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
(lit. 'will walk')

le hela
(lit. 'read PROGRESSIVE' = 'be reading')
See Note 1

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
(lit. 'I POSS life' = my life')
See Note 2

moris hau nian
(lit. 'life I POSS' = my life')

10.

Comparative (taller)

Standard (than Bill)

Yes

Maria bo'ot liu Joao
(lit. 'Maria bigger than 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.