formal education began in the 1930s when a primary school was established in

Lo‘ina, 1.5 km from Sulagwalu, using To‘abaita as medium of instruction. Later

Pijin became the language of instruction (unofficial) which eventually gave way to

English until the present. The school was run by the SSEC authority and students

from neighbouring villages attended and if they were successful, they went to Su‘u

Secondary School in South Malaita, which is under the same authority.

In the mid-2000s, Mānafaeni Primary School (Classes 1-6) was founded in

Sulagwalu. It is managed by a Board which has representatives from the parents

under the Seventh Day Adventist Education Authority. This provides another option

apart from Lo‘ina for formal schooling in the village and the neighbouring

communities. English is formally recognized as the language of instruction for all

schools in the Solomon Islands although there are many different local languages in

the country of which none is used formally beyond its home area. In Sulagwalu,

code-switching between Sulagwalu and Pijin (like any other Solomon Islands’

language communities) is common and there are reasons for doing so. First,

enhanced understanding is experienced and furthermore, students express themselves

better in Pijin: “…teachers use Pijin orally because the students learn it quickly” (Lee

1996:191). These rural schools illustrate the paradox of policy and practice in the

education system. This is because the policy states that English must be used in

instruction, however teachers resort to code-switching in Pijin and Sulagwalu when

the need arises. There may be negative aspects (apart from the positive ones) of code

switching, mixing and bilingualism in classrooms but the responsibility of the teacher

is to ensure the students learn best to succeed in English followed by Pijin (since it is

the national lingua franca) with the resources available and knowledge gained from

their training.

The use and learning of English is compulsory because first, all national exams are

carried out in that language and second, as a general thought by many people,

material prosperity can be achieved by doing well in school and the language to learn

is English, “Schooling is often talked about as being the key to wellbeing and

8

prosperity” (Wasuka 1989:99). The general view is that learning Pijin and the local

communalect do not provide opportunities for improvement in life.

1.6.3 Literacy

Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. A higher literacy rate is positive

for holistic national development. Literacy campaigns for the use of Pijin in the

Solomon Islands began in the 1980s and have become popular in the 1990s-2000s.

These are run by various non-government organizations (NGO), of which many are

church groups who have worked for years to ensure literacy is accessed by the rural-

based population (Lee 1996:207), because the literacy rate for the country is amongst

the lowest in the Pacific region. A UNESCO report based on the 1999 national

census revealed that a varied 60 to 80 per cent of the total population cannot read and

write satisfactorily (UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2013). The target audience

varies between children who cannot afford formal education and adults who missed

being educated.

One of the organizations focusing on adult education is the Literacy Association of

Solomon Islands (LASI), established in 1992. Most islands in the Solomon Islands

have a LASI presence. Its primary roles include providing in-service training for

literacy educators and field supervisors and the courses are run in Pijin. A number of

booklets have been published in various languages of Malaita, Makira and

Guadalcanal, and also used as teaching resources by trainers from other organizations

such as the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA). ADRA is an NGO

which has a very strong presence in many countries around the world and is part of

the Seventh Day Adventist world-wide church. ADRA’s focus is on humanitarian

work. The office is located in Honiara and one of their initiatives for the communities

is literacy.

ADRA was the pioneer of literacy efforts in Sulagwalu, providing literacy training

using Pijin to teach Pijin on two different occasions. During 2005-2007 there were

five one-week workshops, four in the first two years and one in the third. This was

training for teachers to conduct literacy classes in the village and was facilitated by

local Solomon Islanders. The target audience was anyone who was interested and

there were twenty participants (only women) from different language backgrounds

(including Sulagwalu speakers and women from outside Malaita) married into

9

Sulagwalu. World Vision is another organization that works with LASI to promote

literacy and Sulagwalu benefited in 2010 with a trainer who conducted a literacy

workshop. There were thirty women who attended who were either uneducated or

primary school drop-outs.

The aim of these initiatives was to teach local people to read and write in a language

known to them, hence, the promotion of Pijin as the medium of instruction and

learning in such initiatives. This improves their competency in Pijin to varying

degrees and they can use it when the need arises.

As a teacher-to-be at the end of the training, one has to be fluent in both Pijin and

vernacular to aid teaching and learning in one’s own community.

The content covered topics such as health and hygiene, home management, cooking,

Roman Alphabet, basic sounds (phonetics) and reading and writing. The materials

used were written in Pijin and the discussions, reading and writing activities were

also in the same language. One of the trainees commented that such courses were

useful for them as teachers-to-be because they learn not only for themselves but also

to help the community. As a result of such work, most students are now able to read

and write both in Sulagwalu and Pijin using the Roman Alphabet. For instance,

women who normally did not, can now write letters to their husbands who are

working in Honiara or elsewhere around the country. Also, other women can now

read the Bible (in To‘abaita) during church services or at home, which has positively

affected their church attendance on Sundays and Saturdays. Further outcomes include

gaining confidence in story writing, leading out in Sunday School church services,

Women’s Band (church music group), running small shops and being able to count

and change money. Numeracy was integrated into the literacy training through basic

counting, addition and subtraction.

Other supporting programs are the Sabbath and Sunday schools. For example, in

Sunday school, they have afternoon classes (2-4pm) on two Sundays per month. The

content is Bible stories and the language of instruction is Sulagwalu. Materials are in

English but the teacher interprets and translates each story and theme. These

indirectly promote literacy for the community members as adults use to think that the

young children are the ones who most need education and used to shy away from

such programs.

10

1.6.4 Media

The form of media most accessed by the locals is radio: Solomon Islands

Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) and FM stations. Once in a while publications such

as newspapers and newsletters (from church, associations, NGOs, Ministry of Health

awareness brochures or posters and so forth) do reach such rural communities. The

dominant language in print media is English while code-switching between English

and Pijin is used especially by FM stations. On the country’s national radio (SIBC),

most of the programs are in Pijin but there are a couple of slots of British radio news

daily. Songs are a mixture of local music artists in local Solomon languages and Pijin

and English. There is access to the internet and public phones some thirty minutes

drive at Malu‘u (North Malaita Business centre), however the language of

information is English. Mobile phones are a recent introduction but the voice

prompts are in English. When people need or want to use such facilities and are not

competent in English, translation is done by someone in assistance, and then they use

the communalect to email or converse on the phone.

1.6.5 Work

People commonly move to urban areas, mainly Honiara, to find employment to

support their families. The most popular jobs are carpentry, industrial, shop keeping

and housemaid. Skilled jobs such as nursing, teaching and office work are limited to

a few villagers only.

Of the people who live in the village, there are only three qualified primary school

teachers who have graduated from the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education

(SICHE), now Solomon Islands National University (SINU). Only one registered

nurse has practiced over the last twenty years and looks after the village clinic.

Another nurse trainee and the only male doctor have completed studies in 2011 and

2014 respectively and another student graduated with a business degree from The

University of the South Pacific (USP) in 2011. The doctor and USP graduate are

working in Honiara whilst the two nurses continue to serve in the village clinic.

In work situations, Pijin is mostly used unless there is a fellow Sulagwalu worker

then conversation is in the communalect. English is used in jobs such as teacher,

nurse and particularly office work.

11

1.6.6 Home and community

The communalect is mostly used between family members and fellow villagers.

When there are visitors present, villagers switch to Pijin or English. In some homes,

siblings speak to each other in Pijin but switch to the communalect when talking to

parents, fellow villagers or elders in the community.

In the homes where one of the parents is from another language background, both

Pijin and Sulagwalu are used. If the mother is from a different language background,

she will definitely have to learn Sulagwalu and eventually use it. But if it is the father

then, although both languages are used, the children will feel more comfortable in the

mother’s L1 and Pijin, and become passive users of the father’s language where they

understand but do not actively use it or have very limited knowledge of it. In some

homes where one of the parents is from a different language background, his or her

L1 will not be known or spoken at all by the children, who will speak Sulagwalu and

Pijin only.

In the home, the traditional family setting may consist of any of the following:

a. immediate family (father, mother and children)

b. a. + grandparents

c. a. + grandparents + in-laws (paternal)

d. a. + son/daughter in-law

e. a. + relatives (visiting, adopted, permanent)

Although these vary, the ‘extended family’ is very strong and binds each family

member to fulfil the responsibilities given and expected in the culture. Performing

one’s duties as expected is a valuable element in the survival, continuity of practice

and pride in the family. Such family support firms the learning and continued use of

Sulagwalu.

Another domain that contributes to the continued use of Sulagwalu is the overall

community support. The traditional social hierarchy is illustrated below.

12

Chief

B

Village spokesperson

B

Elders’ council (heads of clans + pastor)

B

Community (men, women + children)

B

Others (visitors, extended family members by marriage/adoption)

The people at each level of the hierarchy perform different roles. The upper three

roles have always been accorded to men. The chief is the decision maker, overall

keeper of the village and its affairs, keeper of traditions and teacher of accepted

behaviour. The village spokesperson who is and will always be a male is the

chairman of village meetings on any issues concerning the community, mediator,

acting chief in the chief’s absence and the one who calls the meetings. For example,

when meetings take place at the market, it is the spokesperson who will call the

gathering to order before the chief speaks. The elder’s council deliberates on

community issues, forms the community’s unwritten ‘laws’ and are watchmen for

correct daily lifestyle practice according to the unwritten laws.

The community’s duties are to uphold the council’s laws, raise issues or problems

with any member of the elder’s council and ensure family members live the expected

lifestyle. There is acceptance and recognition of others who are part of the

community and the tasks they perform as members of the local community. These

include teachers, nurses and extended family members from marriage or adoption,

but they must also abide by the village rules, and perform their expected duties

without interfering with village customary practices. For others, the language used is

Solomon Pijin, thus contributing to the linguistic situation of ‘foreign language

contact and acquisition.’

1.6.7 Intermarriage and intergenerational transmission

There are families where either the father or mother is from another village in

Malaita or island in the Solomon Islands. Outsiders marrying into the community are

common in the case of women who come to live permanently because of the

patrilineal and patrilocal system. These ‘outsiders’ have to learn Sulagwalu because

13

it is a need and their own vernaculars remain unused unless a fellow speaker passes

through. Some scenarios in homes of intermarriages are that: first, the ‘outsider’

spouse uses Sulagwalu and Pijin; second, their children become fluent in Sulagwalu

and passive speakers of their ‘outsider’ parents’ first language (L1); third, both

‘insider’ parent and child have no knowledge of the ‘outsider’ parent’s L1, and some

children and ‘insider’ parent become semi-passive speakers of the ‘outsider’ parent’s

L1. This is also the scenario that contributes to the acquisition of Solomon Pijin

especially for children of ‘outsider’ parents from other parts of Malaita (apart from

Lau, Baelelea, Baegū, Fataleka and To‘abaita because of the high mutual

intelligibility) and other parts of the Solomon Islands.

1.6.8 Sports

End of year sports competitions are always held in the To‘abaita region so language

contact with To‘abaita is more than with any other language of the northern region.

Hence, the influence of To‘abaita on Sulagwalu is high as can be seen in the

phonological and lexical borrowings. This further influences the villagers to identify

themselves as from To‘abaita rather than Baelelea where according to oral history,

the ancestors come from.

1.6.9 Health Clinic

There is a health clinic supervised by a qualified local nurse assisted by a young

nurse who completed studies at the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education

(SICHE) Nursing School in 2011. The clinic serves communities as far as the

mountain villages and further along the main North Road which are close to

Sulagwalu because of its geographical location. It is a sub-clinic of Malu‘u hospital.

Both Pijin and Sulagwalu are used in written notices on health awareness issues,

opening times and costs on the clinic’s notice board. The community also receives

trainee nurses from Malu‘u hospital from other islands in the Solomons who speak in

Pijin to patients. Expatriate doctors or nurses or volunteers speak either Pijin

(learned) or English.

1.6.10 Ceremonies

Cultural ceremonies such as arranged marriages, mourning period closure, bride

price payment, compensation and so forth are carried out in Sulagwalu. This is

because there is a certain way of how things should be said and done to not offend

14

the other party. So whether these take place in the community or another community

in the northern region, the local dialect is always used. However, if it involves

visitors or non-locals then Pijin is used.

1.6.11 Market and social events

The choice of language in such domains depends on who one talks to. At the

Sulagwalu market which opens on two days (Wednesday and Saturday) during the

week, people come from Lau (coastal dwellers), the Bolale speakers from the hills (a

Baelelea variety spoken in the bush) and To‘abaita villages nearby. A mixture of

languages is spoken at such meetings, Bolale, Lau, To‘abaita, Pijin and the

communalect. At social events such as birthdays, farewell parties or family tree

gatherings (genealogy tracing), Sulagwalu is used.

1.6.12 Transport

Sulagwalu is accessible by sea and land routes. A boat services the area once a week

from Honiara via Auki (provincial centre) or directly. Lorries owned by outsiders

serve the area. The lorry fare to Auki is SBD$70.00 per person and the boat fare to

Honiara is SBD$150 - $250 (one way) depending on which boat one wishes to travel

on. The road trip takes about 4-5 hours and the sea trip 4-8 hours depending on the

boat and weather.

1.6.13 Economy

The community survives off the land and sea mostly as gardeners and fishermen and

the sources of income are any of the following:

a. Selling copra to government or private agents.

b. Selling cocoa to government or private agents.

c. Selling garden produce such as sweet potato, taro, beans, cabbage and cooked

food, including doughnuts, buns, fish and grated cassava.

d. Fishing is a very small scale business and this is mainly for sales at the village

markets in or close to Sulagwalu.

e. Work in town as builders, housemaids, security guards and other work in the

village if needed by any family.

f. Sometimes if certain families need more land for a garden, cocoa and/or coconut

plantations, clearing of the bush is required so monetary returns are received from

such work.

15

g. For most families, support from relatives in urban centres still continues, either in

cash or kind.

The income gained is mostly spent on things such as:

a. Food – fish, vegetables and store food like rice, canned tuna, noodles, crackers,

salt, sugar and flour.

b. Other basic needs such as kerosene, bathing soap, washing powder, steel wool and

matches.

c. School fees.

d. Clothes.

e. Household items such as pots, plates, spoons and knives (both kitchen and garden

knives).

f. Bride price or compensation (reconciliation or peace payment).

g. Some savings – this is usually done throughout the whole year but November –

January are crucial months especially for parents who have children who attend

schools nearby or in other provinces.

h. Travel – for students’ lorry fares, boat fares and bus fares.

i. School needs such as stationery and other needs such as toiletries and clothing.

1.7 Multilingualism and language attitudes

Almost all villagers of Sulagwalu can speak but more so understand the other five

north Malaitan languages, namely Baelelea, Lau and To‘abaita, Baegū and Fataleka

because they are mutually and inherently intelligible. Tryon and Hackman (1983:21)

established that Lau and North Malaita are languages whilst Baelelea, To‘abaita,

Baegū and Fataleka are the ‘main dialects’ of Northern Malaita language (see 1.4).

This is because there is high similarity lexically and phonologically and grammar

remains the same for all. Furthermore, most villagers can speak if not understand

Pijin enough to get by in the roles that Pijin serves. However, only a few can speak

English well or very little English but mostly speakers of English will get a response

in Pijin, gestures (such as nodding for a ‘yes’ and shaking of the head for a ‘no’) or

one-word answers. Multilingualism exists both at the societal and individual levels

with Sulagwalu as the first language and some knowledge of one or more of the north

Malaitan languages as second and/or third languages and Pijin as the third/fourth

language.

16

While Sulagwalu is used in all domains, the role of each of the languages that an

individual acquires is clearly defined. For instance, conversations or transactions

with non-locals are either in Pijin or very little English and are used in context.

To‘abaita has more prestige than Baelelea because of its history as a religious

language and an SSEC stronghold. SSEC’s leader in the northern region resides in

this region, thus most religious programs and activities are held within this region.

Language contact is more frequent with To‘abaita than with any other north Malaita

languages because of Christianity, health and educational initiatives. Establishing

Malu‘u as a government sub-station for the northern region added to the views in

favour of To‘abaita since it is the economic or business centre for that region. As

mentioned by one youth, “To‘abaita language sounds better than Baelelea. If I had to

choose between the two, I’ll choose To‘abaita.”

A contributing factor to this belief is the influence of social factors (Holmes

1992:346). For example, since my father spoke Baelelea, I grew up using it more

than Sulagwalu, so when I speak to my Sulagwalu-speaking relatives, they tease me

because of my accent.

Children learn Sulagwalu as their first language and by primary school they are able

to pick up the other languages because of the high degree of similarity and

comprehensibility, in addition to Pijin which is mastered by the end of primary

school. Knowledge of English, the ‘whiteman’s language’, depends on the individual

child. Some hear or know about it through the radio, others in primary school or

through contact with speakers of English. For instance, the presence of the officers of

the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) who come from

different parts of the Pacific including Australia and New Zealand enhances the

exposure to English.

There is no pressure from parents or the community at large on the young people to

learn another language and reject their own because they are a small community. It is

an individual choice but again, one which shows a discernible trend in To‘abaita’s

favour. At this stage, Sulagwalu is going through a language shift process to

To‘abaita by community members who were born in the last 20 years. This is evident

in the vocabulary and intonation patterns which are specific to To‘abaita. It can be

17

noted that much change has taken place already and language endangerment is what

Sulagwalu faces as the elderly continue to pass on.

1.8 Loan words

Borrowing is a process that exists in almost all languages of the world and it evokes a

variety of attitudes (both positive and negative). For instance, the vocabulary of

English results from borrowing from diverse languages over a long period of time.

There is borrowing in Sulagwalu for many lexical items. Contact with languages and

introduced items outside of the Pacific was more recent and in this case, Solomon

Islands was exposed to English (through labour trade and missionaries) as the

dominant language and Pijin from the plantation labourers in the 19th century. In

addition, Pijin vocabulary is English-based and the influence of this lingua franca

remains in many Melanesian languages. The following is a selection of present-day

data (see 2.4 for the phonotactics of borrowed words).

English Pijin Sulagwalu

‘axe’ ‘aks ākisi

‘book’ buk buka

‘bridge’ brij birisi

‘chair’ chea sea

‘kitchen’ kichin kisina

‘nail’ nila nila

‘plate’ plet beleta

‘pencil’ pensol bensolo

‘school’ skul sukulu

‘truck’ trak tarake

1.9 Methodology

At the outset, I would like to mention that I conducted this research in Sulagwalu

both as an ‘insider’ because I have maternal roots there and also as an ‘outsider’, as I

have spent most of my life in the urban centre of Honiara (22 years) and almost

fifteen years now in Fiji (1999-2016). Therefore, I had to fulfill certain protocols for

this study to take place. From the university, I had to sign the ‘Ethics’ form before I

wrote a letter addressed to the village council seeking permission to conduct the

18

research. The village pastor (a relative) received the letter and passed it onto the

elders and explained the purpose of the study. Approval was granted by the elders as

women have no say in such matters and then the fieldwork process began. Since

Sulagwalu is a patrilineal society, I had to depend on my uncle and brother (also my

assistant field researcher) to arrange for interviews especially with the men. At the

end of every interview, a small pack of canned tuna, noodles and biscuits was given

to each participant. Furthermore, at the end of the whole research, a cash donation

was given to the community’s health clinic.

Information for this description was obtained from my fieldwork in 2007 and 2010

for a month respectively, in the community of Sulagwalu as it is also the second

language that I speak. The research techniques listed below under primary data

collection are considered appropriate for this kind of work in a community that has

never been exposed to such study. Information gathered was supported by secondary

data collection through library research at The University of the South Pacific (USP).

Primary data collection included tape-recordings (10 hours of recording) of men and

women between the age range of 20–75 years old. The older men (2 males over 70

years) were asked mainly about the history of the village, movement to the coast and

life in the early 1900s. The older woman (70+ years) was interviewed mainly for

grammar and use of Sulagwalu. Since these elderly people were not literate, consent

for the respective interviews was given orally. Furthermore, information on the

school and literacy efforts was provided by two women aged forty and twenty

respectively. Informants who have been part of this study over time (2007–2013)

include a man and woman now in their fifties. Data gathered from these two

informants was mainly on the grammar, transcription of custom stories (see

Appendix 1 and Appendix 2) and also they verified the stories about Sulagwalu by

the older interviewees. Observation of various activities took place at locations like

the church and Sunday school, the school, classroom, river, at the market, at home

and at sports competitions at the end of the year. Several children were asked to

comment on their choice of language and their preference was speaking To‘abaita.

Secondary data collection included visits to the National Statistics Office for

information about the location and population status of Sulagwalu. The Solomon

19

Islands National Museum and Solomon Islands National Library were visited but had

limited resources relating to the area and topic of study.

In the thesis, examples given in Sulagwalu have a morpheme-by-morpheme gloss

and are italicized except in phonology, and the glosses are given in quotes.

Furthermore, a full list of abbreviations used in glosses and elsewhere may be found

at the beginning of this thesis.

1.10 Thesis outline

The thesis has six chapters. Chapter 1 provides the introduction and background

information on Sulagwalu and the research. It includes such details as purpose, place

and speakers, language name, previous studies, language situation, multilingualism

and language attitudes, loan words, methodology and the thesis outline. Chapter 2

outlines the phonology of Sulagwalu focusing on phonemes, distribution of

consonants and vowels, introduced phonemes, nativised English sounds,

orthography, phonotactics and stress. Chapter 3 discusses nouns and noun phrases

and their functions, forms and structures. Chapter 4 is on prepositions. Chapter 5

covers verbs and verb phrases including the various functions, forms and structures

and Chapter 6 describes the clause types. The thesis ends with the appendices:

Appendix 1 is Text 1 (custom story 1) and Appendix 2 is Text 2 (custom story 2).

For line spacing, the morpheme-by-morpheme glosses of examples 1-365 use 1.15

for clarity of outline and translations, but elsewhere is 1.5 as per the format and style

stipulated in the regulation for thesis presentation at USP.

�

20

Chapter 2 Phonology �� "�� "��

��"�� "��

� ��"�� "�� +�

2.1 Orthography

At the outset of this chapter, I will begin with orthography as it helps to clarify the

use of phonemes and vowels appropriately.

Sulagwalu’s orthography is based on the Roman alphabet taught in schools which is

English-based. It is used in letters, notices in the school, the canteen, at the health

centre and in notes to relatives or visitors. In this paper, I will use the already

established Sulagwalu orthography conventions with the addition that long vowels

are written with a macron, glottal stop with a reversed apostrophe /‘/, voiced velar

nasal with /ng/, and voiceless dental fricative with /th/.

Consonants Long vowels Phonemic symbol Orthographic symbol Sulagwalu θ ŋ kw gw C

th ng kw gw ‘

ā ē ī ō ū

Table 1: Consonant and vowel symbols

2.2 Segmental phonology

2.2.1 Consonants

Sulagwalu has the following seventeen consonant phonemes. The neighbouring

Baelelea and To‘abaita languages were recorded as having prenasalized voiced stops

/b/, /d/, /g/, /gw/ and /ŋ/ (Lichtenberk, 1984; Tryon and Hackman, 1983). However,

Lichtenberk (1984) mentioned that ‘the degree of prenasalization varies from strong

in word-medial position (i.e. intervocalically) to weak or nil in word-initial position’.

In light of this, Sulagwalu illustrates nil degree of prenasalization in word-initial

position for all voiced stops but a fairly evident degree of prenasalization in word-

medial position. Furthermore, there is no aspiration on the voiceless stops /t/, /k/ and

/kw/.

21

Bilabial vl v

Labio-dental vl v

Dental vl v

Alveolar vl v

Velar vl v

Labio-velar vl v

Glottal

Stop b t d k g kw gw C

Nasal m n ŋ

Fricative f θ

Sibilant s

Lateral l

Trill r

Glide w

Table 2: Consonant phonemes

The phonemic status of the bilabial consonants /b, m, w/ is demonstrated by the

following minimal or near minimal pairs:

word-initial word-medial

� ,,� ,�,� )� � �.� � ,&��,� � )��.�

� ,�,� ,��,� )��.� � ,&��,�� )��4��5.��

,�,� ,��,� )��.� � � ,�D�D,� )��4�� 5��

�� .��

� ,�,� ,��,� )��.� � � ,�D�D,�� )��.�

The phonemic status of the alveolar consonants /t, d, n, s, l, r/ is established in the

following minimal and near minimal pairs.

Alveolar consonants


/t/ /s/

/tītiu/ ‘coconut shell’ /sīsiu/ ‘bath, swim’

/thata/ ‘name’ /masa/ ‘if’

/d/ /n/

/dī/ ‘cross-cousin’ /nī/ ‘to be at’

/thada/ ‘fall, drop’ /thane/ ‘ant hive’

/d/ /l/

/dolo/ ‘eel’ /lolo/ ‘dirt’

/lada/ ‘roll during sleep’ /thāthala/ ‘light (weight)’

/d/ /r/

/dī/ ‘cross-cousin’ /rī/ ‘sweet coconut’

/thada/ ‘fall,drop’ /thara/ ‘to warm object by fire’

/n/ /l/

/nau/ ‘I’ /lau/ ‘again’

/fono/ ‘close, shut’ /lolo/ ‘dirt’

22

/n/ /r/

/nau/ ‘I’ /rau/ ‘hold onto’

/‘ani-a/ ‘eat it’ /tari-a/ ‘chase, pursue (after someone)’

/l/ /r/

/lua/ ‘tide’ /rua/ ‘two’

/fale/ ‘give’ /thāre / ‘give birth’

Table 3: Alveolar consonants: minimal and near minimal pairs

The phonemic status of the velar consonants /k, g, ng/ is shown in the following

examples.


/k/ /kani/ ‘tie up’ /thākai/ ‘tongs’

/g/ /gani/ ‘ask, request’ /gāgaro/ ‘rib’

/k/ /kū/ ‘drink’ /‘ako/ ‘cooked’

/ng/ /ngū/ ‘sing’ /lango/ ‘fly (insect)’

/g/ /garo/ ‘wrong’ /maga/ ‘break’

/ng/ /ngaru/ ‘eye mucus’ /fanga/ ‘food’

The phonemic status of the voiced and voiceless stops is seen through the following

minimal and near minimal pairs.

/b/ /bī/ ‘earth oven’ /bubu/ ‘stare’

/d/ /dī/ ‘cross-cousin’ /dudu/ ‘reverse (+vehicles)’

/gw/ /gwae/ ‘vine (sweet potato)’ /‘egwe-a/ ‘to open out, spread out

(as in reading a book)’

/kw/ /kwae/ ‘mushroom’ /tekwa/ ‘tall, long’

/t/ /tafu/ ‘rubbish’ /ngata/ ‘to speak sternly’

/k/ /kefu/ ‘uncover’ /faka/ ‘boat, ship’

/t/ /tau/ ‘far’ /thata/ ‘name, namesake’

� ,&�,� ,&��,��)��.� � � ,D&��,�� )��"��tree’

23

/t/ /tō/ ‘stay’ /tītiu/ ‘coconut shell’

/‘/ /‘ō/ ‘break (leg)’ /‘ī‘iu/ ‘twin’

� ,&,� ,&��,� )��.�� ,&�&�,� � )"�� .�

/kw/ /kwasi/ ‘wild’ /takwe/ ‘stand’

/k/ /kifi/ ‘cap, hat, helmet’ /loko-a/ ‘to poke’

/‘/ /‘ifi/ ‘to open’ /ro‘oki/ ‘yesterday’

/kw/ /kwethu/ ‘light’ /lakwa/ ‘pains in joints, athritis’

/‘/ /‘edu/ ‘wild caladium’ /ta‘a/ ‘bad, not nice’

The phonemic occurrences of the voiced nasals are:


/m/ /mau/ ‘afraid, nervous’ /māmā/ ‘father, clergyman’

/n/ /nau/ ‘I’ /nana/ ‘pus’

/m/ /mū/ ‘broken (as in cords)’ /thamo/ ‘touch’

/ng/ /ngū/ ‘sing’ /lango/ ‘fly (insect)’

/n/ /nalu/ ‘to bail water’ /fono/ ‘close, shut’

/ng/ /ngalu/ ‘to talk much’ /rongo/ ‘hear’

The phonemic occurrences of the voiceless labio-dental fricative /f/ and voiceless

dental fricative /th/ are as follows:

/f/ /fū/ ‘cough’ /fafo/ ‘on the top’

/th/ /thū/ ‘to cover (bedsheet)’ /thatho/ ‘play’

The phonemic occurrences (limited) of the dental voiceless fricative /th/ and

voiceless alveolar sibilant /s/ are:

/th/ /thū/ ‘to cover (bedsheet)’ /sū/ ‘to dive’

24

/th/ /thuthu/ ‘to submerge or sink (in water)’ /susu/ ‘breast’

The following pair has no minimal or near minimal pairs, but they are never

suspicious pairs and so their phonemic status is clear: /b/, /w/; /th/, /s/

2.2.2 Vowels

There are ten vowel phonemes, vowel length being phonemic.

front central back

high /i, ī/ /u, ū/

mid /e, ē/ /o, ū/

low /a, ā/

Table 4: Vowel phonemes

The symbols ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, represent the same sounds lengthened and these are distinct

phonemes, as witnessed in the following minimal or near-minimal pairs:

/fafa/ ‘ride piggyback’ /fafā/ ‘carry piggyback’

/fanga/ ‘eat, food’ /fangā/ ‘feast’

/maga/ ‘broken (plastic, glass /magā/ ‘break (plastic, glass, clay,

clay, stoneware, brick, stoneware, brick,

watermelon)’ watermelon)’

/‘ilia/ ‘to dig’(TR) /īlia/ ‘do’(TR)

/‘oli/ ‘carry in the arms (baby)’ /ōli/ ‘return’

The difference between ‘maga’ (adjective) and ‘magā’ (verb) correspond to the short

and long vowels.

In initial position vowels are always lengthened:

ātha ‘baked grated cassava’ īli ‘to do’ ēta ‘one’

ōno ‘six’ ūlu ‘three’ ūla ‘third’

This may be a non-phonemic distinction, but the vowels are still marked as long. The

syllable structure is (C)V, so all words end in a vowel even with borrowings except

in a limited number of words where CVC syllables are permitted word-finally and

are used in free variation.

� )��.�� )��.� ��

25

)�.� ��E�� )��.� ��E��

� )��.� �� )�� .� ��

‘boss’ bos ~ bōsi

Vowels after /‘/ are short in many words except a few monosyllabic words only.

‘ū ‘yet’ (CONT)

‘ē ‘expression of dislike or disagreement’

‘ē‘ē ‘defecate, faeces’

‘ī‘iu ‘twins’

2.2.2.1 Vowel sequences

Many combinations of vowels occur in root words however, some are more common

than others (see Table 5). Long vowels are present in Sulagwalu however sequences

of long vowels are not permitted.

i e a o u i e a o u

- - nia ‘3SG’ lio ‘look’ niu ‘coconut’ - - mea ‘tongue’ geo ‘egg’ - wai ‘bag’ mae ‘die’ - rao ‘work’ fau ‘stone’ loi ‘snake’ soe ‘ask’ foa ‘pray’ - ku‘ou ‘oesaphagus’ sui ‘finish’ ‘ue ‘rattan’ sua ‘spear’ - -

Table 5: Vowel sequences

There are some vowel sequences that do not occur: ie ei eu uo

2.3 Introduced phonemes

�� "�� consistently been used in free variation with

phonemes existent in the communalect already, in borrowings via Pijin, ultimately

from English. Many of these borrowings have ‘…added final vowels…’ and have

been ‘…adapted into the local phonology….’ (Berg and Bachet, 2006), whilst some

still retain the CVC word final pattern (see 2.1.2).

The phonemes /p/ ~ /b/ where /p/ is introduced:

‘potato’ puttee ~ butete

‘picture’ pikisa ~ bikisa

26

‘pipe’ paipa ~ baiba

‘paper’ pepa ~ beba

The phonemes /v/ ~ /f/ where /v/ is introduced:

) ��.��

) �� .��

�

The phonemes /F/ (j) ~ /d/ where /F/ is introduced:

‘James’ jemesi ~ demesi

‘generator’ jenareita ~ denereita

The phonemes /z/ ~ /s/ where /z/ is introduced:

‘zip’ zipa ~ sipa

‘zero’ ziro ~ siro

Bilabial Labio-dental Alveolar Stop p Fricative v Sibilant z Affricate F (j)

Table 6: Introduced phonemes

2.4 Nativized English sounds

�� "��

�� +��"�� ,��,��,G,��,H,�� ,9,��9��,�,+�

)��.� ��

‘charter’ sata

‘marching band’ māsingi bani

‘measure’ mesa

‘shoe’ sū

‘sausage’ sosisi

‘bridge’ birisi

‘bulldozer’ buldousa

‘razor’ risa

‘bazaar’ basā

27

In some cases, /p/ is realized as /f/:

‘push’ fusum

‘pussy cat’ fusikati

‘primus stove’ farāmasi

2.5 Phonotactics

2.5.1 Syllables

The general structure of syllables consists of the following parts: onset, nucleus and

coda (in some borrowings only). The onset is an optional consonant phoneme, the

nucleus consists of the vowel and is obligatory, and there is a consonant coda in loan

words. The basic syllable structure is (C)V.

2.5.2 Word shape

Word shapes are illustrated in the following examples:

1 syllable V ō ‘wooden drum’

CV tā ‘what?’

2 syllables CV.V ‘au ‘bamboo pole fishing’

‘oe ‘you’

V.CV ēra ‘fire’

V.V āu ‘taro top for planting’

CV.CV fale ‘give, share’

3 syllables CV.CV.CV lalakwa ‘do not want’

4 syllables CV.CV.V.CV fuloāro ‘rainbow’

mataresi ‘mattress’

5 syllables V.CV.CV.CV.V ālu-fāfi-a ‘betrothed’

In some borrowed words, consonants may occur syllable final as shown in the

following:

/kom/ ‘comb’

/labtob/ ‘laptop’

/fisansib/ ‘fish and chips’

28

In borrowings, consonant clusters (CC) may occur word initially and/or word-

medially. Thus, the word shape formed here and borrowed into the local syllable

pattern includes CCV. Some of the possible CCs are:

a. Initial st

stulu ‘stool, bench’

starafu ‘strap’

staela ‘style’

b. Initial sp

spidi ‘speed, fast’

sprei ‘spray, perfume’

c. Initial sl

sliba ‘slipper’

slingi ‘sling’

d. Medial

namba ‘number’

kombiuta ‘computer’

The following illustrate the case of CCs present across their respective syllable

boundaries.

e. Medial sb

kasbaoa ‘cash power’

‘aesboloko ‘ice block, ice pop’

f. Medial ns

bensolo ‘pencil’

g. Medial sk

‘aeskirimu ‘ice cream’

29

2.6 Stress

�� "� ��

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"�� #��"��&��

�� +�� "�"��

�� ;�

fánga ‘eat, food’

wéla ‘child’

fíru-a ‘a fight’ (penultimate of base – firu ‘to fight’)

móa ‘vomit’

úthu ‘fall out (hair), pluck (feathers)’

fangā ‘feast, party’

magā ‘break (plastic, clay, glass items)’ (TR)

‘abā ‘drag, pull’ (TR)

30

Chapter 3 Nouns and noun phrases �� "�� "��+�

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� �� "� �� "�� +�

�� ?+1� �� "�� 9�� ?+?� ��

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?+$� �� '�� +� �� ?+@� �� "�� ?+:�

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3.1 Nouns

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3.1.1 Pronouns

There are distinctions of three persons: first, second and third with a further

distinction between first inclusive and first exclusive for dual and plural pronouns.

Sulagwalu has subject markers which also indicate future and sequentiality. There

are three numbers in pronominal forms: singular, dual and plural (see Table 7).

(1) nau ku matai ‘asianā 1SG SUBJM sick very ‘I am very sick.’

(2) nia ‘e riki fai wela wane 3SG SUBJM see four child male ‘He saw four boys.’

They also function as objects of a preposition and/or possessor phrase.

(3) nia ‘e rake’iri ‘ani ‘oe

3SG SUBJM angry PREP 2SGOBJ ‘He is angry at you.’

(4) kamalia mili ngali-a mai wai kera 1PLEX SUBJM bring-TR hither bag 3PLOBJ ‘We brought their bags.’

31

Independent pronoun

Subject marker

Future subject marker

Sequential

SG 1 nau ku kwai kwa

2 ‘oe ‘o ‘oki ‘oko

3 nia ‘e kai ka

DL 1EX kamarea mere meki meka

1IN koro koro koki koka

2 kamaroa moro moki moka

3 kēroa daro keki keko

PL 1EX kamalia mili miki mika

1IN kulu kulu kuki kuka

2 kamalua mulu muki muka

3 kera da daki keka

Table 7: Independent pronouns and subject markers

3.1.1.1 Reflexive pronouns

talifili ‘self’ implies reflexivity where the subject is also the same as the object

irrespective of the subject type (proper noun, animal or pronoun) in a clause or

sentence and it always precedes the relevant independent pronoun.

(5) nia ‘e āngi talifili nia lā rumu

3SG SUBJM cry self 3SG in room ‘She cried herself in the room.’

(6) kamalia mili kasi-a luma kamalia talifili kamalia 1PLEX SUBJM cut-TR house 1PLEXPOSS self 1PLEX ‘We built ourselves our house.’

3.1.2 Proper nouns

These are nouns which refer to people, places, and organizations but there are no

special markings to identify places and organizations.

With personal names, there are two markers for gender preceding the noun whether

in subject or object position or as possessor and these are used for reference and not

for address.

Markers for gender are nī for females and tha for males.

32

(7) ngwai nī Lina nē bag PNM Lina DEM ‘This is Lina’s bag.’

(8) ngwai tha Tomu nē bag PNM Tomu DEM ‘This is Tomu’s bag.’

In subject position,

(9) nī Mata ‘e kasi-a ‘aba-na PNM Martha SUBJM cut-TR hand-3SGPOSS ‘Martha cut her hand.’

In object position,

(10) kamalia mili riki-a tha Mōsisi lā bāsi ro‘oki 1PLEX SUBJM see-TR PNM Moses in bus yesterday ‘We saw Moses in the bus yesterday.’

3.1.3 Common nouns

Common nouns can occur as a root word, may be preceded by an article which

signifies both ‘a, an, the’ and number, and followed by demonstratives and modifiers

in noun phrases.

(11) wela Child ‘Child.’

(12) tē wela ART child ‘A/one child.’

(13) wela matai nau child sick 1SGPOSS ‘My sick child.’

3.1.4 Compound nouns

A compound noun is formed when the head is combined with another part of speech,

however such combinations are not a regular process.

33

(14) faka-lofo-lofo boat-fly-fly ‘Aeroplane.’

(15) ārai-ni-foa man-of-pray ‘Priest, Church Minister.’

(16) �� 3�� )-��+.��

(17) fanga-bila food-stale ‘Selfish, greedy.’

3.1.5 Locative nouns

Place nouns refer to locations which:

a) cover common (daily places of access) locations: for example, luma ‘house’, masū

‘bush’, ō‘ole ‘garden’

b) refer to formal place names: ‘Aoke ‘Auki’, Gwalekana ‘Guadalcanal’, Fidi ‘Fiji’

c) function as directional terms: for example, fū ‘down’, langi ‘up’, una-lokō ‘that

way’

The locative /‘i/ always precedes the name of a place, organization and institution.

(18) kera da lae ‘i ‘Aoke 3PL SUBJM go LOC Auki ‘They went to Auki.’

(19) nī Mere ‘e rao ‘i lā Rēdi Korosi ‘ofesi PNM Mere SUBJM work LOC in Red Cross office ‘Mere works in the Red Cross office.’

(20) nī Mere ‘e sukulu ‘i Fultoni PNM Mere SUBJM school LOC Fulton ‘Mere goes to school at Fulton College.’

34

For organizations or place of work (offices or company), ‘i is optional because the

preposition lā occurs between ‘i in this type of proper noun.

(21) nī Lucy ‘e rao (‘i) lā hasbitela PNM Lucy SUBJM work LOC in hospital ‘Lucy works in the hospital.’

(22) kamalia mili lae (‘i) lā ‘ofis nia 1PLEX SUBJM go LOC to office 3SGPOSS ‘We went into his/her office.’

3.1.6 Temporal nouns

In a temporal noun phrase, the temporal expressions may stand on their own as the

head of the noun phrase without any case markers.

manga‘eri ‘now’

manga bā ‘ū ‘long ago, sometime before, in the past’

manga tā? ‘what time, when?’

tare‘ena ‘today’

‘usungadi ‘tomorrow’

ro‘oki ‘yesterday’

diniki ‘1+ days before yesterday (recent past)’

fulē ‘two days from today’ (future)

fāfone ‘3+ days from today (future)

(23) nainā ‘e sore-a ‘oe ‘o lae manga‘eri mother SUBJM say-TR 2SG SUBJM go now ‘Mother said you must go now.’

(24) nia ‘e soe-to‘ona manga-tā ‘oki lae rā 3SG SUBJM ask-TR time-what 2SGSUBJM go work ‘He was asking what time are you going to work.’

Reference to a week day or days is always preceded by ‘ana functioning as a

preposition in the following syntactic structure. Also, bongi means ‘day’ (syn thato).

35

(25) nia kai fula ‘ana sadē 3SG FUTSUBJM arrive PREP Sunday ‘He will arrive on Sunday.’

(26) nia ‘e lae kau taoni ‘ana tē-fa bongi 3SG SUBJM go thither town PREP ART-Q day ‘He came to town one day.’

The days are:

Madē Monday

Tūsidē Tuesday

Wensidē Wednesday

Tōsdē Thursday

Faraedē Friday

Satadē Saturday (syn Sabati ‘Sabbath’)

Sadē Sunday

The months are:

Danuari January

Febuwari February

Māsi March

‘Ebrolo April

Mei May

Diuni June

Diulae July

‘Ogosi August

Sefeteba September

Okotoba October

Nofeba November

Diseba December

(27) nia ‘e futa ‘ana diseba 3SG SUBJM born PREP December ‘She was born in December.’

Seasons are preceded by manga, for example,

36

(28) kēroa daro fula mai manga thaofa-lā 3DL SUBJM arrive hither time hungry-NOM ‘They arrived at the time of famine.’

3.2 Nominalization

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Certain suffixes nominalize certain words in some word classes only, such as -a, and

-lā. Nominalizer -lā can be further suffixed by possessive pronoun markers -na,

forming the third person reference, -lana. lā can be suffixed to adjectives and verbs

only whereas -a and -lana to verbs only.

Adj + -lā

diana ‘good, nice, beautiful’ diana-lā ‘goodness’

ēle ‘happy’ ēle-lā ‘happiness’

kwaimāni ‘friendly’ kwaimāni-lā ‘friendship’

Verb + -lā. A verb nominalized by suffix -lā forms a gerund.

‘adomi ‘help’ ‘adomi-lā ‘assistance, support’

gani ‘ask, request’ gani-lā ‘ask, request’

īna ‘related’ īna-lā ‘relative’

(29) gani-lā ‘e baita ‘asianā ask-NOM SUBJM big very ‘A very big ask.’

(30) lae-lā ‘e ‘afetai go-NOM SUBJM difficult ‘Difficult going.’

(31) ngū-lā ‘e maketho sing-NOM SUBJM weak ‘Weak singing.’

NP + -lā. Also, -lā may be suffixed to a NP and forms a gerund.

(32) fasi kafisi-lā ‘e fā-ūlafu plant cabbage-NOM SUBJM CAUS-hardwork ‘Planting cabbage is hardwork.’

37

-a is suffixed to certain verbs only to form nouns: verb + -a

firu ‘fight’ firu-a ‘fight, war’

mae ‘die’ mae-a ‘death, funeral’

To a very limited set of verbs that end with a, when suffixed by -a in final position

results in a long vowel and also form nouns (see pp.30-31). For instance, fanga-a>

fangā:

fanga ‘eat’ fangā ‘feast, party’

lea ‘go’ leā ‘going’ (gerund)

ākwa ‘shout, scream’ ākwā ‘shouting, screaming’ (gerund)

kwala ‘to swear’ kwalā ‘swearing’ (gerund)

Another set of post-verbal nominal pronouns form gerunds. The post-verbal pronoun

markers are preceded by prefix la-, therefore, forming gerunds in this context and not

as noun possessives although they use the same set of possessive suffixes (as

discussed in 3.8.1).

1 IN 1 EX 2 3 Singular la-ku la-mu la-na Dual la-karoa la-marea la-maroa la-daroa Plural la-kalua la-malia la-malua la-dalua

Table 8: Post-verbal nominal pronoun markers

(33) ngata la-na ‘e baita ‘asianā talk NOM-3SG SUBJM big very ‘His talking is very loud.’

(34) nia ‘e ngata ‘asianā sulia ngū la-ku 3SG SUBJM talk very about sing NOM-1SG ‘He talks very much about my singing.’

3.3 Vocative

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38

(35) nī Lucy ‘ae PNM Lucy VOC ‘Lucy.’

(36) tha Malon ‘ae PNM Malon VOC ‘Malon.’

(37) wela nē-ki ‘ae child DEM-PLM VOC ‘These children.’

3.4 Noun phrase structure

��"�� "��:

(article) + (quantifier) + HEAD + (adjective) + (possessive) + (demonstrative)

(38) Tomu ‘ae PN VOC ‘Tomu.’

(39) tē wela wane matai nia loko ART child male sick 3SGPOSS DEM ‘That is his one sick boy.’

(40) fai-si maku bilia nia loko four clothing dirty 3SGPOSS DEM ‘Those are four of his dirty clothes.’

3.5 Articles

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�

tē ‘a, one’

4A25 �� !�� "�� !/�� (K�� "��&"3�6� �� )��"��&��"��+.�

ta ‘any’

39

(42) ta wela fula nā any child arrive PERF ‘Has any child arrived?’

(43) nau ku thathami-a ta wai ‘una-‘eri 1SG SUBJM want-TR any bag like-DEM ‘I want any bag like that.’

(44) tē-fa / tē-si one-Q / one-Q ‘One of something.’

tē-fa is used with animate subjects and numbers and occurs before the object of

reference.

(45) tē-fa wela nia loko art-Q child 3SGPOSS that ‘That is his one child.’

(46) kamalia mili ūsi-a tē-fa thau bō 3PLEX SUBJM buy-TR art-Q tuna only ‘We bought only one tuna.’

(47) tē-fa tū dola ‘e teo bo-nā lā wai nau nē art-Q two dollars SUBJM left only-the in bag 1SGPOSSDEM ‘This is the only two dollars left in my bag here.’

tē-si is used with inanimate subject and occurs before the object of reference.

(48) nia ‘e ngali-a mai tē-si bilo bō 3SG SUBJM take-TR hither ART-Q pillow only ‘He brought only one pillow.’

(49) nau ku rongo-a tē-si ū‘unua ro‘oki 1SG SUBJM hear-TR ART-Q news yesterday ‘I heard a story or piece of news yesterday.’

na performs the following functions (Fox 1974, 139) with both singular and plural

subjects and ordinal numerals and it occurs before the head in a noun phrase. na may

40

have been derived from the same origin historically however, the meaning has

extended and changed and these have functioned as homophones in the present day

Sulagwalu as illustrated .

a) As an article – ‘the, a, an’: na wela wane ‘the boy’.

b) As a possessive pronoun suffixed to certain nouns and prepositions. ‘aba-na ‘his

hand’, fafo-na ‘on top of it’.

c) Added to cardinals to make ordinals: ēta ‘one’, ētana ‘first’; lima ‘five’, limana

‘fifth’.

(50) na wela matai

ART child sick ‘The sick child.’

(51) na īmole faisi-a Lau ART people from-TR Lau ‘The people from Lau.’

(52) na wela-ki ART child-PL ‘The children.’

It also occurs before the numeral followed by the head.

(53) na limana wela the fifth child ‘The fifth child.’

In an equative clause, nā follows the numeral but still occurring before the head

followed by the demonstrative.

(54) limana na wela nē

fifth ART child DEM ‘This is the fifth child.’

3.6 Numerals and quantifiers

�� &� ��

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41

�� "�� "�� 4"�� head

noun) and number markers follow the head noun.

3.6.1 Numerals

The counting system is based on ten. Numerals can be cardinals, ordinals and

multiples of ten.

Cardinals Ordinals

ēta – one tōtōle – first

rua – two ruana – second

ūlu – three ūla – third

fai – four faina – fourth

lima – five limana – fifth

ōno – six ōna – sixth

fiu – seven fiuna – seventh

kwalu – eight kwaluna – eighth

sikwa – nine sikwana – ninth

tangafulu – ten tangafula – tenth

Both cardinal and ordinal numbers occur in the same position in a noun phrase.

(55) ūlu wai three bag ‘Three bags.’

(56) ūla wai third bag

‘Third bag.’

Only in cardinal counting is rua ‘two’ used, otherwise when modifying a noun, rō is

used.

42

(57) rō wela two child ‘Two children.’

The numbers from 11-19 consist of tangafulu ‘10’ then the unit with dō ‘item’,

suffixed to the unit.

(58) tangafulu tē-dō ten one-item ‘Eleven.’

(59) tangafulu rō-dō ten two-item ‘Twelve.’

(60) tangagulu ūlu-dō ten three-item ‘Thirteen.’

(61) tangafulu fai-dō ten four-item ‘Fourteen.’

(62) tangafulu lima-dō

ten five-item ‘Fifteen.’

(63) tangafulu ōno-dō ten six-item ‘Sixteen.’

(64) tangafulu fiu-dō ten seven-item ‘Seventeen.’

(65) tangafulu kwalu-dō

ten eight-item ‘Eighteen.’

43

(66) tangafulu sikwa-dō ten nine-item ‘Nineteen.’

The multiples of ten are formed by ākwala following the units from two to nine

except for one which is tē.

tē ākwala 10

rō ākwala 20

ūlu ākwala 30

fai ākwala 40

lima ākwala 50

ōno ākwala 60

fiu ākwala 70

kwalu ākwala 80

sikwa ākwala 90

te‘e talange-dō 100

te‘e to‘oni dō 1000

(67) tē ākwala dō one ten item ‘Ten things.’

Numbers between 21 and 99 are formed by juxtaposition and dō is obligatory.

(68) rō ākwala tē dō two ten one item ‘Twenty one.’

(69) fai ākwala lima dō four ten five item ‘Forty five.’

(70) fiu ākwala kwalu dō seven ten eight item ‘Seventy eight.’

44

(71) sikwa ākwala ōno dō nine ten six item ‘Ninety six.’

The higher numerals are:

(72) tē talange One hundred ‘One hundred.’

(73) tē tōni One thousand ‘One thousand.’

(74) tē milioni One million ‘One million.’

(75) nia ‘e ūsia tē ākwalo niu 3SG SUBJM buy ART ten coconut ‘He bought ten coconuts.’

(76) kēroa daro thathamia tē talange ālo they SM want ART hundred taro ‘They want a hundred taros.’

Note that wane milioni is a borrowing from English via Pijin.

When a numeral is used in a noun phrase, it precedes the head noun.

(77) tē ākwale wane kera fula mai tara‘ena fasi Malu‘u ART ten man SUBJM arrive hither today from Malu‘u ‘Ten men have arrived today from Malu‘u.’

(78) nia ‘e ngali-a mai fai baeka ‘ana raisi 3SG SUBJM bring-TR hither four bag PREP rice ‘He brought four bags of rice.’

(79) kēroa daro lole-a ūlu wela fafo ‘amali ro‘oki 3DL SUBJM lie-TR three child on sea yesterday ‘They lied to three children at the beach yesterday.’

45

Furthermore, English numerals have been borrowed and are also part of the numeral

system.

wane 1 lefeni 11

tū 2 tuele 12

tīrī 3 tōtini 13

fō 4 fōtini 14

faifa 5 fifitini 15

sikisi 6 sikisitini 16

sefeni 7 sefenitini 17

‘eiti 8 ‘eitini 18

naeni 9 naenitini 19

teni 10 tuedī 20

The multiples of ten remain as in English cardinal numbering with localized

pronunciation.

teni 10

tuedī 20

tōti 30

fōti 40

fifitī 50

sikisitī 60

sefenitī 70

eitī 80

naentī 90

handrete 100

taoseni 1000

milioni 1000 000

(80) nau ku ūsi-a sote nē ‘ana tēti dola 1SG SUBJM buy-TR shirt DEM for thirty dollar ‘I bought this shirt for thirty dollars.’

46

(81) kēroa daro bili-a eitī-faif dola tha Masi 3DL SUBJM steal-TR eighty-five dollar PNM Masi ‘They stole Masi’s eighty five dollars.’

The units between each of the multiples of ten remain as in English cardinal

numbering with localized pronunciation.

For multiplicative, the cardinal numbers are used in the same form from three to nine

and one, two and ten in variant forms preceding -si-manga ‘a time’.

tē-si-manga ‘once’ rō-si-manga ‘twice

ūla-si-manga ‘three times’

fai-si-manga ‘four times’ and so forth.

ākwala-si-manga ‘ten times’

(82) nau kwai ngali-a nila fai-si-manga lā wīki 1SG FUT take-TR injection four-times in week ‘I will take injection four times this week.’

3.6.2 Plural marking

Plural marking can occur in the following ways.

Noun + ‘oro ‘many’

(83) wai oro bag many ‘A lot of / plenty / many bags.’

Noun + -ki

��

(84) wela-ki child-PLM ‘Children.’

Noun + ‘oro + -ki

47

(85) ‘oe ‘o ngali-a mai wai ‘oro-ki 2SG SUBJM bring-TR hither bag many-PLM ‘Did you bring many bags?’

ART + numeral + noun (The article tē in this context means ‘a set of’)

(86) nia ‘e lae mai bia tē rō wela 3SG SUBJM go hither with ART two child ‘She came with two children.’

Numeral + fa + noun

(87) fiu fa wai

Seven PART bag ‘Seven bags.’

(88) nia ‘e thathami-a fai fa laema 3SG SUBJM want-TR four ART lemon ‘He wants four lemons.’

Numeral + Noun + zero plural marking

In addition to the markers mentioned, there is also zero plural marking but the

number of the subject (+ subject marker) indirectly indicates the number.

(89) fai wela da fula tara‘ena four child SUBJM arrive today ‘Four children arrived today.’

When referring to an unspecific but large number of people, the word mole‘ana

precedes the noun and for food and animals, the variant molēsi is used in the same

position in a noun phrase.

(90) mole‘ana īmola da ōfu ūri-a fāfanga loko

many people SUBJM gather for-TR feast DEM ‘Many people are gathered there for the feast.’

48

(91) molēsi fanga countless food ‘Much food.’

3.6.3 Quantifiers

There are four types of quantifiers.

For large amounts or unspecified large quantity, ‘oro ‘many, much, plenty’ is used.

(92) fanga oro food much ‘Much food.’

(93) wela ‘oro child many ‘Many children.’

(94) wela wane ‘oro child male many ‘Many boys.’

Small amounts are tē-fa, tē-si, ānge-fa, ānge-si, tei, tasi and kasi.

tē-fa also means ‘only one of something’ and is used mostly for items such as,

animals, humans, plants and some common items like, bags, food, money and may

occur before the noun.

(95) nia ‘e tō‘ana tē-fa wela wane

3SG SUBJM have one-Q child male ‘He has only one son.’

(96) tē-fa kukua tha Tomu loko one chicken PNM Tomu DEM ‘That is Tomu’s only chicken.’

(97) tē-fa wai teo nē one bag left here ‘Here is the only bag left.’

49

(98) tē-fa tū dola ūri-a ta taiyo nē one two dollar PREP-TR any canned.tuna DEM ‘Here is two dollars for a can of tuna.’

tē-si – also means ‘one, only’ and is used mostly with inanimate nouns and precedes

the noun.

(99) tē-si beleta teo bonā lā luma nē one-Q plate left exactly in house DEM ‘This is the only plate left in this house.’

(100) tē-si maku nia one-Q clothing 3SGPOSS ‘His one piece of clothing.’

(101) nia ‘e to‘ana tē-si ū‘unua 3SG SUBJM have one-Q story ‘She has a story or a piece of news.’

The following quantifiers are also used with animate objects and occur before the

noun.

ānge-fa ‘few, only a few’

(102) ānge-fa īmole bona da lae mai sukulu ro’oki few-Q people only SUBJM go hither church yesterday ‘Only a few people came to church yesterday.’

sukulu may mean both church (siosi) and school depending on the context of use.

tei ‘some’

(103) tei īmola bona da lae mai some people only SUBJM go hither ‘Only some people came.’

The following quantifiers are used with inanimate objects.

50

āngesi ‘few, only a few’

(104) kera da ūsi-a ānge-si maku bō lā sitoa loko 3PL SUBJM buy-TR few-Q clothes just in store DEM ‘They bought a few clothes only in that store.’

kasi ‘small amount (food, gift)’

(105) nia ‘e ngali-a mai tē kasi fanga 3SG SUBJM bring-TR hither ART small.amount food ‘She brought a small amount of food.’

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42%J5� �� # �$� �� (K�� )� ��L.�

There is also the negative marker (āi)-si ‘No, not’.

(107) (āi)-si ‘oro no-NEGM many ‘Not many, not much or not plenty.’

(108) īmole ‘oro da-si fula ro‘oki people many SUBJM-NEGM arrive yesterday ‘Not many people arrived yesterday.’

(109) fanga (āi)-si ‘oro tara‘ena food no-NEGM much today )/��+.��

āi ‘no’ is also optional in some utterances but not the negative marker -si when

marking negativity and the meaning is the same.

bona ~ bonā – functions as a limitative meaning ‘only, definite’. In 110-112, the use

of bona and bonā in such utterances or context means being very certain or sure of

something, thus the idea of definite in the reference made (of item or person).

51

(110) tē-fa niu teo bonā nē one-Q coconut left only DEM ‘This is the only coconut left.’

(111) ‘oe bonā ‘o ngata baita ‘asianā 2S only SUBJM talk big very ‘You were the only one who spoke too loudly.’

(112) nau bona ku ‘adomi nia ‘ana ūsi fanga-lā 1SG only SUBJM help 3SG PREP buy food-NOM ‘I am the only one helping him in buying food.’

tēfau ‘all’ is inclusive of both the speaker and addressee or audience at large and

occurs after the noun.

(113) kulu tēfau kuki lae lā ō‘ole 1PLIN all SUBJM go in garden ‘All of us will go to the garden.’

3.6.4 Collective plural

There is a set of words, which mark a collective plural, in some cases specifically

‘ten’. The use of these collective terms is specific to the items mentioned respectively

as this is a restrictive process and they occur before the head.

(114) ī bau COL banana ‘Bunch of bananas.’

(115) finte butete Ten potato

‘Ten potatoes.’

(116) finte ālo Ten taro ‘Ten taros.’

(117) īfi kafisi COL cabbage

‘Bundle of cabbage (any type).’

52

(118) ‘ade niu COL coconut ’10 coconuts.’

(119) ūthui īa COL fish ‘String of fish.’

(120) ‘oke ‘ai COL stick ‘Bundle of sticks (firewood).’

(121) ‘oke tiba COL timber ‘Heap of timber.’

Note that when referring to just one string of fish or a heap of taro and so forth, the

numeral can be left out because it is understood to mean ‘only one’, however, from

two onwards, the numeral has to be included.

(122) rō ūthui īa tei nē two string fish who DEM ‘Whose two strings of fish are these?’

(123) nia ‘e ūsi-a fai ‘ade niu ro‘oki 3SG SUBJM buy-TR four COL coconut yesterday ‘He bought four heaps of ten coconuts yesterday.’

3.7 Adjectives

Another word class is the adjectives which may occur on their own or derived via

suffixation form another word class. These are words that modify the noun and they

follow the head noun, describing characteristics of colour, shape, size, quality,

property and material.

3.7.1 Simple adjectives

Most adjectives occur in their simplest root forms.

baita ‘big, large’

bōbora ‘black’

53

diana ‘good, nice’

fālu ‘clean, new’

kūkuru ‘short’

matai ‘sick’

rōrodoa ‘dark’

sera ‘torn’

tekwa ‘long, tall’

(124) nia ‘e ngali-a mai tē wela matai 3SG SUBJM bring-TR hither ART child sick ‘He brought a sick child.’

(125) luma diana neri nia ‘e ūsi-a house nice DEM 3SG SUBJM buy-TR ‘It was a nice house he bought.’

They may also function predicatively.

(126) rake-na ‘e āliālia belly-3SGPOSS SUBJM round ‘His/her belly is round.’ (as in shape)

(127) wela fokana ‘e ta‘a nena child mouth SUBJM bad DEM ‘That is a foul-mouthed child.’

In 128-129, they illustrate gradable adjectives and comparisons on adjectives

introduced by using talua ‘more than’ which follows the adjective.

(128) nī Mere ‘e tekwa talua nī Rosi PNM Mere SUBJM tall than PNM Rosi ‘Mere is taller than Rose.’

(129) fanga lā wīki neri ‘e faekwa talua wīki bā church in week DEM SUBJM small than week AN ‘Food this week was smaller than last week.’

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An exception to the ADJP structure is when thāmae ‘large, huge’ or kali ‘small’ is

used, the adjective precedes the noun. Furthermore, another set of adjectives that

evaluate qualities such as beautiful or nice, always follow the verb in the possessive

noun phrase.

(130) thāmae loi large snake ‘Large snake.’

(131) sote nia ‘e riki diana shirt 3SGPOSS SUBJM look nice ‘His shirt looks nice.’

The sequence of comparing is as follows:

Simple tekwa ‘long, tall’

Comparative (between two things/people) tekwa talua ‘longer / taller

than’

Superlative (between more things/people) tekwa ka talua fetai ‘longest / tallest’

Degree Adverb tekwa ‘asianā ‘very long’ tekwa ka talua ‘asianā ‘much longer /

taller than’

(132) tha Tomu ‘e tekwa talua tha Demesi PNM Tomu SUBJM tall than PNM James ‘Tomu is taller than James.’

(133) suitā tha Mose na ‘e tekwa ka talua ‘asianā but PNM Mose DEF SUBJM tall CSM than very ‘But Mose is the tallest.’

The colour terms are used as adjectives and they are preceded by the head noun.

bōborā ‘black’

būbulua ‘blue’

kōkoā ‘yellow, pale’

kwākwaoa ‘white, fair’ (of hair or complexion)

mamarakwa ‘green’

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mēmenā ‘reddish’ (of ground or hair)

‘a‘abua ‘red’

(134) mā-na ‘e kōkoā eye-3SGPOSS SUBJM yellow ‘His eyes are yellow.’

(135) nia ‘e fale-a tē sote bōborā fa-ku 3SG SUBJM give-TR ART shirt black BEN-1SG ‘He gave me a black shirt.’

(136) nia ‘e to‘ana tē wela īfu-na ‘e mēmēnā 3SG SUBJM have ART child hair-3SGPOSS SUBJM reddish ‘He has a red-haired child.’

Colour terms are also borrowed directly from English via Pijin and precede the head.

(137) ngali-a mai girini beleta ‘ena bring-TR hither green plate DEM ‘Bring that green plate hither.’

(138) nia ‘e to‘ana tē bulū tarake 3SG SUBJM have ART blue truck ‘He has a blue truck.’

The colour terms not mostly used in the communalect are būbulua ‘blue’ and

mamarakwa ‘green’ hence the borrowed colour terms in English (see 137-138) are

used often by the younger generation (<40 years).

There are no adjective sequences in one phrase or sentence.

*tē thāmae boborā tekwa loi

A large black long snake

(139) nau ku riki-a tē thāmae loi boborā 1SG SUBJM see-TR ART large snake black ‘I saw a large, black snake.’

Notice that the second description loi tekwa ‘long snake’ although included, still has

the basic structure: noun+adjective.

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Non-gradable adjectives refer to ‘all-or-none’ qualities, like sex and nationality (for

instance, female, wooden, Samoan). To describe nationality, language, custom and

food, the structure is:

(140) wane ‘i Sāmoa man LOC Sāmoa ‘Man from Samoa.’ = ‘Samoan.’

(141) ālo fasi Samoa taro from Samoa ‘Taro from Samoa’ = ‘Samoan taro.’

3.7.2 Adjective derivation

An adjective may be derived from a noun or verb when suffixed by -la, -a or

reduplication (for certain nouns and verbs only) and modifies the adjective and some

of these adjectives can function as verbs.

Nouns = Adjectives

fau ‘stone’ fau-la ‘stony’

fua ‘ash’ fua-la ‘dusty from ashes of fire’

kafo ‘water’ kafo-la ‘watery’

rodo ‘night’ rodo-a ‘dark’

waiwai ‘oil’ waiwai-la ‘oily’

wenu ‘soup’ wenu-la ‘soupy’

‘abu ‘blood’ ‘abu-la ‘bloody’

‘amali ‘sea’ ‘amali-la ‘salty’

ōneōne ‘sand’ ōne-la ‘sandy’

fau ‘stone’ = fau-la ‘stony’ = fau-la ‘asianā ‘very stony’, kula fau-la ka talua

‘asianā ‘most stoniest place than any other’.

(142) luma fau (143) thaegano fau-la house stone ground stony-MOD ‘Stone house.’ (made of) ‘Stony ground’

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kini ‘girl, female’% kinila ‘girlish’ = kinila ‘asianā ‘very girlish’, kinila ka talua

‘asianā ‘very girlish’

Verbs = Adjectives

‘ako ‘cooked’ ‘ako‘ako ‘hot’

bīnga ‘sleep’ bībīngāla ‘sleepy’

bili ‘steal’ bilibili ‘thief’

lole ‘lie,cheat’ lolelole ‘liar’

mui ‘smile’ muimuila ‘smiling’

serā ‘tear’ serasera ‘torn’

(144) noni-na ‘e fua-la body-3POSS SUBJM ash-MOD ‘His body is dusty from ash of the fire.’

(145) nau ku ūsia tē wai boborā 3SG SUBJM buy ART bag black ‘I bought a black bag.’

(146) nia ‘e ‘afi-sia maku serasera 3SG SUBJM wear-TR cloth torn ‘She wore torn clothes.’

(147) ārai nia wane bilibili nena husband 3SGPOSS man steal DEM ‘Her husband is a thief.’

3.8 Possession

There are two types of possession in Sulagwalu: direct and indirect, as in many

Oceanic languages (see Van den Berg and Bachet 2006).

3.8.1 Direct possession

In direct possession, a possessive suffix is directly attached to a noun. Nouns that can

be directly possessed include body parts, most kinship terms, and parts of such items

as a house or tree can only be suffixed by third singular.

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Possessive suffix Direct possession ‘aba ‘arm, hand’ S 1 -ku ‘aba-ku ‘my arm’ 2 -mu ‘aba-mu ‘your arm’ 3 -na ‘aba-na ‘his arm’ DL 1EX -marea ‘aba-marea ‘our arm’ 1IN -karoa ‘aba-karoa ‘our arm’ 2 -maroa ‘aba-maroa ‘your arm’ 3 -daroa ‘aba-daroa ‘their arm’ PL 1EX -malia ‘aba-malia ‘our arm’ 1IN -kalua ‘aba-kalua ‘our arm’ 2 -malua ‘aba-malua ‘your arm’ 3 -dalua / -da ‘aba-dalua/-da ‘their arm’

Table 9: Direct possession

(148) lali-na ‘ai root-3SGPOSS tree ‘Tree root (+ plants).’ ‘Root of the tree.’

(149) ‘aba-na hand-3SGPOSS ‘His/her hand.’

thāsi ‘younger sibling’

(150) thāsi-ku younger sibling-1SGPOSS ‘My younger sibling.’

īnala ‘relative’

(151) īnala-da relative-3PLPOSS ‘Their relative.’

(152) nia ‘e sufi-a īfu-mu 3SG SUBJM cut-TR hair-1SGPOSS ‘He cut your hair?’

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(153) ‘ā‘ae-ku ‘e fī ‘asianā leg-1SG SUBJM sore very ‘My leg is very sore.’

(154) kīkiu-na kui lokō-ki ‘e ūbu tail-3SGPOSS dog DEM-PLM SUBJM swell ‘The dogs’ tails are swollen.’

(155) kīkiu-da ‘e ūbu tail-3PL SUBJM swell ‘Their tails are swollen.’

Notice that for the example kīkiu-da ‘e… ‘their tail’, the subject marker follows the

number of the possessed noun, kīkiu ‘tail’(singular object).

(156) gwau-da māla head-3PLPOSS injured ‘Their heads are injured.’

There are few kinship terms which take direct possession whilst most are indirectly

possessed (see Table 10).

Direct possession thāsi ‘my younger sibling’ (brother or sister) thāsi-ku ‘my younger sibling’ (brother or sister) tho‘ona ‘his/her older sister’ tho‘oda ‘their older sister’ dōra ‘cousin’ (irrespective of gender) dōra-na ‘his/her cousin’ waikale ‘brothers in-law’ thaula-na sisters in-law ( in-law relation between wives of two brothers) thaula-ku ‘my sister in-law’ (my brother’s wife)

Table 10: Direct possession 2

thō‘ona – the term tho‘o cannot occur on its own, possessive according to person is

suffixed for a complete form of the term with meaning.

(157) thō‘o-na 3SGPOSS ‘His/her older sister.’

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(158) tho‘o-ku 1SGPOSS ‘My older sister.’

(159) thaula-ku ‘e matai Sister in-law-1SGPOSS SUBJM sick ‘My sister in-law is sick.’

(160) thāsi-ku ‘e fula ro‘oki younger sibling-2DLPOSS SUBJM arrive yesterday ‘My younger sibling arrived yesterday.’

3.8.2 Indirect Possession

For indirect possession on nouns, there is no direct suffixation to the head noun

where independent and subject pronouns occur as possessive classifiers. There are

certain kin terms which are also indirectly possessed (see Tables 11 and 12).

� � ��)��.�� 2� ��)��.�� 1� �� )��.�� ?� ��)��.�0�� 2�M� ��)��.�� 2*/� ��)��.�� 1� ��)��.�� ?� ��)��.�!�� 2�M� ��)��.�� 2*/� ��)��.�� 1� ��)��.�� ?� ��)��.�

Table 11: Indirect possession

��)��.��)��.�� )�� .� ��)��.��)��.��) ��.��)� �.��&�&��)�� "�� .��)"�� 3��.��

61

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Table 12: Kin terms indirectly possessed

(161) faka ‘oe boat 2SGPOSS ‘Your boat.’

(162) luma kera house 3PLPOSS ‘Their house.’

(163) luma (kera) kini-ki house 3PLPOSS woman-PL ‘The women’s house.’

(164) wai ‘alakwa ‘oe bag son 2SGPOSS ‘Your son’s bag.’

If an adjective is added, the structure is:

(165) luma diana ‘oe house nice 2SGPOSS ‘Your nice house.’

For plural possession, the structure is:

(166) luma kera-ki house 3PLPOSS-PLM ‘Their houses.’

For proper noun possession, the structure is, noun + proper noun marker + possessor.

(167) luma tha Lone house pnm Lone ‘Lone’s house.’

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(168) luma nia tha Lone house 3SGPOSS PNM Lone ‘Lone’s house.’

(169) luma ni Lusi

house PNM Lucy ‘Lucy’s house.’

�There are no other classifiers for consumption of food and drink as these items are

indirectly possessed.

3.9 Demonstratives

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(170) nē DEM ‘This.’

(171) loko DEM ‘That.’

nē ‘this’ (also functions as a locative verb meaning ‘to be here’)

(172) nia nē 3SG DEM ‘This is him (He is here).’

(173) luma diana nia nē house nice 3SGPOSS DEM ‘This is his nice house (Here is his nice house).’

nē-ki – ‘these’

�(174) wela nē-ki

child this-PLM ‘These children.’

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‘ena ‘that’ (close to addressee)

(175) wela ‘ena ‘e bili ‘asianā child that SUBJM steal very ‘That child steals a lot.’

‘ena-ki – ‘those’

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(176) īmola ‘ena-ki da fula mai ro‘oki people those-PLM SUBJM arrive hither yesterday ‘Those people arrived yesterday.’

lokō– ‘that’

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42$$5� ��3�� &�� &��bring-TR hither book DEM ‘Bring that book hither.’

(178) nia ‘e thathamia sote loko 3SG SUBJM want shirt DEM ‘He wants that shirt.’

lokō-ki – ‘those’

(179) koni-a mai fau lokō-ki gather-TR hither stone DEM-PLM ‘Gather those stones hither.’

Another set of words function as manner demonstratives.

‘una-fū-ki – ‘like those downward’

(180) tō-lā lā luma una-fū-ki ‘e ta‘a live-NOM in house like-DEM-PLM SUBJM bad ‘Living in those kinds of house below is bad.’

‘una-‘eri – ‘like that’, ‘if that is the case’

64

(181) nau ku thathami-a ta wai ‘una-‘eri 1SG SUBJM want-TR any bag like-DEM ‘I want any bag like that.’

(182) lālae nia ka ngata ‘una-‘eri ma sui neri if 3SG SUBJM talk like-DEM so finish then )*�� +.��

‘u-nē ‘like this, this way’

(183) ālu ‘u-nē ‘ana mata ‘ena put DEM PART mat DEM ‘Put that mat like this.’

(184) nia ‘e tatha ‘u-nē tē-si manga 3SG SUBJM pass DEM ART-Q time ‘He passed this way once.’

‘una-fū – ‘like that or that way downward’

(185) nau ku riki nia sifo ‘una-fū tara‘ena 1SG SUBJM see 3SG go down DEM today ‘I saw him go down that way today.’

‘una-lō – ‘like that or that way upward’

(186) kera da tatha nā ‘una-lō ro‘oki 3PL SUBJM pass PERF DEM yesterday ‘They passed that way yesterday.’

‘una-lokō – ‘that way’

(187) nia ‘e fita nā ‘una-lokō 3SG SUBJM run PERF that- DEM ‘She ran that way.’

The following function as anaphoric demonstratives.

65

bā – ‘that, the’ (subject or object of reference is known to addressee and speaker or

only to one of the two and can follow both adjectives, adverbs, nouns and verbs).

(188) tei bā ‘oe ‘o ngata ūri-a who AN 2SG SUBJM talk PREP-TR ‘Who did you talk to?’

(189) ni Lome bā PNM Lome AN ‘That was Lome.’

‘eri ‘that, the’ (object of reference is known to either or neither and can only follow

nouns).

(190) wane ʻeri ʻe matai ‘asianā man DEM SUBJM sick very ‘That man was very sick.’

‘eri-ki ‘those’

(191) wela ‘eri-ki da firu ‘asianā child DEM-PLM SUBJM fight very ‘Those children fight a lot.’

3.10 Conjunctive coordinators

In a noun phrase the following ‘conjunctive coordinators ma ‘and’ and bia/bī ‘and’

can conjoin noun phrases and the same conjoiners can also link clauses (see 6.2).

(192) �� '� �� (�� !/�� !/�� (K�� )�� +.�

42:?5� �� &� �� ?�N�� (K��3�6�� 3!�� )>�,�� +.�

42:A5� �� '� �� 10��M�� 2�N�� (K�� )O��415�� *�� +.�

66

Chapter 4 Prepositions These are words that mark the relation between a noun and other word classes.

Prepositions express relation of position, direction, time, agent and manner.

Prepositions can be classified by the following functions.

4.1 Directional

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‘i ‘to’ (place names)

(195) nia ‘e lae ‘i taoni ro‘oki 3SG SUBJM go DIR town yesterday ‘He went to town yesterday.’

lō – ‘upward’ (singular)

(196) luma lō ‘e gwau ‘ū house above SUBJM empty CONT ‘That house up there is still empty.’

lō-ki ‘upward’ (plural)

(197) luma lō-ki house upward-PLM ‘Those houses up there.’

fū – ‘downward’ (singular)

(198) ngali-a fanga nē fa-na wela fū take-TR food DEM BEN-3SG child DEM ‘Take this food to that child down there.’

fū-ki – ‘those downward’

67

(199) ngali-a fanga nē-ki fa-na wela fū-ki take-TR food DEM-PLM BEN-3 child DEM-PLM ‘Take these foods to those children down there.’

4.2 Motion ��

The use of fesi in this context functions as a preposition of motion meaning ‘from’.

(200) nau ku lae mai fesi siosi 1SG SUBJM go hither from church ‘I came from church.’

(201) nau ku riki-a tē wane fesi Malaita ISG SUBJM-TR see-TR ART man from Malaita ‘I saw a man from Malaita.’ Or ‘I saw a Malaitan man.’

4.3 Locatives

In a noun phrase, the following words specify location and position in relation to

persons, items and things.

ā ‘above’ (syn langi)

‘ana ‘at, belong to, for, in, on, of, through’

bī ‘with’

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buira ‘after, behind’

buri ‘after, back, later’

fafo ‘on top’

‘i ‘to’

‘intō ‘centre’

‘intō-na ‘core of’

kākali-a ‘around’

karangi(-a) ‘close to, beside, almost, nearly, next to’

lā ‘in, into’

lāla ‘inside, middle, centre’

mā ‘out, outside’

mālutana ‘among, amidst, between’

suli-a ‘about, along, against’

talu-a ‘over, than’

68

thaegano ‘below, down’

ūri-a ‘for, to’

(202) nau ku teo fafo-na tē baeka raisi 1SG SUBJM lie PREP-3SG ART bag rice ‘I lay on a bag of rice.’

fafo-na ‘on top of’ demonstrates the relation between the verb teo ‘lie’ to the noun

phrase tē baeka raisi ‘a bag of rice’.

(203) Sau ‘e thathami-a ta luma ‘ana simede Sau SUBJM want-TR ART house PREP cement ‘Sau wants a brick house.’

(204) Sau kai fula ‘ana Sadē Sau FUTSUBJM arrive PREP Sunday ‘Sau will arrive on Sunday.’

(205) Roni kai fula ‘ana Diuni Roni FUTSUBJM arrive PREP June ‘Roni will arrive in June.’

(206) nia ‘e takwe sulia tē ‘ai 3SG SUBJM stand PREP ART tree ‘He was standing against a tree.’

(207) nau kwai ngata bī nia 1SG FUTSUBJM talk with him ‘I will speak with him.’

(208) nia kai ngali fanga mai bī-a tha Lone 3SG FUTSUBJM bring food hither with-TR PNM Lone ‘He will bring the food hither with Lone.’

(209) nau ku riki tha Masi bī-a wela nia 1SG SUBJM see-TR PNM Masi with-TR child 3SGPOSS ‘I saw Masi with his child.’

69

(210) ni Rosi ‘e futa buira tha Beni PNM Rose SUBJM born after PNM Beni ‘Rose was born after Ben.’

(211) ‘oe ‘o takwe buira tebolo loko 2SG SUBJM stand behind table DEM ‘You stand behind that table.’

buri ‘back, after, through’, also as a time adverbial ‘later’.

(212) nia ‘e kotho mai ‘ana mā buri 3SG SUBJM enter hither PREP door back ‘He entered through the back door.’

4.4 Prepositions of time

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� lālae ‘till, until’

simanga ‘during, since, when’

(213) nia ‘e thaka simanga maka nia ‘e lae 3SG SUBJM escape when father 3SGPOSS SM go ‘He escaped when his father went.’

(214) kamaroa moki ngū simanga ‘ana ngali ‘ofaringi

2DL FUTSUBJM sing during PREP take offering ‘You will sing during collection of the offering.’

(215) tha Lone ‘e fanga lālae ta fanga-si teo

PNM Lone SUBJM eat until ART food-NEG left ‘Lone ate until there was no food left.’

4.5 Prepositional suffix

-na performs more than one function in both noun and verb phrases. There are certain

nouns and prepositions when suffixed by –na perform a prepositional function, for

example: noun or preposition + ‘of’.

buri ‘behind’ + -na = buri-na ‘behind, after’

fafo ‘on’ + -na = fafo-na ‘on top of’

70

fāra ‘under’ + -na = fara-na ‘underneath’

gwau ‘head’ + -na = gwau-na ‘source of, upper reaches ‘ (river+)

mā ‘eye’ + -na = mā-na ‘front of’

‘a‘ae ‘leg’ + -na = ‘a‘ae-na ‘bottom of’ (tree+)

(216) nia ‘e takwe buri-na te luma 3SG SUBJM stand behind-PART ART house ‘He was standing behind a house.’

(217) kamalia mili fula mai gwau-na kafo ‘eri 1PLEX SUBJM arrive hither head-PART river ANDEM ‘We arrived at the source of the river.’

71

Chapter 5 Verbs and verb phrases �� #�� "��+� �� "��

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5.1 Verbs

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There are two syntactic categories of verbs: intransitive and transitive.

5.1.1 Intransitive verbs

In active verbs, intransitive verbs do not take any object, as they only have a subject

which is ‘an agent, or a patient/experiencer’ in non-active verbs (Berg and Batchet,

2006:69).

The intransitive verbs list includes the following:

ābusu ‘filled with food, satiated’

āluālu ‘wave in farewell’

ālulu ‘promise’

bīnga ‘sleep’

72

bōruru ‘kneel’

bulo ‘dizzy from poison, hunger +’

buru/buruburu ‘dense, thick, close together (trees, beard)’

busu ‘river or dam burst its banks, (boil) burst’

bū ‘stamp with the heel’

fula ‘arrive’

īgili ‘hiccough’

lae ‘go’

māmāru ‘blink, wink’

mui ‘smile’

sibolo ‘crave fish, meat’

taga ‘have goose bumps’

thaka ‘escape’

waela ‘laugh’

‘asila ‘sneeze’

‘asimango ‘sigh’

(221) nia ‘e ‘asila 3SG SUBJM sneeze )>�� 9��+.�

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(223) nau ku sibolo 1SG SUBJM crave ‘I am craving fish or meat.’ (sibolo is limited to meat food only)

A set of intransitive verbs are derived from nouns by the verbalizing suffix -la which

has the meaning, ‘full of, covered in, or having lots of something’ synonymous with

‘infestive’ as marked in some Oceanic languages and meaning is extended to include

living creatures in context.

garate ‘ringworm’ garate-la ‘covered in ringworm’

kākame ‘scabies’ kākame-la ‘full of scabies’

‘amali ‘salt water’ ‘amali-la ‘salty’

73

‘oki ‘bone’ ‘oki-la ‘bony, full of bones’

tharu ‘sore’ tharu-la ‘covered in sores’

(224) wela ‘oki-la child bone-VS ‘Bony child.’

(225) noni-na ‘e garate-la body-3SPOSS SM ringworm-VS ‘His body is covered in ringworm.’

(226) fanga nē ‘e ‘amali-la food DEM SUBJM saltwater-VS )��+.��

5.1.2 Verbal suffix: Transitive verbs

A transitive verb has an object suffix whether the object is expressed or not and there

are two basic groups. Group 1 transitive have ‘object-indexing suffixes only for the

third person singular, dual, and plural’ (Lichtenberk 2005, p.116). With the third-

person objects there are several options, where there is absence of the ‘lexical direct

object, indexing is by means of an object suffix or by means of an independent

personal pronoun’ (ibid).

(227a) ‘oe ‘o riki-a 2SG SUBJM give-3SG.OBJ ‘Did you give him/her/it?’

(227b) nia ‘e riki-da 3SG SUBJM see-3PL.OBJ ‘Did he/she/it see them?’

(227c) kera da riki nia 3PL SUBJM see 3SG.OBJ ‘They saw him/her/it.’

(228a) kera da lole nia 3PL SUBJM lie 3SG.OBJ ‘They lied to him/her/it.’

74

(228b) nia ‘e kumuli nau 1SG SUBJM punch 1SG.OBJ ‘He/she punched me.’

Group 2 transitive (limited verbs) has object-indexing suffixes for all grammatical

persons and numbers….’ (ibid).

�

(229) nia ‘e thaitama-mu 3SG SUBJM know-2SG.OBJ ‘Does he/she know you?’

(230) ‘oe ‘o thaitama-marea 2SG SUBJM know-2DLEX.OBJ ‘Do you know us (2)?’

Furthermore, for direct objects which immediately follow the verb, one of the

following allomorphs of the transitive suffix is attached to the verb and this is similar

to the pattern in other Oceanic languages, for example, Fijian (Geraghty 1983:260): -

a, -ia, -fia, -lia, -ngia, -sia, -tō-.

�

(231) nia ‘e bili-a tē botho 3SG SUBJM steal-TR ART pig ‘He stole a pig.’

(232) nia ‘e ‘asi-a 3SG SUBJM fall-TR ‘He fell.’

(233) kui kera ‘e lofo-ia kali wela loko dog ?!�!7�� SUBJM jump-TR small child DEM ‘Their dog jumped at that small child.’

(234) nia ‘e siu-fia sui nā wela ‘oe 3SG SUBJM bath-TR finish PERF child 2SGPOSS ‘She has already bathed your child.’

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(235) luma nia tha Lone ‘e tharu-fia ro‘oki house 3SGPOSS PNM Lone SUBJM burn-TR yesterday ‘Lone’s house burnt yesterday.’

(236) tē lō ‘e ūbu-ngia ‘a‘ae-na ART boil SUBJM swell-TR leg-3SGPOSS ‘His leg is swollen from a boil.’

(237) kera da kaba-lia lā barika loko 3PL SUBJM crawl-TR loc coconut.grove DEM ‘They crawled around in that coconut grove.’

(238) ‘oe ‘o fele-sia baoa loko 2SG SUBJM press-TR power DEM ‘Did you press that switch?’

(239) wela nē-ki da mū-sia stiringi nau child DEM-PLM SUBJM cut-TR string 1SGPOSS ‘These children broke my string.’

(240) ‘oe ‘o manata-tō-na tha Lone 2SG SUBJM think-stay-3SG PNM Lone ‘Do you think about Lone?’

(241) nia ‘e manata-tō-mu 3SG SUBJM think-stay-2SG.OBJ ‘He/she thinks about you.’

Some verbs may take two different suffixes with the same meaning.

rusu ‘slide’ rusu-a (TR) rusu-fia ‘slide in, on (any surface)’ (V)

āngi ‘cry’ āngi-ā ‘a cry (N)’ āngi-sia ‘cry (TR)’

�

(242) nia ‘e rusu-a mai beleta ‘eri 3SG SUBJM slide-TR hither plate DEM ‘He slid that plate.’

�

76

(243) tha Lone ‘e rusu-fia lā māmako tara‘ena PNM Lone SUBJM slide-TR in mud today ‘Lone was sliding in the mud today.’

In a limited set of verbs that end in short vowel a, and take the transitive suffix -a,

the two vowels combine as a long vowel creating the transitive form.

‘aba ‘drag, pull’ (‘aba-a) ‘abā ‘drag, pull’

�� )��4�� 5.� 4��$� �� )��.�maga ‘broken (glass+)’ (maga-a) magā ‘break’

(244) beleta kera ‘e maga plate 3PLPOSS SUBJM break ‘Their plate is broken.’

(245) nau ku magā beleta kera 1SG SUBJM break.TR plate 3PLPOSS ‘I broke their plate.’

(246) tha Masi ‘e magā tē banikini PNM Masi SUBJM break.TR ART cup ‘Masi broke a cup.’

(247) meleni ba ‘e foga nā watermelon AN SUBJM break PERF ‘Their watermelon has smashed.’

(248) ‘oe ‘o fogā meleni kera 2SG SUBJM break.TR watermelon 3PLPOSS ‘Did you smash their watermelon?’

(249) ‘aba sūkwai Pull strong ‘Pull with strength!’

(250) nia ‘e ‘abā tē loi tekwa 3SG SUBJM pull.TR ART snake long ‘He dragged a long snake.’

77

5.1.3 Verbal prefixes

5.1.3.1 Causative

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fā-bingā ‘make to sleep’

fā-garo-a ‘make wrong, incorrect’

fā-gulā ‘make to be foolish’

fā-gwari-a ‘make to cool (hot food, water+)’

fā-gwini-a ‘make wet’

fā-kū-fia ‘make to drink’

fā-kulu-a ‘make heavy, burdened’

fā-mae-a ‘make boring, make not lively, make uninteresting’

fā-make-a ‘make to ripen’

fā-siofā ‘make to be poor’

fā-sui-a ‘make to end’

fā-takwe-a ‘make to stand’

fā-thakā ‘make to escape’

fā-waelā ‘make to laugh’

fā-ābu-a ‘make holy’

fā-āngi-a ‘make to cry’

fā-ēle-a ‘make happy’

fā-īanā ‘make pregnant’

fā-‘afi-sia ‘make to dress’

(251) nia ‘e fa-bingā kali thasi-na 3SG SUBJM CAUS-sleep small sibling-3SGPOSS ‘She is causing her little sibling sleep.’

5.1.3.2 Reduplication

Reduplication takes place on verbs, adjectives and nouns, and when used, meaning is

either enhanced or changed to a verb context. Reduplication is on the first syllable

and the first vowel is lengthened.

Reduplication on the verb stem itself conveys the intensity of the verb in utterance.

78

(252) nia ‘e ‘ī-‘ili-a ālo kamalia lālae ka sui 3SG SUBJM REDUP-dig-TR taro 1PLEX until SEQ finish ‘He dug our taro until it finished.’ (Conveys sense of disappointment)

Reduplication on the noun and adjective roots carry the meaning, ‘state of being’.

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(253) noni-na ‘e thā-tharu ka tau nā body-3SG SUBJM REDUP-sore SEQ longtime PERF ‘His body is covered in sores for a long time now.’

(254) wela fā-faekwa child REDUP-small ‘Small child.’

(256) wane rā-rake‘iri man REDUP-angry ‘Angry man.’

(257) wela tē-tekwa child REDUP-tall ‘Tall child.’

5.1.3.3 Reciprocal verbs

Reciprocal verbs are formed prefixed by kwai- implying ‘mutuality’ and (usually) the

-a transitive suffix show willingness of the agents in to perform the action

mentioned.

thathami ‘like, desire’ kwai-thathami-a ‘mutual like or desire’

‘adomi ‘help, support’ kwai-‘adomi-a ‘mutual help or support’

(258) kwai-‘adomi-a kēroa ‘e baita ‘asianā MUT-help-TR 3DL SUBJM big ADV � )��""�� +.�

5.2 Verbal derivation

A number of verbs may be derived from another word class by suffixation.

Noun + Transitive suffix = Verb

‘ugu ‘wall’ -a ‘ugu-a ‘to put up (timber+) as a wall’

simede ‘cement, brick’-a simede-a ‘to cement’

79

thasu ‘smoke’ -fia thasufi-a ‘to smoke’ (clothes+)

thākai ‘tongs’ -a thakai-a ‘to pick up using tongs’ (food+)

furai ‘fishing net’ -a furai-a ‘to fish with a net’

kwethu ‘lamp’ -a kwethu-a ‘to light (lamp,fire)’

īfitai ‘bedding’ -nia īfitai-nia ‘to make (bed)’

tafu ‘rubbish’ -sia tafu-sia ‘to clean, dust off’ ( surfaces)

āefara ‘scoff, scorn’ -ā āefar-ā ‘to scoff’

‘ako‘ako ‘hot’ -a ‘ako-a ‘to heat, burn’

5.3 Verbal compound

kwasi as a root is an adjective meaning ‘wild’ or ‘rough’ depending on the context of

utterance. However, it is the only form when joined with a certain number of verbs

means ‘too much’.

(259) ‘oe (‘o) ngata-kwasi ‘asianā 2SG SUBJM talk-rough very ‘You talk too much.’

This adjective can also function attributively.

(260) nī Dini ngata-kwasi PNM Dini talk-rough ‘Dini the talkative’ or ‘Dini who talks too much.’

Some of the limited verbs which take kwasi are: fanga ‘eat’; āngi ‘cry’; lole ‘lie,

cheat’; rā ‘climb; bīnga ‘sleep’; thatho ‘play’; ngao ‘show off’; bubu ‘stare’; firu

‘fight’; kwala ‘swear’ and kū ‘drink’.

5.4 Verb phrase structure

The order of elements of a verb phrase is:

(Subject marker) + (negative) + HEAD + (benefactive) + (aspect) + (post verbal

particle) + (adverb)

An individual verb phrase may consist of a simple clause such as:

fanga ‘eat’ fita ‘run’

‘ono ‘sit’ takwe ‘stand’

80

5.4.1 Subject markers

In a verb phrase, the following particles mark number and person including both

animate and inanimate subjects. In this context, an utterance is considered complete

although the subject is not mentioned as it is being identified by the marker used.

1IN 1EX 2 3 Singular ku ‘o ‘e Dual koro mere moro daro Plural kulu mili mulu da

Table 13: Subject markers

(261) ‘e ‘ono 3SGSUBJM sit ‘He is sitting.’

(262) ‘o fanga 2SGSUBJM eat ‘You eat.’

(263) ku takwe 1SGSUBJM stand )*�� +.�

5.4.2 Negatives

The main negatives are āi, and suffix -si. The word āi functions as a verb meaning,

‘to not exist or not to be’ and may stand on its own as a negative.

(264) āi ‘No’ opposite of iuka ‘Yes’

(265) nia ‘e nī luma mada āi? 3SG SUBJM loc house COORD NEG ‘Is he home or not?’

(266) ‘oe ‘o āi ta luma 2SG SUBJM NEG ART house

‘You have no house?’

The negative particle āi also introduces negative imperatives.

81

(267) āi ta fanga nē NEG ART food DEM ‘No food here!’

The negative particle āi must be suffixed by –si when negativising verbs.

(268) nia ‘e āi-si fula ‘ū 3SG SUBJM no-NEG arrive yet ‘He has not arrived yet.’

Only the first syllable of the subject markers are suffixed by -si to form negatives

except for first singular exclusive where ku (Table 13) changes to kwa- (Table 14)

and third plural where da (Table 13) remains as it is (Table 14) when suffixed.

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(269) nau kwa-si fanga ‘ū 1SG SUBJM-NEG eat yet ‘I have have not eaten yet.’

(270) kera da-si fula ‘ū 3PL SUBJM-NEG arrive yet ‘They have not arrived yet.’

5.4.3 Benefactives

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5.4.4 Tense and aspect marker

Tense is not determined by any specific markers except future which has specific

markers. Tense is derived from either the use of temporal adverbs or the verb phrase

itself. Tense is marked using the temporal adverbs denoting time, time of the day,

day in the week, months and time of the year.

(282) nia ‘e fula lā thato

3SG SUBJM arrive in day ‘He arrived in the afternoon.’

(283) nau ku fula ‘ana tū kiloko 1SG SUBJM arrive PREP two o’clock ‘I arrived at two o’clock.’

(284) kamarea mere lae ‘ana diuni 2DLEX SUBJM go PREP June ‘We went in June.’

(285) kera da lae sukulu ro‘oki 3PLEX SUBJM go church yesterday ‘They went to church yesterday.’

Sukulu may mean both church and school depending on the context.

A set of tensed-marked subject markers mark future.

85

1 IN 1EX 2 3

Singular kwai ‘oki kai

Dual koki meki moki keki

Plural kuki miki muki daki

Table 20: Future subject markers

(286) nau kwai ‘ili-a kai nau ‘ana tūsde 1SG FUTSUBJM dig-TR yam 1SGPOSS PREP Tuesday ‘I will dig my yams on Tuesday.’

(287) kamalia miki lae lā barika tara‘ena 1PLEX FUTSUBJM go in coconut.grove today ‘Today we are going to the coconut grove’. ‘We are going to the coconut grove today.’

(288) nau kwai lae ‘i Malu‘u usungadi 1SG FUTSUBJM go LOC Malu’u tomorrow ‘I am going or will go to Malu‘u tomorrow.’

(289) kulu kuki kākao kali-a luma kulu thaulefi 1PLIN FUTSUBJM broom around-TR house 1PLINPOSS evening ‘We will sweep around our house in the evening.’

(290) nia kai lae sīsiu lā ‘amali tara’ena 3SG FUTSUBJM go swim in sea today ‘He will go for a swim in the sea today.’

Two postverbal particles express aspect including preverbal bī (Lichtenberk 2005)

which also has a prepositional function (see 4.3).

bī just

nā perfect

‘ū continuative

(291) ‘oe ‘o bī fanga bō 2SG SUBJM IMMED eat ASSERT ‘Have you just eaten?’ ‘You have just eaten?’

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86

The perfect is used when there is an implication that a state exists which did not exist

before, or that an action that was not occurring before has now occurred and

completed (Fox 1974).

(292) nia ‘e lae nā 3SG SUBJM go PERF ‘He has gone.’

(293) ni Lusi ‘e fula nā PNM Lusi SUBJM arrive PERF ‘Luy has arrived.’

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(294) kamarea mere fanga nā 1DLEX SUBJM eat PERF ‘We have eaten.’

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The continuative particle is used to indicate that a state or action is continuing, for

instance, there has been no change between a past state or event and the present state

or event, and there is no expectation that there will be a change in the future.

(295) nia ‘e fanga ‘ū 3SG SUBJM eat CONT ‘He is still eating.’

It also means ‘yet’ with a negative.

(296) keroa daro-si fula ‘ū 3DL SUBJM-NEG arrive CONT )�� +.�

5.4.5 Postverbal particles

The following particles occur post verbally performing various functions.

5.4.5.1 bonā

bonā functions as a post-verbal particle expressing immediateness in a verb phrase

and definiteness in reference to the animate and inanimate objects in a noun phrase.

87

(297) faka ‘e fula nā kamarea meke lae bonā boat SUBJM arrive PERF 1DLEX SUBJM go PVP ‘The boat has arrived, we have to go now.’

(298) wane ‘eri bonā man DEM PVP ‘That is definitely the man.’

5.4.5.2 bō

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5.4.5.3 mai

mai ‘hither’, when used refers to motion towards the speaker.

(300) ngali-a mai take-TR hither ‘Bring it here.’

5.4.5.4 kau

kau ‘thither’, when used refers to motion away from the speaker and may be towards

the addressee.

(301) nia ‘e lae kau 3SG SUBJM go thither ‘He came thither.’

The postverbals may co-occur as illustrated except bonā which follows the head

immediately.

(302) nia ‘e lae lau mai 3SG SUBJ go again hither ‘He/she/it came here again.’

88

(303) nia ‘e lae lau kau 3SG SUBJM go again thither ‘He/she/it went thither again.’

(304) nia ‘e lae lau bō 3SG SUBJM go again ASSERT ‘He/she/it went again.’

5.5 Adverbs

In a verb phrase, the adverb modifies the head.

5.5.1 lau

The word lau, ‘afresh, again, also, another one, one more, too’ (Fox 1974, p.115)

performs an adverbial function and is preceded by negatives and the head, in both a

noun and verb phrase respectively.

(305) langi lau wela tha Lone loko NEG EV child PNM Lone DEM ‘That is not Lone’s child.’

(306) kamalia mi-si lae lau bō 1PLEX SUBJM-NEG go EV ASRT ‘We are also not going either.’

(307) nau lau bō 1SG EV ASRT ‘Me too.’

(308) nau lau 1SG EV ‘Me again.’

(309) nia kai ōli lau ‘i taoni thaulefi 3SG FUTSUBJM return EV LOC town evening ‘She will go again to town in the evening.’

(310) masa ta tē wela lau ka fula mai ka lea COORD ART ART child EV SEQ arrive hither SEQ good ‘If one more child arrives will be good.’

89

5.5.2 Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner function as post-head modifiers.

kokota ‘properly’

lea ‘carefully, properly’

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(311) farongo-a thāri loko ka ngata kokota tell-TR young.girl DEM CSM talk properly ‘Tell that young girl to talk properly.’

(312) kēroa daro sūsuli lea ‘ana wela-ki 3DL SUBJM look.after carefully of child-PLM ‘They looked after the children carefully.’

5.5.3 Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree function as intensifiers of the head.

kasi dō ‘small amount, a little, slightly’

(313) fale-a kasi suka fa-ku give-TR small.amout sugar BEN-1SG ‘Give me a small amount of sugar.’

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‘asianā ‘exceedingly, excessive, really, many, too much, very’

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(314) nia ‘e rao ‘asianā 3SG SUBJM work very ‘He works very hard.’

5.5.4 Adverb of time

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buri ‘later, after’ (see 4.2 for other function)

(315) nia kai lae mai buri 3SG FUTSUBJM go hither later ‘He will come hither later or after.’

90

5.6 Imperatives

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‘idu

‘Move!’

Modifiers follow the verb directly in a command or request and the subject marker is

optional if referent is known to the speaker.

(316) (‘o) ‘idu ‘eli‘eli SUBJM move quickly ‘(You) Move quickly!’

(317) ‘idu manga‘eri Move now ‘Move now, move immediately!’

A negative imperative also has the same structure but āi is optional. Negative

imperatives are marked by the negative particle -si, suffixed to the subject marker.

(318) (āi) ‘o-si lae (No) SUBJM-NEG go ‘(You) Do not go!’

(319) (‘oe) ‘o-si ngū 2SG SUBJM-NEG sing ‘(You) Do not sing!’

(320) (kamaroa) mo-si fanga tara‘ena thaulefi 2DL SUBJM-NEG eat today evening ‘(You two) Do not eat this evening.’

91

Chapter 6 Clause types �� "�� "��

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6.1 Simple sentences

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6.1.1 Interjections

Interjections are not a major group of words within a language system, they are

normally very short utterances however, they play an important part when it comes to

expressing feelings in response to certain situations experienced, often accompanied

by facial and body expressions. Q��

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Words of affirmation.

īu, īuka ‘yes’


‘ō equivalent to ‘I see’ (usually with nodding of the head)

Words of negation.

ābu ‘tabu, not allowed’ (to people when in imminent danger)

‘aiā ‘expression of pain’ (raised pitch on the last vowel)

āi, ‘no’ (with blinking of the eye or shaking of the head)

Words of greeting and farewell.

‘aiā ‘bye, farewell, goodbye, okay’

rodolea ‘good night’ (form of saying bye or farewell from afternoon

onwards)

‘utā ‘how?’ but equivalent to ‘how is it?’ or ‘what’s up?’ (way of

greeting)

92

Words of sympathy.

ī‘ē ‘expression of pity or empathy’ (especially when someone

is bereaved or goes through a tough time)

kwai-manata-i ‘sad’ (similar expression to ī‘ē) RECM-think-TR

Words of exclamation.

‘oi ārailo ‘ae ‘Oh God’

‘oi ā ‘ae ‘Oh heavens’

‘oi thāmaka ‘ae ‘Oh father’

kwele ‘surprise’ equivalent to ‘what a surprise’

riki-a nā ‘found it, eureka!’ see-TR PERF

‘o thaitamana ‘you know?’ or ‘guess what?’ 2SG know

Swear or rude words.

faka ‘mouth’ (very rude)

lua ‘inner neck’ (very rude)

kū‘ou ‘inner throat’ (very rude)

bākete (borrowing via Pijin from the English ‘buggered’ – uttered when

someone misses an opportunity to do or say something)

Words of disgust.

ītei ‘disgusting’ (people spit on the ground)

mm ‘smelly’ (accompanied with people spitting on the ground)

Words of affirmation.

īu, īuka ‘yes’


‘ō equivalent to ‘I see’ (usually with nodding of the head)

93

Words of negation.

ābu ‘tabu, not allowed’ (to people when in imminent danger)

‘aiā ‘expression of pain’ (raised pitch on the last vowel)

āi, ‘no’ (with blinking of the eye or shaking of the head)

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Words of greeting and farewell.

‘aiā ‘bye, farewell, goodbye, okay’

rodolea ‘good night’ (form of saying bye or farewell from afternoon

onwards)

‘utā ‘how?’ but equivalent to ‘how is it?’ or ‘what’s up?’ (way of

greeting)

Words of sympathy.

ī‘ē ‘expression of pity or empathy’ (especially when someone is

bereaved or goes through a tough time)

kwai-manata-i ‘sad’ (similar expression to ī‘ē) RECM-think-TR

Words of exclamation.

‘oi ārailo ‘ae ‘Oh God’

‘oi ā ‘ae ‘Oh heavens’

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‘oi thāmaka ‘ae ‘Oh father’

kwele ‘surprise’ equivalent to ‘what a surprise’

riki-a nā ‘found it, eureka!’ see-TR PERF

‘o thaitamana ‘you know?’ or ‘guess what?’ 2SG know

Swear or rude words.

faka ‘mouth’ (very rude)

lua ‘inner neck’ (very rude)

kū‘ou ‘inner throat’ (very rude)

94

bākete (borrowing via Pijin from the English ‘buggered’ – uttered when

someone misses an opportunity to do or say something)

Words of disgust.

ītei ‘disgusting’ (people spit on the ground)

mm ‘smelly’ (accompanied with people spitting on the ground)

The following expressions are used when something negative (usually) happens to

somebody which one thinks they deserve.

‘ani-a kata ‘Serves one right!’

(321) ‘ani-a kata ‘oe eat-TR pounded.taro 2SGPOSS

‘Eat your pounded taro!’ (literal meaning), → ‘Serves you right!’

diana ‘good!’

fil-im ‘feel-it!’ (borrowing from Pijin)

6.1.2. Declarative clauses

The declarative clauses contain statements stating information (whether true or false

is not the point here), a feature that is present in all languages whether written or

spoken (Quackenbos 1869).

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95

6.1.3 Interrogative clauses

The interrogative clauses contain questions that can be in any of the following forms

and emphasis is enhanced by intonation.

For polar or Yes-No questions the subject and subject marker can be optional and the

interrogation is marked by a final phrase as sui ‘finish’ nā (PERF) ‘already’.

(325) (‘oe) (‘o) fanga sui nā 2SG SUBJM eat finish PERF ‘Have you eaten already?’

(326) fanga sui nā eat finish PERF ‘Eaten already?’

Quite often the interrogation is marked by a final tag equivalent to ‘or not yet?’ (327) (‘oe) ‘o fanga sui nā mada āi ‘ū

2SG SUBJM eat finish PERF or not CONT ‘Have you eaten already or not yet?’

With WH-questions, the interrogative words occur alone within a sentence except

fita ‘how’, which cannot stand on its own, it has to be followed by dō or a noun as

illustrated in the examples below. na functions as a particle different from the

perfective nā. The general rule is, in the phrase initial position na follows the

question word but is dropped when the question is in final position.

tā ‘what?’

(328) tā na (‘oe) ‘o thathami-a what PART 2SG SUBJM want-TR ‘What do you want?’

(329) (‘oe) ‘o thathami-a tā What SUBJM want-TR what ‘What do you want?’

tei ‘who?’

96

(330) tei na ‘e fula mai who PART SUBJM arrive hither ‘Who has arrived hither?’

(331) wela tei child who ‘Whose child?’

(332) ngū bia tei sing with who ‘Sings with who?’

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(333) fai na (‘oe) ‘o riki nau where PART 2SG SUBJM see 1SG ‘Where did you see me?’

(334) nī fai wela ‘oe LOC where child 2SGPOSS ‘Where is your child?’

(335) kamalua mulu tō ‘i fai 2PL SUBJM live LOC where ‘Where do you live?’

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(336) āngita na nī Lusi kai fula When PART PNM Lusi FUTSUBJM arrive ‘When will Lusi arrive?’

(337) nī Lusi kai fula āngita PNM Lusi FUTSUBJM arrive when ‘When will Lusi arrive?’

fita / fita dō ‘how much / many?’

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97

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(339) mago nē-ki fita dō mango DEM-PLM how.much item ‘How much are these mangoes?’

(340) fita ‘abala maku how.long yards material (cloth) ‘How many yards (metres) of clothing?’

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(341) ‘oe (‘o) ‘ufita 2SG SUBJM how ‘How are you?’

(342) kamalua mulu lula kafo ‘ufita lā tagi nē 1PLEX SUBJM fill water how in tank DEM ‘How do you fill water into this tank?’

(343) nia ‘e mae ‘ufita 3SG SUBJM die how ‘How did he die?’

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(345) ‘ufita na (kamalua) muka lae taoni how PART 1PLEX SUBJM go town ‘Why did you go to town?’

98

Interrogative sentences are structured the same as declaratives, and intonation marks

the difference between the interrogative or declarative functions.

6.1.4 Locative clause

The main constitutent of the locative clause is ‘i which means ‘is at’ a location

relative to the subject (see 4.3 for further details on locatives).

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6.1.5 Temporal clause

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(348) si-manga nia ‘e fula mai, fai wela da āngi a-time 3SG SUBJM arrive hither four child OBJM cry )S�� 4��5�� +.��

6.1.6 Negative clause

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The other two categories of syntactical structures are embedded in the compound–

complex clauses or sentences.

99

6.2 Coordination

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(351) fanga sui ka bī lae sukulu eat then 2SGSEQ IMM go school ‘Eat and then go to school.’

(352) nau ku fanga nā sui mena nau ku thaofa ‘ū 1SG SUBJM eat PERF but but 1SG SUBJM hungry PERF ‘I had eaten but I am still hungry.’

4?I?5� �� *�� *� �2!��M� ��(K��"�� !�6�� +�� ?�N� ��(K��&� CONT� �‘Tomu paid already but he still asks.’

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100

6.3 Subordination

�� "� ��

"�� +� A few kinds of subordinate relationships are

expressed by different kinds of clauses.

6.3.1 Relative clauses

The process of relativisation is quite straightforward. There is no relative marker and

the relative clause immediately follows the noun phrase to which it refers.

(356) na fanga bā nia ‘e ngali-a mai ‘e dura sui ART food AN 3SG SUBJM bring-TR hither SUBJM rot finish nā PERF ‘The food he brought was already rotten.’

(357) na luma bā ēra tharu-fia ‘e ōge ka ART house AN fire burn-TR 3SGSUBJM collapse SEQ

sui finish

‘The house the fire burnt completely collapsed.’

In the following prepositional phrase, a relative clause is embedded.

4?I@5� tha Masi ‘e fula mai [‘ana si-manga nau ku PNM Masi SUBJM arrive hither PREP a-time 1SG SUBJM �� U��)�� 4�� 5�*�� +.�

6.3.2 Conditional clauses

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(359) lālae nia ‘e lae mai, nau kwai thaka if 3SG SUBJM go hither 1SG FUTSUBJM runaway ‘If he comes, I will run away.’

101

(360) ‘oe ‘oki lae taoni lālae nia ‘e-si ‘eli‘eli 2SG FUTSUBJM go town if 3SG SUBJM-NEGM quick mai hither ‘You will go to town if she does not arrive hither quickly.’

(361) nau kwai lae taoni masa nia fula ka lea 1SG FUTSUBJM go town suppose 3SG arrive SEQ good ‘I will go to town, if he arrives that would be good.’

(362) masa nia ka nāre ta fanga ka lea suppose 3SG SEQ cook any food SEQ good )�""�� &��+.�

6.3.3 Complement clauses

The following illustrate some complement clauses although there is no

complementizing particle the utterance carries that meaning.

(363) nau ku rongo-a ‘oe ‘o ūsi-a tē kā fālu 1SG SUBJM hear-TR 2SG SUBJM buy-TR ART car new ‘I heard you bought a new car.’

(364) nia ‘e thaitomana nau ku matai ro‘oki 3SG SUBJM know 1SG SUBJM sick yesterday ‘He knows I was sick yesterday.’

(365) Rosi ‘e riki-a tha Masi ‘e bili-a kui tha Lone Rose SUBJM see-TR PNM Masi SUBJM steal-TR dog PNM Lone ‘Rose saw Masi stole Lone’s dog.’

102

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�

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�� 2?��"��1%2$��

��"�;,,��&�+��+��+�',��&�L��W� X��WX��W�&!�0I7�"K�-X��W� �

X"�W!62X��W�P��P��P��X��WM��N##X��W!� I(

M��!?#�J��&7�N'�I��X��Y��W�Z W� �"��X�W�[1%��[1%

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YYYYYYYYYYYYY�1%%:��)7�� !�� -��.�� +A@��

�+1��0��""+?$:3A%1�� >��.��!�� 12��"��

1%2$��";,,��+'��+��,��,"��,A%$@?I?J+"��

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�

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-�� 6�"��1;�7"�� <��

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��"�;,,��&�+��+��+�',��&�L��W#Q�M��*��KX"�W!�2J?X��W�

�� P�� X��W� X��WMX ��W%��_��9I�'M:]>Q��QNQ�

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109

Appendices

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A GRAMMAR SKETCH OF SULAGWALU - USP Thesesdigilib.library.usp.ac.fj/gsdl/collect/usplibr1/index/... · 2017-11-05 · 1 Chapter 1 Introduction Give your mind a chance to travel through