A Functional Reference Grammar on Cebuano
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Tanangkingsing, Michael
Abstract
Cebuano is a predicate-initial language. A Cebuano clause basically consists of a verb complex and noun phrases. The noun phrase contains a head noun and a case marker; sometimes modifiers are linked to the head noun by nga. The verb complex contains the main verb and clitic particles and pronominals; negators and adverbials can also be found in a verb complex, especially temporal and locative adverbials. Cebuano nominal case-marking exhibits an ergative pattern, but discourse data show a predominantly accusative pattern in interclausal linking. Transitivity has grammaticized in the voice constructions in Cebuano. The Actor Voice (AV) construction is intransitive, while the Patient Voice (PV), Locative Voice (LV), and the Instrument Voice (IV) constructions are transitive clauses. The intransitive clauses highlight the Actor and/or the action/movement carried out by the Actor, while the Patient(/Location/Instrument) that is affected by an action is highlighted in the transitive clauses (although the Actor remains more topical). In addition to AV clauses, there are distinct Extended Intransitive Clause (EIC) constructions where a Patient argument is oblique-marked; it is observed that the Patient in EICs do not track participants. In addition to LV clauses, there are also Extended Locative Voice (ELV) constructions, which carry the sense of “transfer.”This dissertation is divided into three parts and contains 20 chapters. The first part describes basic grammatical elements of Cebuano. Chapter One introduces the language and reviews previous studies on Cebuano. Chapters Two and Three cover a general description of morphology and word order. Chapter Four covers noun phrases, while Chapter Five is on non-verbal clauses, especially clauses that are largely composed of noun phrases. Chapter Six discusses the verb complex; Chapters Seven through Ten deal with negators, interrogatives, imperatives, and adverbial clauses, which are elements that commonly show up in a verb complex.he second part of the dissertation, Chapters Eleven to Sixteen, deals with types of verbal constructions in Cebuano. Chapter Eleven is a discussion of complement constructions. Chapter Twelve is about intransitive constructions. Chapters Thirteen to Sixteen cover PV clauses and passive constructions, LV constructions and ELV clauses, IV clauses and other minor constructions, and causative constructions, respectively. The final part of the dissertation, Chapters Seventeen to Nineteen, discusses Cebuano syntax from a discourse point of view, where linguistic phenomena, which are not easily observed in elicited and constructed clauses, become apparent and visible. In Chapter Seventeen, the argument structures of various types of verbs are illustrated. In Chapter Eighteen, reference tracking and inter-clausal organization are examined. It will also contain a discussion of the transitivity parameters. Chapter Nineteen covers the forms and functions of placeholder particles, as well as a description of various clitic particles and formulaic expressions in Cebuano. Chapter Twenty, the last chapter, provides a conclusion.
Subjects
Cebuano
Austronesian
grammar
discourse
verb complex
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