Australian Journal of Linguistics

Vol. 14, no. 2 (1994)

Articles

On the transitivity of 'say' constructions in Bunuba	Alan Rumsey	137-153
The historical development of pronoun paradigms in the Pilbara region of Western Australia	Alan Dench	155-191
Nhanta historical phonology	Juliette Blevins & Doug Marmion	193-216

Book reviews

Grammatical theory in the United States from Bloomfield to Chomsky (P. H. Matthews)	James P. Blevins	217-227
The syntax and pragmatics of anaphora: a study with special reference to Chinese (Yan Huang)	Guo Wu	227-232
A lexicon of cadet language: Royal Military College, Duntroon in the period 1983 to 1985 (Bruce Moore)	Jane Simpson	232-240
The lexicon in acquisition (E. V. Clark)	Edith L. Bavin	241-244
The politics of language in Australia (Uldis Ozolins)	Frances Milne	244-248
Consciousness: Psychological and philosophical essays (Martin Davies and Glyn E. Humphreys, editors)	Penny Lee	248-249
Investigating language: Central problems in linguistics (Ronald Wardhaugh)	Penny Lee	249-251
The languages of Australia (Gerhard Schulz, editor)	Peter Collins	251-252

Bibliography: Publications on Australian languages, 1993 Geraldine Triffitt 253-258

Abstracts

On the transitivity of 'say' constructions in Bunuba

Alan Rumsey

Abstract: Drawing on Hopper and Thompson's model of transitivity, Munro argues that 'say' verbs are of intermediate transitivity. Evidence from Bunuba generally supports this claim, but Bunuba 'say' clauses themselves vary in transitivity: some have ergative-marked subjects and some absolutive. The difference is correlated with the extent to which the reported locution is being represented as a discrete speech event. Also relevant is the presence or absence on the verb of oblique cross-reference to an addressee, which may independently condition ergative marking on the subject even in the absence of a reported locution. What most complicates the question of transitivity for these Bunuba constructions is that there are two competing candidates for object status (locution and addressee): their overall transitivity is not simply intermediate, but potentially ambiguous. Similar considerations may explain the anomalous behaviour of 'say' clauses in other languages.

The historical development of pronoun paradigms in the Pilbara region of Western Australia

Alan Dench

Abstract: This paper presents a detailed account of the changes affecting pronoun paradigms in a sample of thirteen languages of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The reconstruction demonstrates a number of interesting diachronic trends including analogical levelling, the loss and later reintroduction of inclusive/exclusive person categories and the waxing and waning of nominative/ergative case syncretisms. In addition, it appears that many of the changes are the result of pattern diffusion. Taken together, the changes detailed in this study present a rich catalogue of the kinds of changes which can be expected to have occurred in the development of Australian languages more generally.

Nhanta historical phonology

Juliette Blevins & Doug Marmion

Abstract: Nhanta is an Aboriginal language of Western Australia which has received little study and is currently on the verge of extinction. Nhanta is unique among the Kartu languages in displaying evidence of initial consonant loss, sonorant fortition (of laterals and rhotics), a length contrast in obstruents, and a distinctive glottal stop. In this paper, we propose sound changes which have given rise to these unique features, based on the comparative method and internal reconstruction, and discuss their implications for phonological theory within the Australian historical context.

Last update: 1 May 2000
Comments to Tim Curnow