Topics in the Description of Kiriwina

369 Pages·1993·37.906 MB·English

by  Ralph Lawton, Malcolm Ross, Janet Ezard

Topics in the description of Kiriwina / Ralph Lawton ; edited by Malcolm
Ross and Janet Ezard.
Lawton, Ralph.
Canberra : Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National
University, 1993.
https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.32106011921324
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L547
PACIFIC LINGUISTICS
no . 84
Series D -84
TOPICS THEDESCRIPTION OF KIRIWINA
IN
Ralph Lawton
Edited byMalcolm Ross and Janet Ezard .
linguistics
Pacific . Series
D : Special publications
Received on : 08 - 27 - 93
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
U . C . SANTA CRUZ
CIF
PA
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PACIFIC LINGUISTICS
Series D -84
TOPICS THE DESCRIPTION OF KIRIWINA
IN
Ralph Lawton
Edited byMalcolm Ross and Janet Ezard
SI
CUIS
Department of Linguistics
Research School ofPacific Studies
THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Pacific Linguistics is issued through the Linguistic Circle of Canberra and consists of
four series :
SERIES A: Occasional Papers SERIES C: Books
SERIES B: Monographs SERIES D: Special Publications
FOUNDING EDITOR: S.A.Wurm
EDITORIAL BOARD : T.E. Dutton, A.K. Pawley, M .D.Ross, D.T. Tryon
EDITORIAL ADVISERS :
B.W.Bender K.A.McElhanon
University ofHawaii Summer Institute ofLinguistics
David Bradley H.P.McKaughan
La Trobe University University ofHawaii
MichaelG.Clyne P.Mühlhäusler
Monash University University ofAdelaide
S.H. Elbert G.N.O'Grady
University ofHawaii University ofVictoria, B.C.
K.J. Franklin K.L.Pike
Summer Institute of Linguistics Summer Institute ofLinguistics
W.W.Glover E.C. Polomé
Summer Institute of Linguistics University of Texas
G.W.Grace Gillian Sankoff
University ofHawaii University ofPennsylvania
M.A.K.Halliday W.A.L. Stokhof
University ofSydney University ofLeiden
E.Haugen B.K. T'sou
Harvard University City Polytechnic ofHong Kong
A.Healey E.M.Uhlenbeck
Summer Institute ofLinguistics University ofLeiden
L.A.Hercus J.W.M.Verhaar
Australian NationalUniversity University ofLeiden
John Lynch C.L.Voorhoeve
University ofthe South Pacific University ofLeiden
All correspondence concerning Pacific Linguistics, including orders and subscriptions ,
should be addressed to:
PACIFIC LINGUISTICS
Department ofLinguistics
Research School of Pacific Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra, A.C.T.0200
Australia
Copyright ©TheAuthor FirstPublished 1993
Typesei by Anne Rees Maps drawn by Theo Baumann
Printed by A.N.U. PrintingService Bound by F & M Perfect Bookbinding
Tfhe editors areindebted to the AustralianNational University forassistance in theproduction
othis series. y
This publication wasmade possible b an initial grant from the Hunter Douglas Fund.
Noroyalties are paid onthis orany other Pacific Linguistics publication .
ISSN 0078-7531 ISBN 085883 413 8
TABLE OF CONTENTS
:<
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS
CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION
1.1 Kiriwinan society
w
1.2 The Kiriwinan language ww
.13 Kiriwinan dialects a
oo
1.4 Kiriwinan morphology oo
1.5 Kiriwinan syntax
CHAPTER 2-PHONOLOGY
2.1 The phonemes
2.2 The syllable
2.3 The word
CHAPTER 3– THE VERB ü
f
3.1 Plan ostudy
3.2 The sentence
u
3.3 The predicate phrase u
.34 The verb phrase
.35 The verb word ä
ä
s
3.6 The verb stem po
3.7 The verb root
3.8 The verb –summary 111
CHAPTER 4-FOREGROUNDING 115
4.1 Thespeech act 115
4.2 The sentence astheunit ofcommunication 116
4.3 The sentence and foregrounding 120
CHAPTER 5-CLASSIFIERS 135
135
5.1 Currentliterature
Morphology 150
5.2
5.3 Classifiers in relation tonouns 162
175
5.4 The classifiers–semantics
APPENDIX 1–Text sequences 239
APPENDIX 2-Formal rules 257
APPENDIX 3– Thelexicon ofKiriwinan classifiers 265
iv
e
WORDLIST - Listofwords andmorphemes occurring in thtext 303
BIBLIOGRAPHY 335
INDEX 337
MAPS: 1.Milne Bay Province xii
2. Kiriwina dialects
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PREFACE
,
Ralph Lawton firstwent to Papua New Guinea as amissionary oftheMethodist Church
of South Australia in 1957,mmoоvrеinрgиалto the Trobriand Islands in 1961,where he remained
with his family untiillio19s73. During this time he learned Kiriwina (also known in the
linguistic literature as ‘Kilivila '), the language of the Trobriand people, and started his
translation of theNew Testament into the Kiriwina language. Translating continued after his
return to Australia,with Lawtonmaking eightthree-month visits to the Trobriands during the
decade 1976-1986 and Trobriand co-translators travelling to Canberra and working with
him there. The resulting translation was published in 1984. From 1973 to 1979,Ralph
Lawton studied Linguistics atthe Australian NationalUniversity in Canberra,receiving the
Master ofArts degree in 1980.His dissertation described theKiriwina classifier system.
When theNew Testament translation was complete,he started work on the Old Testamen,t
and this isnearing completion atthe time ofwriting and should bepublished in1993.
The present volume contains an edited version ofLawton'sdissertation and ofother work
which hedid inthecourse ofhis studies. Itwould, ofcourse,have been preferable forthis
work to be published shortly after itscompletion,butrthe autho'r scommitment to thework
oftranslation prevented him from editing hiswork fopublication. Although thiswork has
been read by a number ofscholars working on Oceanic Austronesian languages,and
especially by those investigating the languages ofthe Papuan Tip region ofPapua New
Guinea,itdeserves to beavailable toawider audience. On the one hand,Lawton's long
term residence in the Trobriands and continued involvement with the Kiriwina language,
combined with hisformal studie,s have ensured an outstanding command of thelanguage.
On the other,the Kiriwina language,and especially itsclassifier system,have attracted
linguistic attention since thepublication ofMalinowsk'i spaper Classificatory particles in the
language ofKiriwina'in 1920. For these reason,s the editors ofPacific Linguistics have
long hoped to publish Lawton'swork. The publication in 1986 ofSenf't sKilivila,the
language ofthe Trobriand islanders atlong last provided a published description,albeita
brief one,ofthe Kiriwina language. Senf'tswork isindebted atvarious points toLawton's,
whilst Lawton's study provides amore detailed description ofcertain parts of Kiriwina
grammar than Senf't sdoes. Ittherefore seemed high time to publish Lawton'swork,and
r
arrangements were made inconsultation with him to edit it fopublication.Malcolm Ross
discussed the editorial issues with Ralph Lawton and drew up an editorial plan and a
proposed structure for the presentwork,whilst Janet Ezard,formerly a copy editor with
PTaacwiafilca,LiPnagpuuiasntics(TipaslawneglulagasehsavqiunitgebecelonseinlyvolrveeladtedintoBibKlieriwtriannas)l,ationdidwmoorkst inofIathmealweloerkandof
executing the editorial plan. The resulting manuscript wasthen checked and amended by
Lawton
.