Cover not available
Part of
Events, Arguments, and Aspects: Topics in the Semantics of Verbs
Edited by Klaus Robering
[Studies in Language Companion Series 152] 2014
► pp. 301–328

The ‘say, do’ verb in Nyulnyul, Warrwa, and other Nyulnyulan languages is monosemic

A well-known feature of many Australian Aboriginal languages is that the same verb form can mean either ‘say’ or ‘do’ (Rumsey 1990; Dixon 2002: 121). The received story is that this represents a polysemic verb with two distinct though not unrelated meanings. Few linguists, however, have presented arguments for this position. An exception is Knight (2004), who presents a set of arguments couched within the theoretical and methodological framework of Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) that the inflecting verb -MA in Bunuba (Bunuban, Kimberley) is polysemous. Many of these arguments apply to other Australian languages, including languages of the nearby Nyulnyulan family. In this paper I focus on the two Nyulnyulan languages that I have studied most intensively, Nyulnyul (Western Nyulnyulan) and Warrwa (Eastern Nyulnyulan), and discuss the range of meanings and uses of the inflecting verb -J(I) ~ -D(I). These include the senses ‘say’, ‘do’, ‘think’, among a number of more specific senses. I present arguments for a radically monosemic account (e.g., Ruhl 1989; McGregor 1997) of this verb in its lexical uses, arguing in the process that the type of evidence adduced by Knight (2004) does not in fact argue for polysemy. I argue, that is, that a single core meaning is associated with the inflecting verb -J(I) ~ -D(I), and the senses ‘say’ and ‘do’ represent contextual senses or interpretations engendered by the context of use. A consequence of my approach is that the semantic meaning of lexical verbs is more abstract than often thought; indeed, it is so abstract that it is impossible to distinguish between the semantics of lexical and grammatical items in terms of the degree of abstraction.
Published online: 28 March 2014
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.152.08gre
References (46)
Bibliography
Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. (2000): Classifiers: A Typology of Noun Categorisation Devices . Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Allan, Keith (1977): “Classifiers.” Language 53: 284–310. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Alsina, Alex, Bresnan, Joan & Sells, Peter (eds.) (1997): Complex predicates, volume 64 of CSLI Lecture Notes . Stanford CAL: CLSI Publications.Google Scholar
Amberber, Mengistu, Baker, Brett & Harvey, Mark (eds.) (2010): Complex Predicate Formation: Cross-linguistic Perspectives on Event Structure . Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bowern, Claire (2004a): “Bardi verb morphology in historical perspective.” Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge MA.
(2004b): “Diagnostic similarities and differences between Nyulnyulan and neighbouring languages.” In: Claire Bowern & Harold Koch (eds.) Australian Languages: Classification and the Comparative Method ,Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 269–290. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010): “The typological implications of Bardi complex predicates.” Linguistic Typology 14: 39–70. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clark, Herbert H. & Gerrig, Richard J. (1990): “Quotations as demonstrations.” Language 66: 764–805. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Craig, Colette (1986): “Introduction.” In: Colette Craig (ed.) Noun Classes and Categorization : Proceedings of a Symposium on Categorization and Noun Classification , Eugene, Oregon, October 1983,John Benjamins, Typological Studies in Language. 1–10. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dixon, Robert M.W. (2002): Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development . Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ejai, Tudor (1986): “The killing of the ‘Bilikin’ brothers.” In: Luise Hercus & Peter Sutton (eds.) This Is What Happened: Historical Narratives by Aborigines, Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. 140–149.Google Scholar
Goddard, Cliff (1998): Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction . Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Halliday, Michael A.K. (1985): An Introduction to Functional Grammar . London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Hopper, Paul & Thompson, Sandra (1980): “Transitivity in grammar and discourse.” Language 56: 251–299. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hosokawa, Komei (1991): “The Yawuru Language of West Kimberley: A Meaning-based Description.” Ph.D. thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.Google Scholar
Kemmer, Suzanne (1993): The Middle Voice . Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Knight, Emily (2004): “Aspects of Bunuba Grammar and Semantics.” Master’s thesis, University of New England, Armidale.Google Scholar
Levinson, Stephen C. (2000): Presumptive Meanings: The Theory of Generalized Conversational Implicature . Cambridge MA and London: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
McGregor, William B. (1990): A Functional Grammar of Gooniyandi . Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (1994): Warrwa . München and Newcastle: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar
. (1996): Nyulnyul . München and Newcastle: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar
(1997): Semiotic Grammar . Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
. (1999): “The medio-active construction in Nyulnyulan languages.” Studies in Language 23: 531–567. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2000): “Reflexive and reciprocal constructions in Nyulnyulan languages.” In: Zygmunt Frajzyngier & Traci S. Curl (eds.) Reciprocals: Form and Function ,Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 85–122. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2002a): “Ergative and accusative patterning in Warrwa.” In: Kristin Davidse & Béatrice Lamiroy (eds.) The Nominative and Accusative and Their Counterparts , Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 285–317.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2002b): Verb Classification in Australian Languages . Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2006a): “Focal and optional ergative marking in Warrwa (Kimberley, Western Australia).” Lingua 116: 393–423. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2006b): “The grammar of complex predicate constructions in Warrwa and other Nyulnyulan languages.” In: Workshop on Complex Predicates, ALS 2006 Conference , University of Queensland.
. (2007a): “A desiderative complement construction in Warrwa.” In: Jeff Siegel, John Lynch & Diana K. Eades (eds.) Language Description, History and Development: Linguistic Indulgence in Memory of Terry Crowle y ,Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 27–40. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2007b): “Ergative marking of intransitive subjects in Warrwa.” Australian Journal of Linguistics 27: 201–229. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2007c): “On the interface of semantics and pragmatics.” In: Henrik ­Jørgensen & Peter Widell (eds.) Det bedre argument: festschrift til Ole Togeby 7. marts 2007 , Århus: Forlaget Wessel and Huitfeldt. 361–380.Google Scholar
. (2012): The Nyulnyul Language of Dampier Land, Western Australia . Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
Metcalfe, Christopher D. (1975): Bardi Verb Morphology . Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
Munro, Pamela (1982): “On the transitivity of ‘say’ verbs.” In: Paul In Hopper & Sandra Thompson (eds.) Studies in Transitivity , New York: Academic Press. 301–318.Google Scholar
Nekes, Hermann & Worms, Ernest A. (1953): Australian Languages . Fribourg: Anthropos Institut.Google Scholar
. (2006): Australian languages . Berlin and New York.Google Scholar
Riemer, Nick (2010): “Sense individuation and syntactic optionality.” In: Brett Baker, Ilana Mushin, Mark Harvey & Rod Gardner (eds.) Indigenous Language and Social Identity: Papers in Honour of Michael Walsh ,Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. 387–407.Google Scholar
Ruhl, Charles (1989): On Monosemy: A Study in Linguistic Semantics . Albany NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Rumsey, Alan L. (1981): “Kinship and context among the Ngarinyin.” Oceania 51: 181–192.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (1982): An Intra-sentence Grammar of Ungarinjin, North-western Australia . Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar
. (1990): “Wording, meaning, and linguistic ideology.” American Anthropologist 92: 346–361. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (1994): “On the transitivity of ‘say’ constructions in Bunuba.” Australian Journal of Linguistics 14: 137–153. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stokes, Bronwyn (1982): “A Description of Nyigina: A Language of the West Kimberley, Western Australia.” Ph.D. thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.Google Scholar
Stokes, Bronwyn & McGregor, William B. (2003): “Classification and subclassification of the Nyulnyulan languages.” In Nicholas Evans (ed.): The Non-Pama-Nyungan Languages of Northern Australia: Comparative Studies of the Continent’s Most Linguistically Complex Region ,­Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. 29–74.Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, Anna (1996): Semantics: Primes and Universals . Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, Stephen (1997): “Coverbs and Complex Predicates in Wagiman.” BA (Hons) thesis, University of Sydney, Sydney.Google Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Claire Bowern
2023. The Oxford Guide to Australian Languages, DOI logo
Spronck, Stef & Daniela Casartelli
2021. In a Manner of Speaking: How Reported Speech May Have Shaped Grammar. Frontiers in Communication 6 DOI logo
D’Arcy, Alexandra
2015. Quotation and Advances in Understanding Syntactic Systems. Annual Review of Linguistics 1:1 ► pp. 43 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 december 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.