Constraints on null subjects
in Bislamna (Vanuatu): Social and linguistics factors
Meyerhoff, Miriam
PL 506
How can developments in a
contact language inform the inquiry into the structural nature
of language? How do they help us better understand the nature
of language change and the processes of grammaticisation?
Using data from everyday conversations in Bislama (the national
language of Vanuatu), this book focuses on one variable, the
alternation between overt pronominal and phonetically null
subjects. It shows how an emergent system of subject-verb
agreement in Bislama interacts with functional constraints
on the interpretability of a subject; this interaction accounts
for much of the alternation between the two forms of subject.
The rich array of social functions that Bislama serves in
the communities studied is examined in some detail, and yet
it is shown that as Bislama becomes increasingly elaborate
morphosyntactically, this kind of structural innovation takes
place largely independently of social factors. By adopting
the methods of sociolinguistics grounded in participant observation,
and being grounded in theoretical treatments of subject agreement,
this volume shows how the study of change in a contact language
helps to bridge issues in different subfields of linguistics.
2000 ISBN 0 85883 522 3
xi + 206 pp.
Prices: Australia AUD$41.80
(incl. GST) Overseas AUD$38.00
previous
next Place
an order
|
