I'saka: A sketch grammar of a language
of north-central New Guinea
By Mark Donohue and Lila San Roque
I'saka, the language of 600-plus
residents of Krisa village in north-central New Guinea, is
a previously undescribed language of the Macro-Skou family,
which spreads across the north coast of New Guinea from the
Skou villages in the west to Sissano lagoon in the east. I'saka
represents the earliest split from the protofamily, and so
represents a valuable source of data for comparative work
in northern New Guinea. The language is endangered, with many
of the younger generation switching to Tok Pisin as their
language of everyday communication, but I'saka remains the
language of ethnic identity and is seen as emblematic of the
uniqueness of the I'saka people. The grammar of I'saka is
interesting for the general linguist as well as for the New
Guinea specialist, since it displays many features, some possibly
unique, which will prove challenging for modern theoretical
and typological linguistics. Two independent suprasegmental
tiers for tone and nasality, and a lack of contrastive segmental
nasals, are rare phonological phenomena. Morphologically,
the language displays a paradigm of agreement morphemes that
agree with non-core arguments, while leaving, in most cases,
the object of a transitive clause unmarked on the verb. Special
agreement marking for questioned subjects is also an unusual
feature of I'saka. This sketch includes discussion of the
historical relationship between I'saka and other languages
in the Macro-Skou family, as well as issues of language endangerment,
language maintenance, and spheres of language use. There is
also a word list and a selection of short texts illustrating
many of the points covered in the grammatical description.
Published: 2004
PL 554, ISBN 0 85883 554 4
Pages: xvii + 131
Prices: Australia A$39.60 (inc. GST), Overseas
A$36.00
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