To be discussed in Section 8.3.2 My impression is that A l is understood.

(135) x aisama-ga-ai "while"/"at the time o f ..." x time-3SG-OBL

(EMek) (136) kabula-u-ai "when I was strong"

strength-1SG-OBL

(WMek)

(137) agu?a-u-ai "when I was young" youth-1 SG-OBL

(EMek)

(138) x alo-ga-ai "while x was going on" x inside-3SG-OBL

(EMek)

(139) kumina ao-ga-ai "while it was dark" darkness inside-3SG-OBL

(WMek)

(140) ga-e ao-ga-ai "while that was happening" DX-CNT inside-3SG-OBL

(WMek)

A small number of words, marked as above, have become specialised in an adverbial function (i.e. fossilised), some (e.g. example (141)) filling gaps in the system of relative tense/aspect:

(141) ala-paisa-ga-ai "already" or "formerly" (EMek)

(142) gani-na-ga-ai "in spite of this" ("nevertheless") (EMek) Then there is the increasingly common EMek intensifier (see Section 2.1.2.3.6 below), currently being borrowed into all the other dialects:

(143) alo-ga-ai "very (much)" (< "inside it") (EMek)

(144) ao-ga-ai [may be a caique on the above] (NMek, WMek)

The suffix -AI can also be attached to a verbally functioning root once this has been nominalised with

-ga,

and in such cases it encodes the temporal meanings "during" or "while":

(145) Ubi mae-ga-ai ga-mai. (WMek)

water death-3SG-OBL 1 PL-come

"While desperately.lacking water we came." (Literally, "From the death of water we came.") -AI is also suffixed to ao, alo "inside" to mean "while, during":

(146) Ga-mae ao-ga-ai ga-boa-boa. (WMek)

lPL-die inside-3SG-OBL lPL-walk-RED "We walked while we were perishing."

We can paraphrase (145) using the stem AIAM A "time" (see (135) above): (147)

Ubi

mae-ga-ai

ga-mae

aisama-ga-ai

ga-mai.

(WMek)

water death-3SG-OBL lPL-die time-3SG-OBL lPL-come

"At the time (when) we were dying from the (desperate) need of water we came." Or, again, much more briefly put:

(148)

Ga-mae-ga-ai

ga-mai.

(WMek)

lPL-die-3SG-OBL lPL-come "We were dying when we came."

In what is perhaps an innovative usage -AI can mark the goal of a motion verb:

(149)

Ulalu

apu-ija-ai

ga-gogo.

(WMek)

wretched(ness) place-3SG-OBL lPL-enter "We have entered a/the place of wretchedness."

1.3.4.3 TRANSITIVITY FUNCTIONS

The transitivity of each transitive verb is modulated by a fixed thematic consonant (or indeed the absence of such a consonant), so that there are in effect a

number of verbal groupings that correspond to different kinds and degrees of transitivity. They do not correspond to semantic fields so much as they impose their own modulations upon verbs that can be grouped together on social and cultural grounds. I call these modulations transitivity functions.

The thematic consonants occur immediately after the last vowel of the last root of the stem, and immediately before the perfective aspect marker -I. When there is no -I (as in third person singular imperfective) the thematic consonant is followed at once by the third person singular object marking suffix:

-a.

The object marker in the widest sense of the term includes the following: TH ( + PF ) + O. This suffix can also be represented as:

-(C)ia

(following a fairly standard representation of the 3SG transitive suffix in Maori and Fijian) or, avoiding standardisation with 3SG, -(C)I/-(C )0.1

1 In discussions of Fijian the suffix is usually shown as -(C)ia, using 3SG (represented by the pronominal suffix -a) as the standard citation form.

The thematic consonants (TH) are not to be confused with the buffer

consonants (see Section 1.2.2.2), especially the intrusive [z] or [

3

] in NMek and the [s] in EMek, which have variably invaded the OM in those dialects. These consonants always occur after PF and before O : -PF-z-O, -PF-s-O. In these dialects the 3SG OM could in fact be represented as -(C)i-(S)-a (where S = any palatal fricative). The intrusive consonant is glossed as B, for buffer consonant, as it fulfills no grammatical function but often prevents the loss of vocalic phonemes through assimilation.

The thematic consonants have the following realisations:

N W M ek WMek N M ek EM ek

/D, n / A), n / /i), n / /i), n /

W /b / /b / _{/P /}

/g / /g / /g / /k /

/0 / /0 / 70/ 70/

These can be represented diamorphemically as /Q/, /B/, /G / and /0/. Transitivity functions appear to correspond to different areas of endeavour within Mekeo culture. Thus a given thematic consonant (TH) signals not only a kind of transitivity but also a kind of activity. An area of activity may combine a number of tasks that are perceived in this culture to be related. The weaving or plaiting of bush fibres (a key cultural endeavour carried on by both men and women and one that produces all sorts of important artifacts from matting to bracelets) is, for example, formally related - along with certain other 'jobs' - to kneading and pounding activities such as are involved in sago production. All of the verbs concerned take the TH

-5

on the object-marking

suffix. They all describe a manner o f deliberately applying concentrated force to work or rework or displace an object or a substance. And all of the areas described by such verbs combine to define the cultural domain of 'useful work', a domain that we could gloss loosely as the deliberate transformative (re-)working of objects or raw materials. This will be discussed at greater length in Sections 4.1.4 and 4.3.3 below.

It is the transitivity of the verb as a whole that is modulated by a given thematic consonant, not just the nature or intensity of the effect, nor the nature of the object. Each verb (usually) has a fixed TH, assigned by customary usage, although some expressive variation does occur. The general semantic domains represented can be

deliberate, sustained and concentrated application of physical (esp. manual) force to directly affect some object, often giving that object a new use-value; highly focussed mental or verbal process, with symbolic effect

1.

Ex.:

a) iu-g-a, au-g-a

"hit, strike, kill so. or sth."

b) iwa-g-a, iva-g-a

"call, address, accuse"

2. /B / perfunctory or deft manipulation or modification of an object, often appropriating sth. or disposing o f it (e.g.dismantling it) in the process Ex.: a)

ogo-ß-a, ogo-b-a, oko-p-a

"husk (coconut)"

b) gago-ß-a, gago-b-a, kago-p-a

"pluck out hairs"

3. /G / decisive and/or aggressive application of considerable physical force, causing physical distortion/dispersion of an object

Ex.:

a) ßußu-g-a, bubu-g-a, pupu-k-a

"scrape the grains off a cob o f com"

b) pio-g-a, fio-g-a, fio-k-a

"twist sth."

4. /

0

/ : i) careful application of mild force, often only lightly or inconclusively affecting an object (e.g. by displacing it) Ex.: a)

kapo-a, kafo-a, ?afo-a

"swing, throw sth."

b) api-a, afi-a

"take hold of sth."

ii)

application of a procedure/process to effect a qualitative transformation of the object

Ex.: a)

ani-a

"eat sth."

b) poba (-i-a), poba (-i-a), fopa (-i-a)

"cook in stones"

iii) methodical application of mild force mediated by the use of an instrument or tool, having either a mild effect on the objectoradisintegrative/destructiveeffect

Ex.:pake (-i)-a, vake (-i)-a, va?e (-i)-a

"cut into slices/pieces, by means of a knife"

iv)

causation - control of a semi-autonomous actant (can be a person or a thing) which thereby moves or acts

The four kinds of change-in-the-world that are encoded by TH /

0

/ can be characterised by the fact that their effect on an object is always either superficial or indirectly achieved. They can be contrasted succinctly as follows:

i) lightly modifying the disposition or location of an object or objects ii) applying a procedure/process to effect qualitative change in an object iii) using some cutting instrument in order to breach the physical integrity of

an object; results may be mild or may involve destruction of the object iv) controlling/directing the actions of some autonomous animate or

inanimate actant, which acts or moves as a result

The thematic consonants are also found as components of the remote transitive suffix. There is in that context, in addition to the three thematic consonants listed above, an /L/. Each thematic consonant yields a different variant of the RTR suffix -(C)AI, and each of these variants produces a different semantic result depending on the class of verb to which it is attached. Most of the verb classes that take RTR are otherwise intransitive, so there is no possibility for correspondence between thematic consonants used in close and remote transitive suffixes. The remote transitive suffix is illustrated in Section 5.3.

The whole topic of thematic consonants - their semantics and their provenance - represents one of the current concerns in Oceanic linguistics. Arms (1973, 1974) and Lichtenberk (1978) have made important contributions, with detailed studies of thematic consonants in Fijian and Manam respectively. It is generally agreed that, while specific thematic consonants do tend appear in specifiable semantic contexts, these are difficult to define in a hard and fast way. Arms claimed to have found a significant correlation between meanings and thematic consonants in Fijian. But Lichtenberk (1978: 191) was able to conclude only that "there is no very close correlation between meanings and thematic consonants in Manam...." He goes on to assert that "there is nevertheless some tendency for certain consonants to occur more frequently with certain meanings rather than with others" (my italics). My own claim is certainly somewhat stronger than this (although I do not insist on the predictability of meanings from thematic consonants). On the whole I find a general consistency and fairly well-defined semantic domains. The topic is pursued below in Section 4.1.4, and the verb classes defined by the thematic consonants in the close transitive suffix (or indeed the absence of any) are illustrated in Section 4.3.3, in the appropriate subsections.

1.3.4.4 CONTROL AND CAUSATIVITY

TWO SYNTACTIC SYSTEMS: TRANSITIVITY VS. CAUSATIVITY As already outlined in Section 1.3.2.3, two distinct semantico-syntactic systems account for all of the verbal derivations in Mekeo grammar. These systems can be described as process dynamics, as they have their origins in two very different kinds o f processes (encoded as process verbs and action verbs, respectively)1 and in the different role potentials of these processes (and subtypes of these). The system of transitivity carries a considerable functional load, and the central importance o f control in Mekeo grammar is here evident in the contrast between imperfective-progressive aspect, where maintenance of control by the agent is felt as an sustained inputting of energy, and perfect-perfective aspect, where all input has ceased, and where control is consequently absent. However, a preoccupation with control finds even more explicit expression in the system of causativitv. Here control is shared between an agent (the subject) and an actor (the object). The agent stands to the actor as causer to causee. The causer has ultimate control, but the causee is nonetheless represented as carrying out the action and as controlling the execution thereof. This causee can be described as semi-autonomous.

Lightly affected transitive objects are marked by the absence of a thematic consonant (i.e. zero-TH). The object-marking suffix is bare, or in some cases absent (i.e. zero-O):

(150) E - k a f o - 0 - a .

3SG-throw-TH-PF-3SG "S/he is throwing it."

(NMek)

(151) U v e e - l a ?a .

vine 3SG-pull-0

""S/he is pulling (on) the vine."

(EMek)

More profoundly affected transitive objects are distinct from the above in that they do take a (non-zero) thematic consonant. E.g.

(152) E - a u - g - a .

3SG-hit-TH-3SG "S/he is hitting it."

(NMek, EMek)

As shown below, a causee is often - though not always - identified formally with the lightly-affected and semi-autonomous objects of a verbs like "throw" and "pull", as well as the dative-recipient object of "give".

External causativisation can be expressed by means of the prefix

BA-,

as will be described fully in Section 5.2 below. This derivational process has different results according to the class of verb to which it is applied. Intransitive verbs fall into two main classes: intracausative and intradirective.1 The agents o f intracausative verbs are self-causing, those of intradirective verbs are self-moving.

An external causee complicates the situation in different ways for each of these. For intradirectives such as motion verbs the original subject becomes the object, which may or may not be marked:

(153)

Koga

e-pa-age.

(EMek)

coconut 3SG-CA-descend "He throws/threw down the coconut."

(154)

Ijaaga

e-ba-tsipo-i-a.

(NMek)

canoe 3SG-CA-down(-river)-PF-3SG "S/he made the canoe float down (the river)." The causativisation of intracausative process verbs introduces a new

participant as subject of the verb, and the original agent becomes the object. What was a self-causing agent is now controlled by an external causer. However, the causee is usually only lightly marked, which is signalled by zero-TH (see Section 1.3.4.3), and is thus only lightly affected. Zero-TH is also the regular marking for OMs on ditransitive verbs - semantically dative or indirect objects - which usually represent human recipients or beneficiaries. This similarity in the marking suggests some recognition of the

continuing autonomy of the object, though it is in the final analysis controlled by the new agent-subject. Such objects are (negatively) marked as being still in control - to some extent - of the process which they undergo.2 Note that this holds for inanimate as well as animate objects:

(155)

Ogoa

e-bou.

(WMek)

pot 3SG-full "You should fill the pot."

(156)

Ogoa

po-ba-bou-a.

(WMek)

pot OBLG.2SG-CA-full-3SG "You should fill the pot."

1 A full description of the Mekeo verb classes is contained in Section 4.1.5.

In document Towards a lexicogrammar of Mekeo (Page 141-148)