Kategoria BISAC: Foreign Language Study >> Oceanic & Australian Languages

Chamorro Reference Grammar is a detailed description of the grammatical structure of the indigenous language of the Marian Islands. It is designed primarily as a reference work which will serve to give native speakers some insight into the complexities of their language and to encourage its use at a time when other languages are more prestigious.

The book contains an introduction to Chamorro, and its developmental history and dialectal variations, and, with a minimum of technical linguistic terms, it treats phonology, morphology, and syntax. Notes to linguists and a glossary of...

The Marshallese-English Dictionary contains almost 12,000 entries giving information on an estimated 30,000 Marshallese words. Built upon the information collected in earlier dictionaries, its entries are enriched with grammatical information and illustrative sentences. Many words not previously recorded have been added, both older words dealing with the lore of the islands and newer words that reflect the changing circumstances of life today. Following the recommendations made by a committee of Marshallese leaders in 1971, the words in this dictionary are spelled along traditional lines,...

How many place names are there in the Hawaiian Islands? Even a rough estimate is impossible. Hawaiians named taro patches, rocks, trees, canoe landings, resting places in the forests, and the tiniest spots where miraculous events are believed to have taken place. And place names are far from static--names are constantly being given to new houses and buildings, streets and towns, and old names are replaced by new ones.

It is essential, then, to record the names and the lore associated with them now, while Hawaiians are here to lend us their knowledge. And, whatever the fate of the...

The languages of southern Vanuatu are structurally different from other Oceanic languages. Sye has an unusually complex morphological system and it offers a number of typological surprises for Oceanic linguists. It differs syntactically from many other Oceanic languages of Melanesia in that it does not have widespread verb serialization, though it, along with the other languages of southern Vanuatu, has developed what can be referred to as a system of echo verbs.

This volume describes Sye's phonology and morphosyntax in terms that are intended to be accessible to followers of a...

Spoken Marshallese is designed to fill the need for a basic text in the language of the Marshall Islands. It will give students a fluency in the language and a feeling for its structure, enabling him or her to converse freely on a broad range of subjects without additional formal instruction.

The Marshallese-English Dictionary, by Takaji Abo, Byron W. Bender, Alfred Capelle, and Tony DeBrum, would be useful as a supplement to this text.

Almost one-quarter of the world's languages are (or were) spoken in the Pacific, making it linguistically the most complex region in the world. Although numerous technical books on groups of Pacific or Australian languages have been published, and descriptions of individual languages are available, until now there has been no single book that attempts a wide regional coverage for a general audience. Pacific Languages introduces readers to the grammatical features of Oceanic, Papuan, and Australian languages as well as to the semantic structures of these languages. For readers without a...

The Ponapean-English Dictionary contains approximately 6,750 Ponapean to English entries. Each entry includes a headword, grammatical information, and one or more English definitions. Where appropriate, alternate spellings of headwords, usage labels, phrase and sentence examples, loan source information, and cross-references to related workds are also provided. An English to Ponapean finder list containing approximately 4,200 entries is also included to enable the user to locate key English words used in the definitions in the Ponapean entries.

Designed to serve as a reference volume...

This volume is a grammatical description of Bilinarra, an endangered Australian language. This work draws on materials collected over a 20-year period from the last first-language speakers of the language, most of whom have since passed away. Detailed attention is paid to all aspects of the grammar, with all examples provided with associated sound files.