A grammar of Rapa Nui

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dc.alternateIdentifier9783946234760;9781542544795
dc.alternateIdentifier10.5281/zenodo.235525
dc.collectionKnowledge Unlatched (KU)
dc.creatorKievit, Paulus
dc.date2018-01-12 23:55
dc.date2017-12-01 23:55:55
dc.date2018-12-12 10:19:03
dc.date2020-04-01T13:15:05Z
dc.date2020-04-01T13:15:05Z
dc.date2017
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-25T14:45:52Z
dc.descriptionThis book is a comprehensive description of the grammar of Rapa Nui, the Polynesian language spoken on Easter Island. After an introductory chapter, the grammar deals with phonology, word classes, the noun phrase, possession, the verb phrase, verbal and nonverbal clauses, mood and negation, and clause combinations. The phonology of Rapa Nui reveals certain issues of typological interest, such as the existence of strict conditions on the phonological shape of words, word-final devoicing, and reduplication patterns motivated by metrical constraints. For Polynesian languages, the distinction between nouns and verbs in the lexicon has often been denied; in this grammar it is argued that this distinction is needed for Rapa Nui. Rapa Nui has sometimes been characterised as an ergative language; this grammar shows that it is unambiguously accusative. Subject and object marking depend on an interplay of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic factors. Other distinctive features of the language include the existence of a ‘neutral’ aspect marker, a serial verb construction, the emergence of copula verbs, a possessive-relative construction, and a tendency to maximise the use of the nominal domain. Rapa Nui’s relationship to the other Polynesian languages is a recurring theme in this grammar; the relationship to Tahitian (which has profoundly influenced Rapa Nui) especially deserves attention. The grammar is supplemented with a number of interlinear texts, two maps and a subject index.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.fundingReference
dc.identifier641736
dc.identifierOCN: 1030820863
dc.identifier2363-5568
dc.identifierhttp://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/30840
dc.identifierhttp://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/124
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.dare.co.zw/handle/123456789/28272
dc.identifierdoi10.5281/zenodo.235525
dc.languageeng
dc.licenseConditionAttribution 4.0 International
dc.pages665
dc.publisherLanguage Science Press
dc.relationStudies in Diversity Linguistics
dc.relationisFundedByb818ba9d-2dd9-4fd7-a364-7f305aef7ee9
dc.relationisPublishedBy0bad921f-3055-43b9-a9f1-ea5b2d949173
dc.relationisbn9783946234760;9781542544795
dc.resourceTypebook
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.seriesnumber12
dc.source641736.pdf
dc.subjectreduplication patterns
dc.subjectpolynseian languages
dc.subjectmetrical constraints
dc.subjectphonological shape of words
dc.subjecteaster island
dc.subjectword-final devoicing
dc.subjectDeterminer
dc.subjectNoun
dc.subjectNoun phrase
dc.subjectPolynesian languages
dc.subjectPreposition and postposition
dc.subjectTahitian language
dc.subjectVerb
dc.subjectVerb phrase
dc.subjectthema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics
dc.titleA grammar of Rapa Nui

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