Languages of Papua New Guinea

Inalienable Possession in Amele: A Role and Reference Grammar account

Statement of Responsibility:
Roberts, John R
Series Issue:
119
Issue Date:
2015
Extent:
41 pages
Abstract:
In this paper the forms and functions of the Amele inalienably possessed noun system are examined. It is shown that semantically, inalienably possessed nouns can be categorised as kinship terms, body part terms or personal attributes. The kinship terms also express an anthropological distinction between those terms which refer to the family of orientation and those which refer to the family of procreation. The inalienably possessed noun system is analysed in terms of the Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) model. RRG has a semantic representation independent of the syntactic representation and the operation of the inalienably possessed noun system can be better accounted for with reference to the semantic representation rather than the syntactic representation.
Publication Status:
Published
Table of Contents:
Abstract; Abbreviations; 1 Introduction; 2 Alienable possession; 3 Inalienable possession; 4 Reflexive possession; 5 Derivations involving inalienably possessed forms; 6 Inalienably possessed forms and impersonal verb constructions; 7 The possessable and unpossessable; 8 Conclusion; References
Subject Languages:
Content Language:
Work Type:
Nature of Work:
Part of Series:
SIL Electronic Working Papers 2015-002
Entry Number:
60480