The data in this exercise are from three Melanesian languages, Nakanamanga (or Nguna), Fijian and Lenakel, and are taken from Lynch XXXXXXXXXXAll data sets illustrate the fact that verbs in these...

The data in this exercise are from three Melanesian languages, Nakanamanga (or Nguna), Fijian and Lenakel, and are taken from Lynch (1998). All data sets illustrate the fact that verbs in these languages have different morphosyntactic properties from verbs in many familiar European languages.

Task: A distinctive grammatical category is represented by a marker on some of the verbs in these three data sets. It is marked in bold but a gloss is not provided. The marker has the same function in all three data sets. (i) What function does the marker have? (ii) Under what circumstances does the marker occur, and under what circumstances does it not occur? (iii) Suggest a gloss for the marker. (iv) Discuss briefly any other interesting properties of the verbs in these examples. Throughout, the data you have are representative, so you have enough data to answer the questions. NB The marker in question takes distinct forms in the three languages, and also sometimes varies in form from verb to verb within a language; these facts do not affect your answers.

A. Nakanamanga (Nguna)

(1) A ga munu.

I INTENTIONAL drink

‘I’ll drink.’

(2) A ga munu-gi noai naga.

I INTENTIONAL drink-??? water that

‘I’ll drink that water.’

(3) A ga munu-gi-a.

I INTENTIONAL drink-???-it

‘I’ll drink it.’

B. Fijian

(4) E bulu

he bury

‘He/she/it is buried.’

(5) E bulu-t-a na benu.

he bury-???-it the rubbish

‘He/she buried the rubbish.’

(6) E moce na gone.

he sleep the child

‘Th e child slept / is sleeping.’

(7) E gunu yaqona o Seru.

he drink kava the Seru

‘Seru is drinking kava.’

(8) E gunu-va na yaqona o Seru.

he drink-??? the kava the Seru

‘Seru is drinking the kava.’

(9) E na lako mai o Jone.

he FUT go here the John

‘John will come.’

(10) E rai-ci ira.

he see-??? them

‘He saw them.’

(11) Eratou sā lako vata sara yani.

they.few ASPECT go together intensive there

‘Th ey (few) went off there together.’

(12) E loma-ni koya.

he love-??? her

‘He loves her.’

C. Lenakel

(13) R- m-avhi-in mun.

3SGPAST read-??? again

‘He read it again.’

(14) R- -aamh nimwa v t ker.

he-PAST-see house good one

‘He saw a good house.’

(15) R- m-eiua-in mun iik.

3SG PAST lie-??? again you

‘He lied to you again.’

(16) R-m-ol nimwa vi.

3SGPAST-make house new

‘He built a new house.’

(17) K-m-hal-vn-uas.

3PL-PASTTRIAL-go.there-together

‘They three went off there together.’