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...

Let's Speak Hawaiian is a comprehensive Hawaiian language course intended for use at the secondary school and college levels. In this second edition the text continues to answer the need for new methods and materials in language instruction and presents extensive research on the Hawaiian language. It is composed almost entirely of material that has been tested in classroom situations; it employs the aural-oral method and emphasizes the development of conversational skills through dialogues and drills.

Hawaiian and English texts are on separate pages to aid in rendering the student's...

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...

Here is the most comprehensive description to date of the indigenous language of the island of Ponape. Designed as a reference volume for Ponapean educators, particularly those working in bilingual education programs, this work will also be of value to English-speaking students of Ponapean and to scholars of other Pacific languages and cultures.

The grammar begins with useful background information on Ponape and Ponapean and then systematically explores the phonology, morphology, and syntax of this language. Separate treatment is given to Ponapean honorific speech styles. Also...

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.

This Hawaiian language text, intended for self-learning as well as classroom use, presents the principal conversational and grammatical patterns of the language in 67 lessons, each containing English-Hawaiian dialogues. Emphasis is given to idiomatic speech, and a vocabulary of approximately 800 words, selected on the basis of frequency of usage and cultural importance, is introduced.

The frequent humor of the lessons makes Elbert's Spoken Hawaiian an enjoyable learning experience. Also noteworthy is the author's inclusion of old Hawaiian in the text - legends, songs, stories - to...