Reduplication can express a multitude of semantic or grammatical changes within languages, and can occur in more than one form. Per language there are its own phonological and/or morphosyntactic...Show moreReduplication can express a multitude of semantic or grammatical changes within languages, and can occur in more than one form. Per language there are its own phonological and/or morphosyntactic rules reduplication has to abide by. This thesis is written based on data of the Papuan languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar, found in the collective sketch grammars edited by Antoinette Schapper (Ed.) Volume 1 (2014), Volume 2 (2017), and Volume 3 (2020), comparing the data on reduplication in those languages aiming to formulate typological similarities and differences.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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This thesis aims to describe topics in the grammar Binumarien, a Papuan language (Kainantu) spoken in Papua New Guinea. The study provides a basic analysis of Binumarien phonology and nominal...Show moreThis thesis aims to describe topics in the grammar Binumarien, a Papuan language (Kainantu) spoken in Papua New Guinea. The study provides a basic analysis of Binumarien phonology and nominal morphology. Moreover, it contributes to the understudied topic of tone in Papuan languages with a description of tone in the Binumarien NP according to the latest developments in tonal typology. In addition, the switch reference marking system of Binumarien is described and placed in typology. The data for this thesis were collected during fieldwork, which took place from September 2018 to January 2019.Show less
This thesis investigates prepositions in Melanesian Pidgin, consisting of the varieties Tok Pisin, Bislama and Pijin. It provides a systematic overview of the different types of simple prepositions...Show moreThis thesis investigates prepositions in Melanesian Pidgin, consisting of the varieties Tok Pisin, Bislama and Pijin. It provides a systematic overview of the different types of simple prepositions, as well as a discussion of some complex prepositions. Full Bible translations of all three varieties have been used as a corpus. It is argued that the category of simple prepositions consists of basic prepositions and verbal prepositions. The latter category is divided into prepositions with verbal charachteristics and bifunctional forms. In taking all three varieties into account, existing theories are either affirmed or debated, the latter especially counting for the prepositional use of bifunctional forms in relation to serial verb constructions. A continuum on which the simple prepositions appear is proposed. Complex prepositions are shown to occur in all three varieties, with variation in the occurrence of the locative preposition and word order in Pijin. Additionally, a quantitative comparison is made between the varieties to learn more about the preferred prepositional strategies, concluding that Bislama prefers complex prepositions over similar bifunctional forms, Pijin displays the opposite, and Tok Pisin may use different lexical items.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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This thesis consists of two interconnected parts: a synchronic section dealing with Lio phonology, and a diachronic section dealing with the internal relations of the Central Flores language group,...Show moreThis thesis consists of two interconnected parts: a synchronic section dealing with Lio phonology, and a diachronic section dealing with the internal relations of the Central Flores language group, of which Lio is a member. The first section is a description of the phonetics and phonology of Lio (Austronesian), a language spoken in Flores, an island in the Lesser Sunda island chain of eastern Indonesia. I describe the phonemic inventory, phonotactics, stress system and adaptation of loanwords into Lio. This is based on fieldwork carried out in Central Flores in July-August 2017 which focused mainly on Lio. This is a contribution to the state of linguistic documentation in Central Flores, which remains relatively poorly documented. This will also set the stage for the second part of the thesis, because Lio is an important language for reconstructing aspects of Proto-Central Flores. The second section is a historical analysis of the relations of the Central Flores languages, and a reconstruction of Proto-Central Flores. I present evidence that the Central Flores languages form a valid innovation-defined subgroup, which underwent a period of splitting and isolation at the level of Proto-Central Flores. Then I address the internal relations of the Central Flores group and the process of differentiation from Proto-Central Flores to the modern Central Flores languages. Lio is one of the more conservative members of the Central Flores group, and is crucial for distinguishing the reflexes of certain Proto-Central Flores phonemes. The Central Flores group forms a linkage, with patterns of intersecting isoglosses which are not easily captured in a tree diagram. Therefore, the findings of this section will be cast in the framework of Historical Glottometry, a wave model-based methodology which is better equipped to represent and model the relations holding between linkages.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis presents a systematic study on plural words, a particular type of nominal plurality marking, in Austronesian languages. Building on previous studies, I explore how plural words in...Show moreThis thesis presents a systematic study on plural words, a particular type of nominal plurality marking, in Austronesian languages. Building on previous studies, I explore how plural words in Austronesian languages are distributed, and discuss the diachronic developments of these plural words.Show less
Amarasi nominal demonstratives ia, naan and ne are used both pro- and adnominally to refer to objects and entities in the speech situation, with ia being used for near-speaker reference, naan being...Show moreAmarasi nominal demonstratives ia, naan and ne are used both pro- and adnominally to refer to objects and entities in the speech situation, with ia being used for near-speaker reference, naan being the near-addressee term for visible referents and ne being used for distal reference. The terms ia and ne are visibility-neutral. The nominal demonstratives can be used pronominally in copular clauses to identify referents in the speech situation. In adnominal form, they can co-occur with other determiners in a noun phrase. The corresponding local adverbs are ia, naa and nee respectively. Both ia and naan can be used for endophoric reference. Addressee-based naan is used anaphorically to refer back to preceding noun phrases and preceding chunks of discourse. The cataphoric demonstrative is ia, used to introduce direct speech. Speaker-based ia can only be used for anaphoric reference when the referent has high topicality.Show less
