A new grammar of Dyirbal / R. M. W. Dixon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dixon, Robert M. W., 1939- author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Djirbal language.

Djirbal language--Grammar.

Linguistics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxxii, 450) : illustrations (some color), map.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press 2022.

Summary:

When it was published, in 1972, Professor R. M. W. Dixon's The Dyirbal Language of North Queensland had a decisive influence in several directions. By the inclusion of culturally informative examples from texts, it helped reveal the role of language in society. Its clear organisation became a benchmark for descriptive grammars. And the analysis of ergativity opened a new theoretical window. Dixon continued fieldwork with the remaining fluent speakers almost every year through 2001, building up a considerable corpus. He refined and extended the grammatical analysis, taking full account of recent advances in typological theory (for quite a few of which he had played a significant role). A New Grammar of Dyirbal is self-contained; it does not assume any familiarity with the 1972 grammar. A special feature is that, whereas in the earlier work structural features were explained through simple sentences crafted by linguist and speakers, in this present volume almost every example comes directly from a text. In this way, the book provides insight into Dyirbal traditional culture and beliefs. A pervasive characteristic of the language is its 'ergative syntax'-the operation of an 'S/O pivot'-a feature which recurs in a dozen chapters. There is a split-case system; two antipassive derivations, with contrastive meanings; one derivation which can have either applicative or causative effect; two relative clause constructions with a wider functional range than in most languages. And much more.

Contents:

1 Overview

2 The S/O pivot

3 Nominal morphology

4 Questions

5 The number system

6 Relative clauses

7 Possession

8 Verbal structure and the consequence inflection

9 The potentiality and caution inflections

10 The apprehensive suffix

11 The applicative/causative derivational suffix

12 Valency-reducing derivations: Antipassives, reflexive, and reciprocal

13 Noun markers, demonstratives, and verb markers-base part

14 Noun markers, demonstratives, and verb markers-ancillaries

15 Verbless clauses

16 Particles

17 Clitics

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource and other sources.

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