Cover not available
Part of
Historical Linguistics 2019: Selected papers from the 24th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Canberra, 1–5 July 2019
Edited by Bethwyn Evans, Maria Kristina Gallego and Luisa Miceli
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 367] 2024
► pp. 147–172

Chapter 6
Recurrent change in pronouns

The case of Western Oceanic subject markers

| Australian National University
The reconstruction of Western Oceanic subject markers points to a recurrent history of grammaticalisation and paradigm (re)formation. With the notable exception of Ross & Lithgow (1989), this topic has received little attention. Yet subject markers are relevant grammatical markers in Oceanic languages, in that they not only index the subject on the VP but may also carry the additional function of expressing TAM distinctions. Both the pronominal and TAM-marking formatives in Western Oceanic subject markers point to a variety of sources (e.g., free pronouns, possessive pronouns, etc.), and different processes of formation that often result in segmentation asymmetries. Despite hindering a sound reconstruction, these factors may tell us more about the dynamics of change reshaping such relevant functors in Western Oceanic languages.
Keywords: recurrent change, historical linguistics, grammaticalisation, morphology, Oceanic, pronouns, paradigm formation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Subject markers in Western Oceanic
    • 2.2The pronominal system of Proto-Oceanic
    • 2.3The incorporation of TAM-marking particles
    • 2.4A preliminary typology of subject-indexing systems in WOc
    • 2.5The genesis of the WOc subject marker systems
  • 3.Subject markers in the WOc languages of New Georgia
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
References (45)
References
Blust, Robert. 1977. The Proto-Austronesian pronouns and Austronesian subgrouping: a preliminary report. University of Hawai‘i Working Papers in Linguistics 9(2). 1–15.Google Scholar
Bosco, John. 1989. A Bola grammar. In Malcolm D. Ross (ed.), Studies in languages of New Britain and New Ireland, 49–97. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
Bourchier, Louise. 2007. Vangunu report. Unpublished manuscript, Australian National University.
Chambers, Mary. 2009. Which way is up? Motion verbs and paths of motion in Kubokota, an Austronesian language of the Solomon Islands. London: University of London dissertation.
Corston, Simon. 1996. Ergativity in Roviana, Solomon Islands. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
Corston-Oliver, Simon. 2002. Roviana. In John Lynch, Malcolm Ross, & Terry Crowley (eds.), The Oceanic languages, 467–497. Richmond: Curzon Press.Google Scholar
Dalle Ceste, Carlo. 2022. Reconstructing morphology: The case of Proto-Western Oceanic. Canberra: Australian National University dissertation.
Davis, Karen. 2003. A grammar of the Hoava language, Western Solomons. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
Evans, Bethwyn. 1995. Reconstructing object markers in Oceanic languages. BA Honours sub-thesis, Australian National University.
. 2008. Subject agreement in Marovo: Diachronic explanations of synchronic conditions. Oceanic Linguistics 47(2). 383–408. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2009. From aspect/mood marker to discourse particle: Reconstructing syntactic and semantic change. In Hansen Maj-Britt Mosegaard & Jacqueline Visconti (eds.), Current trends in diachronic semantics and pragmatics, 165–187. Bingley: Emerald. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
François, Alexandre. 2009. Verbal aspect and personal pronouns: The history of aorist markers in north Vanuatu. In Andrew Pawley & Alexander Adelaar (eds.), Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: A festschrift for Bob Blust, 179–195. Pacific Linguistics: Canberra.Google Scholar
Frostad, Benedicte H. 2013. A grammar of Ughele: An Oceanic language of Solomon Islands. Nijmegen: Radboud University dissertation.
Givón, Talmy. 1971. Historical syntax and synchronic morphology: An archaeologist’s field trip. Chicago Linguistic Society 7. 394–415.Google Scholar
Glennon, John & Ariana Glennon. 1994. Nehan grammar essentials. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics.Google Scholar
Kettle, Eleanor. 2000. A description of the verb phrase in Ganoqa, an Austronesian language of the Solomon Islands. Canberra: Australian National University BA Honours thesis.Google Scholar
Kikusawa, Ritsuko. 2003. A new view of the Proto-Oceanic pronominal system. Oceanic Linguistics 42(1). 161–186. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2017. Ergativity and language change in Austronesian languages. In Jessica Coon, Diane Massam & Lisa deMena Travis (eds.), The Oxford handbook of ergativity (Oxford Handbooks in Linguistics), 553–588. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lichtenberk, Frantiŝek. 1983. A grammar of Manam. Oceanic Linguistics special publications 18. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Lynch, John, Malcolm D. Ross & Terry Crowley. 2002. The Oceanic languages. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press.Google Scholar
Mark, Sheena Van Der. 2007. A Grammar of Vinitiri: An Austronesian language from Papua New Guinea. La Trobe University.Google Scholar
Moyse-Faurie, Claire & John Lynch. 2004. Coordination in Oceanic languages and Proto-Oceanic. In Martin Haspelmath (ed.), Coordinating constructions, 445–497. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Olson, Clifford. 1992. Gumawana (Amphlett Islands, Papua New Guinea). In Malcolm D. Ross (ed.), Papers in Austronesian Linguistics 2, 251–430. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
Palmer, Bill. 1996. Notes on mood and aspect in Simbo. In John Lynch & Fa’afo Pat (eds.), Oceanic Studies: International Conference on Oceanic Linguistics (COOL) 1, 249–270. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
. 2007. Imperfective aspect and the interplay of aspect, tense, and modality in Torau. Oceanic Linguistics 46(2). 499–519. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2009. Kokota grammar. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.Google Scholar
. 2011. Subject-Indexing and possessive morphology in Northwest Solomonic. Linguistics 49(4). 685–747. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pawley, Andrew. 2003. Grammatical categories and grammaticisation in the Oceanic verb complex. In Anastasia Riehl & Thess Savella (eds.), Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association (AFLA 9) [Cornell working papers in linguistics, 19], 149–172. Ithaca: Cornell Linguistics Circle Publications.Google Scholar
Ross, Malcolm D. 1976–1982. Fieldnotes on the languages of western Melanesia and the south-east Solomons. Unpublished manuscript. The Australian National University.
Ross, Malcolm, D. 1986. A genetic grouping of Oceanic languages in Bougainville and the Western Solomons. In Paul Geraghty, Louis Carrington & Stephen Wurm (eds.), FOCAL II: International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics (ICAL) 4, 175–200. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Ross, Malcolm D. 1988. Proto-Oceanic and the Austronesian languages of western Melanesia. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
1996. Contact-induced change and the comparative method: Cases from Papua New Guinea. In Mark Durie and Malcolm Ross (eds.), The comparative method reviewed: Regularity and irregularity in language change, 180–217. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2002a. Proto-Oceanic (Ch. 4). In Lynch et al. 2002, 54–89.Google Scholar
2002b. Bali-Vitu. In Lynch et al. 2002, 362–386.Google Scholar
2004. The morphosyntactic typology of Oceanic languages. Language and Linguistics 5(2). 491–541.Google Scholar
2009. Loanwords in Takia, an Oceanic language of Papua New Guinea. In Martin Haspelmath & Uri Tadmor (eds.), Loanwords in the world’s languages: A comparative handbook, 747–770. Berlin: de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2010. Lexical history in the Northwest Solomonic languages. In John Bowden, Nikolaus Himmelmann & Malcolm Ross (eds.), A journey through Austronesian and Papuan linguistic and cultural space: Papers in honour of Andrew Pawley, 245–270. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
2018. Western Oceanic revisited. Unpublished Manuscript.
Ross, Malcolm D. & David R. Lithgow. 1989. The prehistory of some Western Oceanic tense/mood markers: Insights from natural morphosyntax. Manuscript.
Sato, Hiroko. 2013. Grammar of Kove: An Austronesian language of the West New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i at Manoa dissertation.
Scales, Ian. 1998. Indexing in Nduke (Solomon Islands). Paper presented in the seminar series of the Department of Linguistics, RSPAS, Australian National University. Canberra, 13 March 1998.
Smith-Dennis, Ellen. 2021. A grammar of Papapana: An Oceanic language of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tauberschmidt, Gerhard. 1999. A grammar of Sinaugoro. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
Waterhouse, John Henry Lawry. 1926. A Roviana phrase book. Sydney: Epworth.Google Scholar
. 1949. A Roviana and English dictionary. Sydney: Epworth.Google Scholar