Description:
Australian National University. 2002. Trade paperback. Fine. No dust jacket as issued.. 212 p. Includes: diagrams, bibliography. . The main objective of this study is to determine the actancy system (ergativity or accusativity) of Proto Central Pacific, and to determine how this system developed in its daughter languages, Fijian and Rotuman, which are accusative, as well as in the Polynesian languages, some of which are ergative. It is shown that an ergative system has to be reconstructed for Proto Central Pacific, based on the presence of two sets of clitic pronouns (Genitive and Nominative) used for the core arguments of transitive constructions. A set of independent pronouns is also reconstructed. These pronominal forms are shown to be reflexes of Proto Malayo-Polynesian reconstructions. The process by which the ergative parent language changed into some of its accusative daughter languages is illustrated. The following points in this work may be of particular interest: 1) a description of clear…
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