LINGUIST List 14.1265

Tue May 6 2003

Books: Language Description, Tobelo: Holton

Editor for this issue: Marisa Ferrara <marisalinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. LINCOM.EUROPA, Tobelo: Holton

		
Title: Tobelo
Series Title: Languages of the World/Materials 328
			
Publication Year: 2003
Publisher: Lincom GmbH
 http://home.t-online.de/home/LINCOM.EUROPA/
			
Availability: Available
 
Author: Gary Holton, University of Alaska Fairbanks 

Paperback: ISBN: 3895867063, Pages: 106, Price: USD 38 / EUR 35 / GBP
	 25
Comment: Student/Course Discount: 40%

Abstract:
			
Tobelo is a Papuan language spoken by approximately 15,000 persons on
the islands of Halmahera and Morotai in the eastern Indonesian
province of North Maluku. The phonemic inventory of Tobelo consists of
five vowels and twenty consonants, including a palatal lateral, glide
and nasal. Syllable structure is generally (C)V. Roots are categorialy
ambivalent and can occur as either nouns or verbs with appropriate
morphology. Verbal morphology is relatively rich, including a system
of obligatory pronominal prefixes and optional aspectual
suffixes. Nouns occur as adjuncts to pronominal arguments and are
obligatorily marked by a proclitic. Word order is SOV, though not
rigidly so. Complex verb constructions are paratactic, consisting of a
series of verbs each cross-referencing one or more arguments and fully
inflected for aspect. There is no morphological marker of
subordination and no indication of finiteness.

Holton is a documentary linguist who has conducted field work with
several Austronesian and Papuan languages in eastern
Indonesia. Previous publications include an annotated bibliography of
language and linguistics in Maluku and several studies of Tobelo
grammar and discourse. He is currently assistant professor of
linguistics at the Alaska Native Language Center, where he is engaged
in the documentation and revitalization of Alaska Athabascan
languages.
			
Lingfield(s): Language Description
			 
Subject Language(s): Tobelo (Language Code: TLB)

Written In: English (Language Code: ENG)

 See this book announcement on our website:
 http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=6027