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Link to original content: http://web.cla.kobe-u.ac.jp/staff/yoshioka/ragadic-analy.htm

ラガ語の言語学的分析

 以下で提示するのは、THE STORY OF RAGA: A MAN'S ETHNOGRAPHY ON HIS OWN SOCIETY (I) のイントロダクションの部分を修正したものです。そこでは、ラガ語の言語学的分析を試みています。

   


     The writing system of North Raga has not been thoroughly established yet but the letters are mostly written in accordance with the pholological system. According to Walsh ,the articulated values of the consonant phonemes are as shown in Table I(Walsh 1982:236-237). In writing, /bwero/ is realized
as bwero(ear),/vwavwa/ as vwavwa (aunt),/sabuga/ as sabuga (tabooed) and so on. The phonemes /v/,/vw/,/t/,and /g/ change into /b/,/bw/,/d/, and /ngg/ respectively under certain syntactic conditions(Walsh 1982:237). The same is true of the corresponding letters. Thus, when /tai/changes into /dai/in certain syntactic conditions, tai is replaced by dai(tai = dai = to cut).  An exception to such an orthographic principle appears in the case of the letters“g" and “k". The phoneme /g/in Table I is composed of the voicedvelar fricative [γ], and the voiceless velar fricative [x]. In many cases /g/ is realized as “g", but sometimes as “k", especially when it is pronounced as [x]. In the following text, we will find that for the word /gea/, gea is used in some places and kea in other places.


BILABIAL LABIODENTAL LABIOVELAR ALVEOLAR VELAR PHARYNGEAL
STOPS
−V
+V
±V
+V+L
+V+P


 b
 bw



   t
   d




 k



 ngg

FRICATIVES
ーV
±V
±V+L



   v
   vw


   s




 g


    h


NASALS
+V
+V+L

 m
 mw



   n


 ng


TRILL
+V




   r


LATERAL
+V




   l


SEMI-VOWEL
+V



   w



           V = voicing, L = labio-velarisation, P = homorganic pre-nasalisation

                                 Table I


    According to Tryon,the Raga language is the Oceanic type in the Melanesianof Austronesian (1972:70). It is spoken in the area from the northern end of Raga(Pentecost) Island to Tasvarongo village. In most languages of the Oceanic type,personal pronouns are divided into cardinal and verbal pronouns(Tryon 1973:329). Raga personal pronouns are listed in Table II. We can see from the table that the verbal pronoun is a short form of the cardinal pronoun.
    In the languages of Maewo, Ambae, Santo and Pentecost,vebal pronouns which semantically indicate the actor appear as nominative and they are combined with tense particles to make single units (Tryon 1973:331,1978:887).Such units in the Raga language are listed in Table III. The basic tense particlesare mwa, nu,vi and men,which indicates neutral tense,past tense,future tenseand near-future tense respectively. They are subject to certain morpho-phonemic changes.To take nan as an example,it consists of the stem na- whichis the verbal pronoun in the first person singular and the suffix -n which is a morphophonemic realization of the past tense particle nu. No verbal pronoun is usually used when it is in the third personsingular nominative; in such a case, only the full form of a tense particle is used (Example 1). 

1 Naturigi   nu      vano.
  child   φ-past     go
(A child went.)

    The word nu is the full form of the past tense particle and the third person singular is shown by φ.
               


cardinal pronoun verbal pronoun
singular
first person  
second person  
third person  
 inau  
 ginggo*  
 kea*, gea*
 na-  
 go-*  
 φ-, (ge-*)

plural
first person  
second person  
first + second 
third person  
 gamai*    
 kimiu*    
 gida*    
 kera*    
 ga-*  
 gi-*  
 ta-  
 ra-  

             The letters “g" and “k" are both possible realizations of /g/. But
             /gimiu/ is usually written not as gimiu but as kimiu and /gera/ not
             as gera but as kera.
                                           Table II


        tense
neutral past future near future
sigular

first person
second person
third person

nam
gom
mwa
gem
nan
gon
nu

nav
gov
vi

namen
gomen
men


plural
first person
second person
first + second
third person
gam
gim
tam
ram
gan
gin
tan
ran
gav
giv
tav
rav
gamen
gimen
tamen
ramen

                                      Table III


    There is also a word gem which is composed of ge-(probably a variant of the verbal pronoun in the third person singular) and -m(neutral tense particle). Although ge-m is interchangeable with mwa, it is rarely used in daily conversation. It may be an old form. I am not certain whether the forms ge-n, ge-v, or ge-men are used or not.
    In normal declarative sentences of the Raga language, the noun subject precedes the corresponding verbal pronoun(Example 1). Cardinal pronouns are usually placed in the same position as noun subjects, though some cardinal pronouns are used as objectives in the same form (Table IV).It seems proper to distinguish these two cases(Example 2 and 3), so I call the cardinal pronouns in nominative position independent pronouns.


  objective
 
singular
 
first person
second person
third person
-au  
-go, -nigo  
-a, -e, -i, -nia  

plural

first person
socond person
first + second
third person
gamai
kimiu
gida
-ra, -nira

                                Table IV


2 Kimiu               gi-m    bano.
you independent pronoun you-neutral   go
(You go.)

3 Na-n   gita   kimiu.
 I-past   see   you
(I saw you.)

    The cardinal pronoun kea(or gea) is also used as a demonstrative pronoun,to point at something remote from the speaker.To point at something near the speaker, keki (or geki) is used(Example 4). However, I will not refer to kea (or gea) in such usage as an independent pronoun even though it is used in nominative position. Kea(or gea) and keki(or geki) are also used as demonstrative adjectives(Example 5). Moreover, kea (or gea) can be used as in Example 6. In such cases, the meaning of kea (or gea) varies according to context.

4 Hano  keki?
 what   this
(What is this?)

5 Na-m   doro   boe  kea
I-neutral  want   pig  that
(I want that pig.)

6 Wangga  nu     mai     kea   mwalanggelo  nu     hivo    an  tahi.
 canoe  it-past  come, therefore  young man  he-past  go down  at  sea
(A canoe came; therefore, a young man went down to the sea.)

    The particles used in the possessive are listed in Table V. Their forms change in accordance with the kind of noun to which they attach. Nouns are classified into five categories. According to Tryon, these categories are: 1)inalienable objects, 2)a general category,3)edible objects, 4)drinkables and 5)prized possessions(Tryon 1973:314). The particles in column 1 in Table V are used as follows: tama-nggu(my father), bwatu-na(his head), or ratahi-n tarabe-ku(mother of my uncle). Those in columns 2 to 5 are used as follows: no-nggu (mine), no-nggu buka(my book), no-n buka(his book), buka non George(George's book), ga-ku (mine), ga-ku damu(my yam), ma-nggu(mine), ma-m niu(your coconut), bila-ku (mine), or bila-n boe(his pig). It is interesting to note that when people say ma-m wai(your water), the water is drinkable, while it may not be drinkable when they say no-m wai(your water). In an English version of the following text,however,I will not attempt to bring out such delicate semantic differences.


  1    2     3     4     5

singular
first person
second person
third person
-nggu,-ku
-mwa
-na,-n
nonggu
nom(nomwa)
non(nona)
gaku
gam(gamwa)
gan(gana)
manggu
mam(mamwa)
man(mana)
bilaku
bilam(bilamwa)
bilan(bilana)

plural
first person
second person
first + second
third person
-mai
-miu
-da
-ra
nomai
nomiu
noda
nora
gamai
gamiu
gada
gara
mamai
mamiu
mada
mara
bilamai
bilamiu
bilada
bilara

    I1 Inalienable 2 General 3 Edible 4 Drinkable 5 Prized possessions
    IThe particles in parentheses are used in the absolute possessive. The other partilcles
      in columns 2 to 5 are used even in the absolute possessive. The particles
      in column 1 are not so used.
                                Table V


    It is clear from the above tables that the Raga language distinguishes between inclusive“we" and exclusive “we". Thus, ta-m means “we"-neutral including the hearer, while ga-m means “we"-neutral excluding the hearer. The same holds in the case of possessives. Ga-da, for example, means “(food of) ours(including the hearer)", while ga-mai means “(food of) ours (excluding the hearer)".

   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10
tea rua tolu vasi lima ono bitu vwelu sivo hanhvulu
gaituvwa gairua gaitolu gaivasi gailima gaiono gaibitu gaivwelu gaisivo hanhvulu


                                 Table VI
 

     Numerals are listed in Table VI. The upper row shows cardinal numerals and the lower ordinal numerals. For the numbers above ten, the same words are used for both cardinal and ordinal numerals.Thus“eleven" is hangvul-domwan-gaituvwa; “twelve" is hangvul-domwan-gairua; and so on.“Twenty" is ngavul-gairua and “thirty”is ngavul-gaitolu.Cardinal numerals are often combined with verbal pronouns to make single units. Suppose there are a speaker and two hearers. If the speaker wants to say something like“we three[you two and I] will do something", he can say:

7 ta-tol              vi        lol 〜
we-including hearer three  we-future    do 〜
(We three will do 〜.)

    If example 7 is in the neutral tense, it will be ta-m dol lol 〜. When there are one speaker and one hearer, the speaker says ta-mu-ru(ta- = we-including hearer, -mu- = nuetral, -ru = rua = two) if the tense is present, or ta-ru vi if it is past, or ta-ru-men if it is the near-future. The same can be said of possessives and objectives. “Our[you and me two] book" is expressed as no-da-ru buka, while “the mother of us two(excluding the hearer)" is ratahi-ma-ru(ratahi- = mother, -ma- = mai = our[excluding the hearer], -ru = rua = two).“To you two" is expressed as lalai kimi-ru (lalai = to, kimi- = kimiu = you, -ru = rua = two). The plurality of nouns is generally shown by the form of verbal pronouns, of objective particles, or of possessive particles. In example 8, the noun naturigi is singular, while in example 9, it is plural. However, there are cases in which a plural marker is placed in front of the noun in question.Inexample 10, ira is a plural marker.

8 Naturigi       mwa       bano.
  child   he(or she)-neutral    go
  (A child goes.)              

9 Naturigi     ra-m       bano.
   child     they-neutral   go
   (Children go.)                                                   

10   Ira     naturigi   ra-m       bano.
plural markar    child  they-neutral    go
(Children go.)

    With regard to aspect I will give an explanation of the two Raga words vava and vuvuri. Vava is used to show that an action continues and the sentence following vava describes the result of the action. That is, it sometimes functions as a durative marker and sometimes as a conjunction likeEnglish “until"(Example 11). In this paper I call it an action-continuing marker. Vuvuri is used to show that an action is completed and the sentence following vuvuri describes an action that follows thereafter. In this way it sometimes functions as a terminate marker and sometimes as an adverb like English “then"(Example 12). I call it an action-completing marker.

11 Mwalanggelo     nu    lago      vava         nu     hivo    an   tahi
  young man   he-past   walk  action-continuing  he-past   go down   at   sea
                         marker
(A young man kept walking until he reached the sea.)

12 Mwalanggelo   nu      loli-a       vuvuri          nu    vano.
  young man   he-past    o it action-completing marker he-past    go
(A young man finished doing it; then he went.)

    Negation is expressed by hav.....tehe(Example 13). Tehe sometimes takes the shorter form te, so that negation is also expressed as hav.....te. Moreover,tehe is sometimes omitted, though it is said that such an omission is incorrect. I will translate hav into “not" and regard tehe as a negative marker.

13 Na-m    hav  gita-go    tehe.
 I-neutral   not  see you   negative marker
(I do not see you.)

    In the Raga language the particle na is used to bring a certain word into focus and I accordingly call this particle a focus marker. Compare examples 14 and 15. In both cases, nu, which is an actor-indicator,refers to niu. In 14 the subject niu is placed at the end of the sentence and focus is placed on it by using the focus marker na.

14 Nu     halhala   na          niu.
  it-past    float  focus marker   coconut
(It is a coconut that floated.)

15 Niu    nu     halhala.
coconut  it-past    float
(A coconut floated.)

    Be and gabe should be explained here. Be is basically a conjunction, as seen in examples 16 and 17. In 16 it is used as a complementizer. Example 18 also shows that be is used as a complementizer and in this case it introduces direct narration. Be can be used in both direct and indirect narration. When it introduces direct narration, I call it a direct narration marker to indicate the form of narration clearly. Example 19 shows that be is used also as a particle which identifies the following word or phrase as a complement. In this case I call be a complement marker.

16 Mwalanggelo    nu     hivo     an   tahi   be     vi       gagaru.
   young man  he-past  go down    at   sea  so that  he-future   swim
(A young man went down to the sea so that he might swim.)

17 Mwalanggelo   nu    gita-e  be   nu    tavuha.
  young man  he-past  see it  that  it-past   good
(A young man found that it was good.)

18 Mwalanggelo   mwa     beve     be                ue.
  young man  he-neutral  say   direct narrative marker     “Yes"
(A young man says ,“Yes.")

19 Ra-m       uloi-nia      be             Tabua.
  they-neutral   call it   complement marker     Ambrym
(They call it Ambrym.)

    Gabe is basically used as a relative(Example 20,21; as seen in the latter example, Raga has no copula). Gabe is also used as a complementizer and as a complement marker.

20 Vatu     nu     en       goro     lulu    gabe    ra-n     geli-a.
  stone   it-past   lie down   shutting    hole   which  they-past    dig it.
(A stone stopped up the hole which they dug.)

21 Go-m       lol    nggagarasi  no-m   mwlanggelo    gaituvwa   gabe   George.
  you-neutral   make     cruel   your   young fellow    one    who   George
(You commit a folly to your only subordinate who is George.)

    There are no words in the language for North, South, East and West. Moving to the north is expressed by the verb hivo, the literal meaning of which is “to go down", while moving to the south is expressed by hae, the literal meaning of which is “to go up". Moving to the east and moving to the west are expressed by hivo , hae, or vano(= to go). Regardless of such direction(east or west), hivo is used if the place the speaker is about to go to is lower than the place he is now,and hae if it is highter. Vano makes no reference to relative height.

REFERENCES

Tryon, D. T.
  1972 The language of the New Hebrides:a checklist and general survey. Pacific Linguistics A-35:43-84.
  1973 Linguistic Subgrouping in the New Hebrides:A Preliminary Approach. Oceanic Linguistics 12:303-351.
  1978 The Languages of the New Hebrides:Internal and External Relationships. Pacific Linguistics C-61:877-902.

Walsh, D. S.
  1978 Tok Pisin Syntax - The East Austronesian Factor.Pacific Linguistics A-54:185-197.
  1982 Variation of Verb-Initial Consonants in Some Eastern Oceanic Languages. Pacific Linguistics C-74:231-242.