Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T04:01:05.899Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Multifunctionality and Morphology in Tokelau and English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2008

Arnfinn M. Vonen
Affiliation:
Graahbakken 7B, N-0286 Oslo, Norway
Get access

Abstract

Some structural similarities between English and the Polynesian language Tokelau are investigated, especially regarding the multifunctionality of linguistic forms. Observations are made with respect to the relative distribution of overt processes and conversion, and it is argued that conversion should be regarded as a negatively defined cover notion for all cross-categorial lexical processes that do not involve formal modification of the input. The similarities with respect to the inventory and patterning of word-formational processes are motivated by certain similarities in the morphological type of the two languages.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bazell, C. E. 1958. Linguistic Typology. An Inaugural Lecture Delivered on 26 February 1958. London: University of London.Google Scholar
Belikov, V. I. 1990. Časti reči v polinezijskix jazykax [Parts of speech in the Polynesian languages]. In Alpatov, V. M. (ed.), & Ccaron;asti reči. Teorija i tipologija [Parts of speech. Theory and typology]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo <Nauka>, glavnaja redakcija vostočnoj literatury, pp. 180194.Google Scholar
Bloomfield, L. 1933. Language. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc.Google Scholar
Broschart, J. 1991. Noun, Verb and PARTICIPATION (a Typology of the Noun/Verb-distinction). In Seiler, H. & Premper, W. (eds.), Partizipation. Das sprachliche Erfassen von Sachverhalten (Language Universals Series, 6). Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, pp. 65137.Google Scholar
Chomsky, N. 1992. A Minimalist Program for Linguistic Theory. (MIT Occasional Papers in Linguistics, 1). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Working Papers in Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Churchward, C. M. 1953. Tongan Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Churchward, S. 1951. A Samoan Grammar. Second edition. Revised and enlarged. Melbourne: Spectator Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd.Google Scholar
Clark, E. V. & Clark, H. H. 1979. When Nouns Surface as Verbs. Language 55, 767811.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crystal, D. 1967. Word Classes in English. Lingua 17, 2456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foley, W. A. & JrVan Valin, R. D. 1984. Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Harlow, R. 1991. Consonant Dissimilation in Maori. In Blust, R. (ed.), Currents in Pacific Linguistics: Papers on Austronesian Languages and Ethnolinguistics in Honour of George W. Grace (Pacific Linguistics C-117). Canberra: The Australian National University.Google Scholar
Hooper, A. & Huntsman, J. with Kalolo, K. 1992. The Tokelau Language 1841–1991. Journal of the Polynesian Society 100, 343372.Google Scholar
Hooper, R. 1986. An Outline of Tokelau Grammar. Tokelau Dictionary, xi-xlix.Google Scholar
Hooper, R. 1993. Studies in Tokelauan Syntax. PhD dissertation, University of Auckland, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Hovdhaugen, E. 1989. The Morphology of Plural Verb Formation in the Tokelauan Dialect of Nukunonu. In Harlow, R. & Hooper, R. (eds.), VICAL I. Oceanic Languages.Google Scholar
Papers from the Fifth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics. Auckland, New Zealand, January 1988. Auckland, New Zealand: Linguistic Society of New Zealand, pp. 271282.Google Scholar
Hovdhaugen, E., Hoëm, I., Iosefo, C. M. & Vonen, A. M. 1989. A Handbook of the Tokelau Language. (Serie B: Skrifter, LXXVII). Oslo: Norwegian University Press/The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture.Google Scholar
Kiparsky, P. 1982. From Cyclic Phonology to Lexical Phonology. In van der Hulst, H. & Smith, N. (eds.), The Structure of Phonological Representations (Part I) (Linguistic Models, 2). Dordrecht: Foris Publications, pp. 131175.Google Scholar
Lieber, R. 1981. Morphological Conversion Within a Restrictive Theory of the Lexicon. In Moortgat, M., van der Hulst, H. & Hoekstra, T. (eds.), The Scope of Lexical Rules (Linguistic Models, 1). Dordrecht: Foris Publications, pp. 161200.Google Scholar
Marchand, H. 1964. A Set of Criteria for the Establishing of Derivational Relationship Between Words Unmarked by Derivational Morphemes, lndogermanische Forschungen 69.1, 1019.Google Scholar
Marchand, H. 1969. The Categories and Types of Present-day English Word-formation. A Synchronic-diachronic Approach. Second, completely revised and enlarged edition. München: C. H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.Google Scholar
Mel'čuk, I. A. 1973. Konversija kak morfologičeskoe sredstvo. [Conversion as a Morphological Means.] Izvestija AN SSSR, serija literatury i jazyka XXXII. 1, 1528.Google Scholar
Mosel, U. & Hovedhaugen, E. 1992. Samoan Reference Grammar. (Serie B: Skrifter, LXXXV). Oslo: Scandinavian University Press/The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture.Google Scholar
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G. & Svartvik, J. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Spencer, A. 1991. Morphological Theory. An Introduction to Word Structure in Generative Grammar. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Tokelau Dictionary. 1986. Apia: Office of Tokelau Affairs.Google Scholar
Tugaki a Nukunonu. 6. N.d. [1990] Nukunonu, Tokelau.Google Scholar
Vonen, A. M. 1991. Nouns or Verbs in Tokelauan? In Sigur∂sson, H. A. (ed.), Papers from the Twelfth Scandinavian Conference of Linguistics. Reykjavík, 14–16 06 1990. Reykjavík: Linguistic Institute, University of Iceland, pp. 449460.Google Scholar
Vonen, A.M. 1993. Parts of Speech and Linguistic Typology. Open Classes and Conversion in Russian and Tokelau. Drart dissertation. University of Oslo.Google Scholar
Williams, E. 1981. On the Notions “Lexically Related” and “Head of a Word”. Linguistic Inquiry 12, 245274.Google Scholar
Wurzel, W. U. 1989. Inflectional Morphology and Naturalness. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar