Grammar
In our Field Methods class we explored whether the Tetun data we collected gave support to, or raised doubts about, current ideas in linguistic theory. All our observations on the grammar are based on data collected in class and written in the way our consultants wished it to be written.
One idea that has been proposed is the principle of natural serialization (Bartsch and Venneman 1972, Stockwell 1977). According to this idea, we expect certain word orders in a language in which the verb normally precedes its object (VO languages); we expect a different set of word orders in a language in which the object normally precedes the verb (OV languages). We summarize these expectations in the following table taken from Stockwell 1977: 75):
x |
VO languages
|
OV languages
|
||
x |
Head
|
Modifier
|
Modifier
|
Head
|
1. |
Verb (read) |
Object (a book) |
Object |
Verb |
2. |
Verb (read) |
Adverb (quickly) |
Adverb |
Verb |
3. |
Intensional Verb (hope, believe) |
Infinitive/Main Verb (to go, go) |
Infinitive/Main Verb |
Intensional Verb |
4. |
Modal Auxiliary (can, must) |
Infinitive/Main Verb (to go, go) |
Infinitive/Main Verb |
Modal Auxiliary |
5. |
Aspect, Tense (is, did) |
Infinitive/Main Verb (to go, go) |
Infinitive/Main Verb |
Aspect, Tense |
6. |
Auxiliary (have) |
Participle |
Participle |
Auxiliary |
7. |
Noun (book) |
Adjective (big) |
Adjective |
Noun |
8. |
Noun (book) |
Relative Clause (which I read) |
Relative Clause |
Noun |
9. |
Noun (book) |
Genitive (of Mary's) |
Genitive |
Noun |
10. |
Comparative (taller) |
Standard (than Bill) |
Standard |
Comparative |
11. |
Preposition (in) |
Noun Phrase (the ocean) |
Noun Phrase |
Postposition |
If we make use of the terms "Head" and "Modifier" for
these columns, as shown in the table, then we can summarize the claims it
makes by saying that, in any language, we expect Heads to consistently precede
their Modifiers or, alternatively, we expect Modifiers to consistently precede
their Heads.
First, we noted that the basic word order within a clause is Subject - Verbal Group - Object. So, Tetun belongs to the class of VO languages. We use PROG to mean 'progressive aspect" (be doing...).
12 |
Adverbial
|
Subject
|
Verbal Group
|
Object
|
||
Horiseik | nia | kaer | hela | ikan. | ||
yesterday | (s)he | catch | PROG | fish | ||
'Yesterday (s)he was catching fish.' |
Now we can proceed to check the claims of the principle of natural serialization for VO languages:
x |
VO languages
|
Tetun
|
||
x |
Head
|
Modifier
|
True or not in Tetun?ample |
Example |
1. |
Verb (read) |
Object (a book) |
Yes |
lori ikan (lit. 'sell fish') |
2. |
Verb (read) |
Adverb (quickly) |
Yes |
lao hamutuk (lit. 'walk together') |
3. |
Intensional Verb (hope, believe) |
Infinitive/Main Verb (to go, go) |
Yes |
hakarak fo hatene (lit. 'want give know' = 'want to inform') |
4. |
Modal Auxiliary (can, must) |
Infinitive/Main Verb (to go, go) |
Yes |
bele fahe (lit. 'can divide') |
5. |
Aspect, Tense (is, did) |
Infinitive/Main Verb (to go, go) |
Yes/No |
sei lao |
6. |
Auxiliary (have) |
Participle |
NA | x |
7. |
Noun (book) |
Adjective (big) |
Yes | ikan bo'ot nee (lit. 'fish big that' = 'the/that big fish' |
8. |
Noun (book) |
Relative Clause (which I read) |
Yes | Ema sira [nebe moris iha foho] (lit. 'person they [who live in mountain(s)]' = 'those who live in the mountains') |
9. |
Noun (book) |
Genitive (Mary's, of Mary's) |
Yes/No |
hau nia moris moris hau nian |
10. |
Comparative (taller) |
Standard (than Bill) |
Yes |
Maria bo'ot liu Joao |
11. |
Preposition (in) |
Noun Phrase (the ocean) |
Yes | iha foho (lit. 'in mountain(s)') |
Note 1. We might choose to analyze hela as an adverb 'in progress'.
If we do this, then the order Verb + hela conforms to the expected
word order for verbs and their adverbs. This leads to further a research
question: Can we find more evidence to allow us to analyze hela as
an adverb?
Note 2. The order Genitive/Possessor (+ nia+) Noun occurred more frequently in our data than the order Noun + Genitive/Possessor (+nian). [Also note the interesing use of "possessor nia possessed" and "possessor possessed nian" in the one noun phrase in Paragraph 1 Sentence 2. Our consultants had different views about the acceptability of this.]
Studying Tetun helps
linguists to see how their theories about language have to be modified.
The predictions of the principle of natural serialization are
largely confirmed in Tetun. However, there are two predictions concerning
the progressive and the genitive which are problematic. Either the
predictions have to be made weaker for these categories in languages,
or perhaps we should consider re-analyzing the Tetun data on these
categories (see Note 1 above).
|
References:
Bartsch, R. and Venneman, T. (1972). Semantic Structures.
Frankfurt: Athenäum Verlag.
Stockwell, R. P. (1977). Foundations of Syntactic
Theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.