The expression of potential event modality in the Papuan language of Koromu

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Priestley, Carol
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2012
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This paper aims to give an overview of the morphosyntax and semantics of potential event modality in Koromu (Kesawai), a Madang language in the Papuan group. Potential event modality refers to Palmer's "events that are not actualized...but are merely potential" (2001:70). Some characteristics of event modality are compared with English and other Papuan /regional languages. The study is based on Koromu data in recorded texts, collected over a number of years, and on earlier grammatical analysis (Priestley 2002a, 2008, and forthcoming a). Meanings are represented in semantic explications in the natural semantic metalanguage, ...
View more >This paper aims to give an overview of the morphosyntax and semantics of potential event modality in Koromu (Kesawai), a Madang language in the Papuan group. Potential event modality refers to Palmer's "events that are not actualized...but are merely potential" (2001:70). Some characteristics of event modality are compared with English and other Papuan /regional languages. The study is based on Koromu data in recorded texts, collected over a number of years, and on earlier grammatical analysis (Priestley 2002a, 2008, and forthcoming a). Meanings are represented in semantic explications in the natural semantic metalanguage, a metalanguage that can be used in many different languages (Goddard and Wierzbicka 2002). The findings include a range of constructions and meanings for "imperative" and "desiderative" type expressions, a distinction between external, internal and negative desires, and strategies for testing meaning and grammar analysis with Koromu speakers.
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View more >This paper aims to give an overview of the morphosyntax and semantics of potential event modality in Koromu (Kesawai), a Madang language in the Papuan group. Potential event modality refers to Palmer's "events that are not actualized...but are merely potential" (2001:70). Some characteristics of event modality are compared with English and other Papuan /regional languages. The study is based on Koromu data in recorded texts, collected over a number of years, and on earlier grammatical analysis (Priestley 2002a, 2008, and forthcoming a). Meanings are represented in semantic explications in the natural semantic metalanguage, a metalanguage that can be used in many different languages (Goddard and Wierzbicka 2002). The findings include a range of constructions and meanings for "imperative" and "desiderative" type expressions, a distinction between external, internal and negative desires, and strategies for testing meaning and grammar analysis with Koromu speakers.
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Conference Title
Proceedings of the 42nd Australian Linguistic Society Conference 2011
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© The authors 2012. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the conference's website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Linguistic Structures (incl. Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics)